Maisons-laffitte, France Report of what it's like to live there - 04/15/11
Personal Experiences from Maisons-laffitte, France
School Name:
School Name: Ermitage International School of France
Background Information:
1. Are you the parent of a child(ren) attending this school? A teacher at the school? Or both?
Parent
2. What grade or grades do/did your children attend at the school? During what year(s) did they attend the school?
Collège
3. During what years were you affiliated with this school?
2004 to present
4. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
Work
Admissions & Welcome:
1. Are the admissions and placement procedures clearly stated to prospective families, either on the school website or through other means of communication?
A: Transparent procedure, no selection at this school even for the tough IB program.
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
F: There is no PTA at this school.No events and no structure for new families to help them settle, find their way around, network with other families.There is a climate of deep distrust between the top admin at the school and the parents
Administration & School Procedures:
1. Describe the general climate of the grade level that you teach or your child attends:
2. For the following attributes, down to the next blank box, grade your experience at the school on a scale of A (excellent) to F (unacceptable/terrible) and provide comments:<br><br>Overall fair and equitable treatment of all students and families:
B: half the students are expats and the treatment is the same for expats and locals.This makes it difficult for expat children until they have understood rules and the consequences of breaking them.
3. How is the overall communication between teachers and parents, and the administration and parents? How is communication facilitated?
E: Often sporadic.Only once has a teacher initiated a contact with me because he was worried about my child's behaviour in class.Otherwise teachers are very responsive to your contact but parents cannot know when there are issues in the classroom.
4. Services for gifted students who need academic challenge and students with learning difficulties:
D? None that I have been able to ascertain
5. Availability and variety of after-school activities for various ages:
C: a quite rich after school program on Wednesdays
6. Maintenance of appropriately high standards for all students:
Cannot comment
7. Homework assigned (quality, quantity):
D: Varies widely per teacher and per yeargroup
8. Administration-parent communication:
F: Incredibly poor.Headmaster makes frequent and lengthy trips abroad.He can be expected to "pass through" about twice per term, spending maybe a day in the school each time.From time to time he sends wordy communications to the parents which are hard to fathom but which read like self-promotion.As mentioned before there is a very bad relationship between the admministration (the head in particular) and the parent body which led to the last PTA resigning together.
9. Teacher-student communication:
C: Relatively good
10. Academics, answer the following questions "yes" or "no" with an explanation if appropriate:<br><br>Are there any classes or subjects where students are not appropriately challenged?
Yes
11. Does your child receive any special-needs assistance or instruction at this school? If yes, what types? Who provides services and where:
No
12. Do you believe the special-needs assistance is appropriate and fills your needs? Explain:
n/a
13. Does the gifted and talented program meet the needs of students? Please explain:
n/a
14. Does the school offer a wide variety of elective or non-core classes such as art, music, and drama?
No
15. Please describe any classes or programs that you believe are missing:
16. Are there academic requirements such as trips or other activities that cost money in addition to school fees?
Yes
17. What activities do you feel are missing?
18. Have your children participated in the activities offered? If no, please indicate why:
Yes
19. Does the school provide appropriate assistance to new students?
Not always
20. Please describe any problem areas or challenges in social interaction at the school:
Academics & Resources:
1. What personal or academic counseling resources are available at this school? Is there a dedicated college counselor at the school? Is he/she familiar with universities worldwide?
C: Good help with college applications for expats but little careers advice that I am aware of
2. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
D: A new library but not all children are able to use it (due to complications with different school sites spread around the town).The books are donated by parents and tend to be books they no longer have any use for.
3. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
F: Incredibly poor -- one IT teacher who has zero class control so the children run riot in his lessons (I have witnessed this myself)
4. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
E: Again you are expected to get your sports education elsewhere.There is a minimally equipped gym but too often the children are taken to the local stadium, rain or shine, and told to run circuits while the sports teacher watches them from his cosy observation post under glass!
5. What is the approximate teacher-to-student ratio in the grades that your child attended?
E: About 27 children to a class.Not enough desks in some classrooms where sometimes children must share desk with teacher... other times in my children's classes some kids have been left standing (rare but shocking)
6. Are Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses available in upper grades? If this is an IB school, is the full diploma required of all students?
IB
7. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
Yes, depends on your view on appropriate levels for age and grade which varies from country to country
8. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
E: like most schools in France, this is an afterthought -- even though the one music teacher and one drama teacher are both excellent.No infrastructure or facilities to provide quality music or drama lessons.
9. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Yes in the anglophone programs, no otherwise
10. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
No
11. What extra-curricular activities (including sports) are available at this school? Have your children participated in these activities? What activities do you feel are missing at the school?
Yes -- mostly exchange trips abroad
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
Hardly at all in the first few years, until they become completely fluent
2. Are there are any problems with exclusionary behavior, cliques, or bullying at this school? Please describe any problems your children may have experienced in this area.
Sometimes
Overall Impressions:
1. What is the greatest strength of this school?
International student and teacher body
2. Greatest challenge?
Communication, organization and parent relations
3. Would you choose this school again? Why?
No, I personally feel that the problems at this school are currently so great that they detract from its undeniable strengths
