Primary Anglophone Section

Background

The Primary Anglophone Section, which has now acquired official status, was set up in September 2008 on two sites :

Ecole Elémentaire 40 Arpents in Voisins le Bretonneux (78960) ; and
Ecole Elémentaire Louis Blériot in Buc (78530).

After gaining official status, it operated from the Louis Blériot site in Buc until this year when the Louis Blériot school merged with the Louis Clément school.

It now operates solely from the Louis Clément site.

Eligibility

The Section offers a number of places to children in classes CP, CE1, CE2, CM1 and CM2 who have either lived in an English-speaking country or who speak English on a daily basis with one or both of their parents. Applicants to the Section must sit written and oral tests (just an oral test for levels CP and CE1) in order to determine whether they are apt to follow the course. It is not necessary for pupils to live in the catchment area of the school, but they must be registered at Louis Clément in order to follow the course (i.e. it is not possible to be registered at another primary school and to come to Louis Clément just for English lessons). Parents should, however, seriously consider the practical aspects of transport to the school (particularly if siblings attend a different school) and tiredness caused to the child through travelling, and an extended school day.

Teachers in the section are native speakers and qualified to teach under the French National Education system.

Entrance Tests

The tests for entrance into the section are generally held in March or early April. Testing involves oral and written comprehension and oral expression. All the tests are held on the same day. Results of the testing will be communicated unofficially in May / June by the Head of Louis Clément primary school and also officially at a slightly later date by the Direction Académique.

General

The children in the section currently benefit from three hours of English a week apart from levels CP and CE1 which benefit from two hours. The majority of this time is taken from time allotted to English lessons for all pupils, i.e. the anglophone pupil will leave his or her classmates at the appointed time for English lessons in order to join the anglophone class. The programme followed is based on the English National Curriculum and involves the following elements : reading, writing, speaking and listening. For levels CE2, CM1 and CM2, the writing part can be subdivided into the following elements : grammar, vocabulary, spelling, written comprehensions and written expression. For levels CP and CE1, lessons focus on reading proficiency and speaking and listening activities, as well as basic writing skills. A range of modern and classic children’s fiction is studied as well as non-fiction texts and poetry. For levels CM1 and CM2, one hour a week is devoted to the study of the French programme for History which is taught in English.

The completion of homework is an important requirement of the course and entry into the 6ème class in the Section International de Buc (SIB) at the Collège Martin Luther King is not automatic. Anglophone pupils in the primary section will need to sit the required tests in the same way as all other applicants.