Mainstream International School Choices South of France
The Cote d’Azur has the most International schooling options available to parents after Paris which is a real plus for multi cultural and bilingual families to the Riviera. It is however also a little daunting to have so many options open to us isn’t it?
Previously we talked about local parents and their personal schooling experiences in this article we will look at some of the International fee paying options open to you here on the Cote d'Azur and offer a few opinions we received on them.
INTERNATIONAL AND BILINGUAL SCHOOL OPTIONS
Mainly English Curriculums
There are private and predominantly English speaking curriculums offered through several schools in the Alpes Maritimes. Their curriculums vary from the International British system where iGCSEs and A Levels or the International Baccalaureate program .
Budget 12-17,000 € per child /annum
Ex:
Mougins School Firefly directory link
International School of Nice.
A parents Point of View "These options are particularly good if you relocate here with older children who may flounder in a French system, where you are sure they will be going back to an Anglophone country for Further Education or geographically they make sense. The facilities at both Mougins school and the ISN are really very good with the Mougins library coming out of Harry Potter"
Traditional Curriculums with bilingual teaching – Independent private schools
Maybe you are looking for a more 50:50 language split in which case several other private schools come to mind such as EBICA in Sophia Antipolis and the Ecole International group ( Pain de Sucre, Pain d’Epice).
Budget 6-15,000 € per child /annum plus extras.
It’s worth noting that EBICA was established in 2006 with Lycee opening much later.
They are offering that students can opt for either the International Baccalaureate (IB), the French Baccalaureate or the English A level certificate.
While feedback from my contacts has been generally positive for this school, there are no academic Baccalaureate results so far to share as the first students are yet to sit the exams.
Traditional Curriculums with bilingual teaching – semi-private schools
There are public schools ‘sous contrat’ i.e. under contract to the French national education system and so have to adhere to the national education policy . They have the benefit of having a fee paying English language section.
Children need to pass an entrance test to show they have the capacity to follow this extended programme which results in the Bac with the International Option.
In primary the ASEICA organization run 50% of the classes 100% in English in the schools Primaire Sartoux in Valbonne and Trois Collines in Mougins
There is another intake then into 'College' the French Secondary Schools. Generally they start with around 8 hours additional lessons per week run in English in History, Geography and English Litterature. The other subjects are then run in French.
ASEICA programmes run in Eganaude in Biot, César in Roquefort Les Pins, Nikki de Saint Phalle in Valbonne and CIV College International de Valbonne.)
Institute Fenelon de Grasse also has an International Section from 6eme (11-12 years old)
Budget circa 2,500 € / child / annum
I personally have children who are in the ASEICA and Fenelon programs and so have been able to live and compare the different systems and the entrance procedures which I will share in another blog.
We will be running another post on Top Tips on How to choose your school so do check back in on this blog. us!
