children are younger if you
have a choice. It was hardest
for the 12-year old, who had already
started secondary school
in the UK."
In France compulsory education only starts at age
six, but
nursery schools (école maternelle)
take children aged three.
From 6 to 11 is primary school
(école primaire), where learning
is more structured. Then you
have lower secondary (collège),
from 11 to 15, and finally a
lycée from 15 to 18 if the child
is suited to further education.
When Stuart and Sarah
Hudson moved from Birmingham to St Gervais in the Alps
they brought their three-yearold, Isabelle,
with them. "She
found it quite hard at first," says
Stuart, who runs a business
there. "Isabelle's confidence
was very low because she
didn't speak French well -
but the école maternelle was
wonderfully supportive. The
fact that the lessons were quite
formal and structured actually
helped her adjust. Now six, she
loves school activities such as
WORDS: LIZ ROWLINSON
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