I like most things about the French education system. It is very solid. Respect and good behaviour are very important. Students must stand up when a teacher enters the room, insult another pupil and you risk suspension, insult a teacher and receive immediate suspension and detentions are given if you forget your books or pencil case.
BUT.. the students have to work hard, incredibly hard..too hard. The pressure is constant. There are evaluations in every subject every three weeks, there is at least 1 – 2 hours homework a night and most of the weekends are spent on schoolwork. The school day is long, Iona and Joe catch the school bus at 7.00am and get home at 5.30pm.
The homework and evaluation grades are important. Fall below a certain minimum and you are at risk of having to redo the school year again. In every class, and the classes are small 20 – 25 pupils, at least three people a year redo the same year.
All students have access to the school website which they can log into to access their homework, any timetable changes and the weeks’ canteen menu!. This year there has been a new addition to the website. Now you can track your grades in each subject either in detail or there are some nifty graphs whereby each student can track their average grade in each subject against the class average. Is this a good motivational tool or does it just add to the pressure?
Is too much emphasis placed on students grades?
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