First week at school complete

Well, the boys reached the weekend and they are still smiling (occasionally)! They think school in France is  much stricter and that the teachers are much more bad-tempered than they are in the UK. There seems to be a lot of sitting in silence at desks and movement around the class is forbidden. Callum claims that he has not spoken to the boy who sits on the other side of the room because interaction between the children in the classroom is forbidden. Not sure if this is true. Dan, however, does get a chance to work in small groups and is thoroughly enjoying numeracy which has a universal language of its own. Though, for the first time in his school career, he is in a classroom with a traditional blackboard and chalk and is discovering how unpleasant the dust and scratchy-squeakiness can be.
Callum has met his match with his class teacher. She does not take "no" for an answer and is obviously beating him into submission. His handwriting has changed drastically in just one week. This must seem unbelievable for those who know Callum and his ways. However, he seems to have a healthy respect for this lady. He was given extra tuition after school on Tuesday (a long day for a 6 year old that started at 0830 and finished at 1715).  However, on Wednesday I found that he had scrawled a message on our blackboard that read : "40 minute lessons are cool, so Dan you are a fool!"