New School

The day that both boys had been dreading. At 0820 I drove them to Saint Jean de Losne and parked outside the school. The gates were open and children were arriving, carrying massive bags of folders, books and pens. I escorted the boys into the playground and handed them over to a teacher.
Luckily our neighbours' children saw us and came over to welcome the boys. As I left the playground I could see Dan surrounded by girls who swamped him with dozens of questions in high speed french! His strong silence was obviously magnetic.
I returned at 1130 to collect the boys for lunch. They came out with heads held high and declared the morning a minor success. School in France was not so bad. And there was even the chance to play football at breaktime. Dan had made a few friends and Callum had been paired up with our neighbour's daughter who was quite happy to do all his work for him.
We had a chatty lunch at home and then I took them back to school for the afternoon session.
Verdict at the end of the day : school is ok but the teachers are very strict. Both boys are also suitably miffed at constant handwriting corrections. The teachers are not going to accept the cursive script favoured by English schools. Instead, the boys have to produce very flowery, loopy lettering - which is not Callum's idea of fun at all!
And I have homework too. My evenings will now be spent studying what the boys have done in school that day, and prepping up on the next day's work so that I can pre-teach vital concepts. It is already proving to be an interesting pastime as it gives me the chance to compare the French and English approaches to teaching primary school level.