Kindergarten meets two main social needs:
The first is educational: the children will progressively adapt to the social aspect of school, then the academic aspect. They will have the opportunity to develop and increase their potential. It will also be the place where, should it arise, minor problems they may have can be spotted and treated early on.
For parents, whether they are working or not, the second need is often the need for child care.

Even if difficulties will inevitably rise to the surface from time to time, kindergarten does meet these needs in a satisfactory way: it can be said that as a means of child care, it is a relatively safe place, and as a place of education and teaching, it reaches its objectives: statistics show that academic success in junior school benefits greatly from having been to kindergarten.

The network of French schools abrod consists of 461 schools approved by the French Minister for Education. This worldwide network is steered by the Agency for French Teaching Abroad (AEFE), a national public administrative body created in 1990 which comes under the auspices of the French Department of Foreign and European Affairs. For 20 years, the AEFE has steered, supported and animated the biggest international network of educational establishments – a network covering 130 countries where more than 250,000 pupils, 100,000 of them French, are educated. The only network of its kind in the world, it teaches universal values – tolerance, humanity, equal opportunities – and is noted for its excellence and its openness.

The objectives of the AEFE are:

• To ensure the objectives of public service relative to education for children of French nationality residing abroad
• To contribute to the reinforcement of cooperative relations between French and foreign educational systems for the benefit of French and foreign children
• To contribute to the spread of French language and culture, particularly by welcoming foreign pupils
• To help the families of French or foreign pupils to bear the costs linked to education whilst monitoring the stability of school fees
• To grant scholarships to children of French nationality attending French schools and educational establishments abroad.

The syllabus

The French syllabuses are taught mostly by qualified French teachers working for the French Department of Education. A lot of importance is attached to the teaching of modern languages, from kindergarten to Sixth Year.

The pupils’ parents are associated with the running of the schools to a greater extent than in France itself through the various parent associations.

Even if there are a lot of children in the classes, it has to be said that the ratio of adults to children is nevertheless quite high:
- the teaching staff (14 teachers in total, plus the director) is trained so that they are equally equipped for petite section to CM2 (from three to eleven year olds), which has the advantage of giving them a global view of the objectives, methods and content of the three cycles of primary teaching.
- the teaching assistants in kindergarten (four) help the children and teachers in the class allocated to them.
- the librarian takes charge of groups of pupils from PS to CM2 all week
- the English teachers (seven) and French as a Second Language teacher (one) are in daily contact with many of our children, in collaboration with the class teacher.
- the supervisors (14 at lunchtime and nine in the afternoon after school) organise and ensure that everything goes well at lunch and during after-school care
- the admin staff will sometimes take care of children who hurt themselves playing in the yard
- certain parents who participate from time to time in taking charge of activities and outings…

Once the child will be three during that calendar year and is toilet-trained (can use little toilets and knows how to ask to go to the toilet), he or she can start in Petite Section at the start of the school year.

To the untrained eye, the activities in kindergarten, often agreeable, seem designed just to keep the children occupied. This is a mistake, ‘serious’ work doesn’t just start in CP, and the activities are organised in accordance with two fundamental principles. You have to:
-Make the children feel they belong, of course.
- Respect the laws, decrees, programmes etc. which link the teaching done in kindergarten to the whole group of subjects which will subsequently be taught in depth.
The syllabus defines the skills and the exact content to be mastered. Learning is structured around progressions established by the teachers and is put into operation by class projects.
Kindergarten builds a rich, stimulating educational environment which allows each child to become aware of his or her abilities.

Kindergarten normally lasts for three years, from three to six years. In the calendar year when they will be six, the children go to junior school: the class of CP which is in the same building as the kindergarten on the site of the school in Foxrock.
In rare cases, children who learn very easily can go to junior school early, at the suggestion of the Teachers’ Council if the teacher notices a gap between the pupil and his or her classmates.

“Not to waste time” is a constant social pressure. But we teachers would be more likely to say that you have to know how to take the necessary time for things to go well.
And indeed, without it’s always being apparent, your children do a lot of work in kindergarten, and our expectations are very real. The classes are organised so that all the children get what they need. Learning can sometimes be going nowhere or temporarily going backwards. This is part of children’s development. We know this, and take it into account.

At different times and for different activities, the children will go to different parts of the school each day: their own classroom a lot of the time, but also the library, the yard, the English room, the computer room and the gym. The PS and MS classes have an exercise period every morning. The GS classes go to the gym three times a week.

Yes, the school is partly funded by school fees. The fees are:

* kindergarten: €4080 a year

* junior school: €3417 a year

SCHOLARSHIPS: If at least one of the parents has French nationality and the child is registered at the consulate, you can apply for a scholarship: every year, the scholarship commission in Dublin sits in spring for the following school year. If your situation has changed or you were not able to apply in time because you have recently arrived in Ireland, there is a second commission in October. In both cases, the school will always inform you of the dates of the commissions and provide you with the application papers.

ECCE: Our kindergarten school is not yet recognised as a ‘creche’ in Ireland and we are therefore not part of the network of creches which benefit from this help from the Irish government.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays: 8.25 am to 2.40 pm
On Wednesdays: 8.25 am to 12.25 pm
The children are supervised for 10 minutes before the above times.
After-school care takes over at the end of class time for children who are enrolled, and goes 5.30 pm every day the school is open.

The question may seem superfluous, but many of the “sticking points” between families and the school are because of lateness. If it is necessary to spell it out, let’s say that there are four main reasons for respecting the school hours:
- for reasons of security, to limit comings and going in the school
- for teaching reasons, for the child who was late who has missed all or part of the presentation of the day’s work
- for psychological reasons, because a child who is late feels guilty
-  for civic reasons, because the regulations agreed by everyone (in the Primary School Council) are justified, and are meant to be respected for the smooth running of the school.

If you are late: you should ring the intercom and identify yourself to gain entrance. Then you go to the office to collect a late note to give to the teacher.

The answer is obvious, it’s no. Fitting in in class and making continuous progress depend on regular attendance.

Allocating all the children in the school to their classes is the result of a compromise between the teachers’ educational choices, each child’s abilities, and the law of mathematics; that is to say that a balance must be reached in the classes, the number of boys and girls, French speakers and others, the children’s friendships etc…It often therefore happens that there are ‘split’ classes, which is not a problem for anyone in that the differences between the children oblige the kindergarten teacher to virtually individualise the demands made on each child.

In a split class as in any class, the children are divided up by the teachers in accordance with educational criteria so that the two groups work well.
The teacher is trained to manage split classes, which are not rare in the French system. He or she takes the two levels and their curriculum into account in class preparation.
The organisation of the timetable in our school (English classes, French as a Second Language classes, library, regular participation of a second teacher in the class) frees up a number of periods where the teacher is alone with one of the two levels.
A pupil in a split class is therefore not at any disadvantage.

Teachers can ask to work part-time. A class with two teachers works like this: the first half of the week is taken by one teacher and the end of the week is taken by the other teacher. This involves a lot of collaboration between the two teachers outside class time for preparation and monitoring the pupils.
The pupils quickly get used to their two teachers and this organisation.

You can ask, but the attribution of the children is the business of the Teachers’ Council, which defines what is needed, and whose decision may not be in accordance with what you want.
You also ask that your child be in the same class as someone else. There again, our choice will not always be the same as yours, because the teachers are in the front row when it comes to observing the effects of groups. In any case, the children from different classes often meet up for activities (in the yard, for English), and have more pleasure as a result in being together.
If you haven’t got exactly what you wanted for your child, we are sure that after a moment’s bad humour, in discovering the qualities of a teacher that you didn’t know, or your child’s new friends, you will agree with our choice. Rest assured that we are always available to explain our choices for class attribution.

It can sometimes be hard for information to pass from school to parents, as we were saying in the foreword. The teachers use different means to contact you:
- Folders between the school and families (containing information notes), which you should sign before you give them back every day.
- e-mails, the school website
- The notice boards outside
- Parents meetings, meetings with teachers, with the director… etc.
In our experience, we would advise you to be cautious about information given by the children. It isn’t always reliable: their interpretation of reality can sometimes be a little fantastic. Children can certainly show a lot of imagination!

The Teachers Council has decided to institute for each child a ‘cahier de vie de class’ which is regularly given to the family. This will allow you to see the progress made and activities done in class.
The school report where results and evaluations are noted is also a means of individual follow-up. It is given to you three times. For the first and third term, the report is given to you during an individual meeting with the teacher on a Wednesday morning when there are no classes. For the second term, it will be given to you directly in the liaison folder. This system does not exclude face-to-face meetings which you can ask for with the teachers throughout the school year if you feel the need.

It is natural to be worried about a child’s progress and to talk to the school about it. The teacher is probably the first person to approach, being best-placed to inform you about your child’s progress in class. In addition, the director’s door is always open for parents who want an appointment.

We are often asked this question. It is quite legitimate to want to see your children get on. Don’t make them ‘work’, play with them, read books to them, talk to them, awaken their interest, answer their questions, think about the environment with them…
Don’t mistake your goals, bear in mind that knowing the alphabet is never enough to learn to read, or that being able to count to fifty doesn’t make you any better at numbers.
Your main concern is often that of learning to read: the best thing you can do for your child in this regard is to be a reader yourself, so that the child realises that you find it interesting and a pleasure…Imitation is an essential part of children’s behaviour.
If you are in a family situation where French is not spoken much, the child should also have the opportunity with you to be exposed to the French language (holidays, reading etc….)

You can come into the school any day, or even, if your child is in Petite Section, into the class. This arrangement facilitates contact, but you must know how to leave the school once you have dropped off your child. You cannot hang around either in the classroom or in the yard, which can quickly become overcrowded.
You will also come for information meetings, for celebrations in class or to participate, with the teachers’ agreement, in taking charge of activities.
The office is open every day from 8.15 am to 5.30 pm.

The teachers can’t really talk to you in the mornings, because they have to deal with the children and not with the parents. After class, they can’t remain at work without having made the necessary arrangements. To meet them, make an appointment with them (a note in the liaison folder or an e-mail).

Yes, the school uses outside resources to launch projects, carry out research or even for entertainment. We can go out to buy things for the class, or to see the signs of autumn arriving in the park, or go to an exhibition or a show…
Outings are planned a long time in advance. Group visit authorisations have to be obtained and the necessary accompaniment has to be organised. Parents have to give their authorisation for each outing.

You do have the right to refuse to let your child go on an outing, but you should be aware of two things:
- It is a pity if one or more children are deprived of an activity which will form the basis of subsequent school work
- If your child does not go on the outing with the rest of the class, he or she will have to be minded at home by you, or else sit in with another class.
If allowing your child to partcipate in outings is a financial problem for you, please talk to the teacher or the Director so that we can help, particularly by making an anonymous request to the Parent Association which has a solidarity fund.

Yes, of course, in accompanying outings, in helping the teachers from time to time when they call on you for various things.
You can belong to the Parent Association, or sit on the Primary School Council, the School Council or the Board of Management as a parents’ representative.

The Primary School Council brings together at least three times a year (once a term) the teachers, the elected parents and the representatives of different bodies to which the school is linked. It discusses general school questions, arrangements to be made, school projects…
The School Council always meets after the Primary School Council and deals with questions regarding the whole school community primary and secondary (junior and senior cycle) together.
These Council meetings are interesting and constructive. We would encourage you to stand as a parents’ representative in the elections which will be organised in mid-October.

In the first weeks of the school year, the parents elect two parent representatives for each class. The representatives can take part in the Primary School Council or the School Council. Before these meetings each term, the parent representatives collate the questions or themes that the parents of the class want raised and send them to the director before the meeting.
The representatives can also sometimes have a more convivial role: organising evenings out for the parents of the class etc…

You should always let the school know, by e-mail or telephone (for short-term absences) specifying the length and reason for the absence (in the case of a contagious disease, it is important to be able to warn the other families).
Absences can only be in exceptional circumstances. When you enrol your child in the school, you make a commitment to regular attendance (think of those who, because of a lack of places, are on the waiting list.)

No. The school does not have an infirmary, nor is it competent to administer medicine to the children.
Children have the right to be sick and, when they are, they have the right to proper rest which the school cannot give them.
Obviously, you should never entrust medicaments to your children, and should be careful that they do not bring them without your knowing.

The only treatment which the teachers can give, if it is possible, is to separate the child from the others so that he or she can rest. We contact the family who must come and collect the sick child (hence the importance of the telephone number on the pupil information forms).

The school can only treat the most superficial injuries. If the accident necessitates treatment by a doctor, which unfortunately is always possible, there are two possibilities.
- if the injury is not too serious, we tell the family or someone authorised to act on their behalf, we reassure the injured child and wait with him or her until the parents arrive.
- if it appears to be more serious (or if we can’t reach the family) we ring the emergency services and, based on our description, they decide on where and how the child should be transported. The child is brought to hospital by the emergency services, accompanied by an adult from the school. The parents are informed as soon as possible.
In no case can a teacher decide to bring a child to hospital on his or her own responsibility.

The children can sometimes come to blows when playing, at least as long as they have not really accepted the rules of society for living together in a group. And it’s always easier to give a good kick than to make a long speech!
This point is often a point of disagreement between you and us. We work on prevention, education and reflection with the children on this subject. Despite that, we will never be able to avoid all conflict.
To answer the question, yes, the children are supervised, all the time and everywhere, indoors and outdoors!

This can happen, as little as possible, we hope. If it’s about the regulations, you can contact the parents’ representatives so that it can be looked into by the Primary School Council.
If it’s about decisions taken regarding your child, make an appointment, and let’s discuss it. We’ll each explain our point of view and understand each other.

We’re used to this question, which arises every year. To some parents (of Petite Section) who don’t want their child to take a nap, we answer in general that if children sleep, it’s because they need to, and we respect that need. To other parents (of Moyenne Section) who want their child to go on taking a nap, we answer that their request is no doubt legitimate, especially in the beginning of the year. The children do have time for relaxation after lunch. Those who need to can lie down.

No. If your children are sick, they should not be at school. If they are at school, then they are in good health and not receiving any special treatment… We can’t leave a child alone without supervision. If you ask for a child to be separated from the others, that means that we have to have someone to supervise, to the detriment of the supervision of all the others. This kind of request is not possible. Of course, if the child is immobilised or fragile (in plaster or a wheelchair etc…) we will do what is necessary in these particular cases.

The school has rules and part of learning to live in society is to learn to respect them. Clearly, the rules build up and are learnt progressively. If necessary, a child can be temporarily deprived of an activity or left, under supervision, outside the group having been told why.

No. There is plenty to play with at school, and anything coming from the outside can give rise to envy and therefore to disputes among the children. However, in Petite Section, the teachers may ask you at the start of the year to bring in a bear, a doll or something else to make the child feel more secure for the nap. These things, like everything else, should be marked with the child’s name.
FSearch your children’s pockets regularly, as they do sometimes bring objects to class without your knowing.

This too is a well-known phenomenon. It’s so pleasant to bring home a little piece of school, like a piece from a puzzle, lego bricks, interesting little magnets! They don’t seem like much to you. For us they can be the piece which makes the game unusable. So please bring those little things back to us!

Your child is starting to understand the power of words and the imagination. He or she will sometimes want to measure the effect of this power on you and on the school by relating anything and everything, in all seriousness. To the point where you will start to worry.
We have noticed that complaints made about the school often arise from a lack of knowledge about what really happens there, or from false information picked up during conversations between parents: don’t hesitate to ask the teacher, the lunch and after-school supervisors or the director for any information you need. One is generally reassured by a face-to-face meeting where explanations can be given. After all, we all have the same aim: for the children to be happy and able to learn in good conditions at school.

No. It is extremely rare for a child to persistently refuse to take part in any activities. On the other hand, we are there to stimulate participation. It is however true that a lot of children say that they have done nothing, or evasively say “I played” when asked what they did all day in class. It’s doubtless a means for them to let you know that school is their domain, not yours, and that everyone should mind their own business! Maybe also a means to pay you back for enrolling them in school, which they sometimes regard, for a while, as abandonment.

Young three-year-old children can’t project themselves in time and imagine that a day in class is going to be pleasant. They live the present moment, and when the present moment is the moment of separation, there are sometimes tears, often reinforced by the transfer or your own anxiety and guilt at the idea of leaving your child in the hands of strangers.
You should know that, in general, the crying only lasts as long as you are there: so you need to know how to shorten this time…
The crying can start again at going home time: a new anxiety arises: “Are they going to come and collect me?” If this is the case, you may imagine that your child cried all morning, or all day! This idea is terrible for you! Be reassured, if that was the case, we would be the first to be worried about it and to let you know that your child might have a problem of adaptation…

There is nothing to do about it. All you can do is convince yourself that the people you are leaving your child with are competent and responsible, which is true, and shorten the moment of separation.
We know well that many of you would like to disguise yourselves as mice and remain in a corner of the class. Unfortunately, it’s not possible!

There are two services of lunch in the primary school:
1st service: the six kindergarten classes from 11.20 to 12.15
2nd service: the seven junior classes from 12.15 to 1 o’clock.
Two lunch supervisors are in charge of the same class for the whole year (three per class in Petite Section).
For each service the children have at least 30 minutes to eat their lunch. Those who have finished go out first accompanied by one of the supervisory staff. The other supervisor remains in the classroom with the slower ones and comes out with the last pupils.
At the end of the lunch break, i.e. 12.15 (1st service), the teachers collect the children from the yard.

It is important to tell the teacher of any change or event in the child’s daily life and anything which can help to explain a child’s behaviour to us.

At the start of the school year you have to fill in an information sheet with regard to your child: it is on this sheet that you should give any medical information. This is how we are informed of allergies. It is however necessary for us to have a discussion with the parents so that they can tell us in detail what measures need to be taken.

The children staying in after-school care are divided into two groups: kindergarten and junior school.
In the kindergarten after-school care, the pupils play outside in the little yard with all the toys provided for them, or are inside in a kindergarten classroom playing with the after-school games or drawing. Sometimes they watch a DVD in the library.
In the middle of the afternoon, there is a break for a snack and a moment’s calm. You should therefore remember to give your child a snack for after-school care if he or she is staying for a few hours.

The teachers ask you to bring a snack for the whole class about once a month. This is used to work in class with the children on nutrition and the language surrounding food. All the children have the same thing to eat, and it will frequently be something which is good for them. It gives some children a chance to discover different tastes.
It is important to give your child enough to drink for the whole day.

The procedure in place in the school is:
- if the absence is know about in advance: the families are informed by the teacher.
- if it is a one-off absence only known about the same morning (off sick, for example): there will not necessarily be an e-mail sent to warn the families if someone is responsible for the children during the usual hours.
The school makes sure that the pupils’ daily life is not disrupted if a teacher is absent: another teacher will take the class, the children will still be learning and not just supervised if their usual teacher isn’t there. If the teacher warns the school that prolonged sick-leave will be necessary (more than one or two days), in that case the families of the class will be warned.

Please check your child’s head as soon as you receive a note that there are head lice in his or her class. Please read carefully the document which is sent to you at the time. We do allow children to return to school with head lice when we have warned the families of the necessity to treat their children.
For children in Petite Section who have head lice, you should warn the teachers so that you can collect the bedclothes to wash them.

Come and talk to us about any possible problems.
Do not take the law into your own hands and take on the child you presume is the guilty one at the school exit. In general, he or she will already have been identified given out to. If a child is aggressive, we deal with it, and we let the family know.

It’s easy: if you know about it in advance, put a note for the teacher in the folder. Remember to send an e-mail to extrascolaire@lfi.ie to let us know if your child should go into after-school care.
If you don’t know about it in advance, ring the school, even at the last minute.
There are two possibilities:
1. 1. The child can go into after-school care if you request it (until 5.30 pm at the latest)
2. 2. Someone else can come and collect him or her. If the person is on your list of authorised persons, or if we have a written note or e-mail, there is no problem. But if this is not the case, the child will not be allowed to leave in any circumstances, even to help out the family.

We are often asked this question. The answer is no, even if you are next-door neighbours, if we have not received the express authorisation of the child’s family in writing or by telephone.

Apart from absolutely extraordinary weather conditions, your child will be going outside every day, and should be dressed accordingly.
One of our objectives is to develop the children’s independence: always choose clothes which make life simple, avoid clothes with braces or straps under other garments or shoes with laces if you haven’t yet taught him or her to tie laces.
The last point is to do with the work they’ll be doing. When you wash your car or repaint your kitchen, you rarely wear a suit to do it. It’s the same for the children. School is somewhere where they paint, do modelling, do P.E… The child’s clothes should be suitable for all those things.
Certain clothes are forbidden at school for safety reasons: scarfs or belts can be dangerous if they are used for games.

Nothing but lost clothes! The problem we all have is that there is nothing which looks so like a blue jumper (red hat, or whatever) as another blue jumper (red hat, or whatever)! Hence, mix-ups are frequent. The answer:
- stay calm
- mark all clothes with your child’s name
- teach your child to take care of his/her own things: to know them and be able to recognise them, to put them away always in the same place so as to be able to find them
- pay attention yourself when collecting your child
- don’t wait for days to let us know if something has disappeared, but go and look in the lost property box in the entrance hall the next day
- be understanding: you have one, two, three or four children, the teacher has twenty-five!
- bring back clothes which don’t belong to your child!

If it’s really serious carelessness, or even deliberate destruction on the part of a child, you can and we can do something.
If it’s the ‘normal’ marks of work in class, be more cautious! We often notice that children refuse to participate in activities because they are afraid of getting dirty, knowing that they’ll get into trouble when they get home.

Even if one of the conditions for enrolment is that the child should be toilet-trained, ‘little accidents’ during class or during the nap are still frequent with the youngest ones.
The staff will always refuse to put nappies on the children, but will never refuse to wash them and change them. But they must have something to change them into! Give the teacher a little bag with the child’s name which has a change of clothes in it (Petite Section only).
Don’t forget to wash and bring back clothes which may have been lent by the school.
As was said in the section on how the children should be dressed, it’s clear that many of these accidents could be avoided if the children were wearing clothes which facilitated their independence in this regard (avoid trousers which are difficult to unbutton!)

A party, even a small one, requires time and a minimum of organisation. Whether it’s for a birthday or something else (a birth in the family, for example) let the teachers concerned know if you want to bring some food to celebrate. In class, birthdays are celebrated on D-day unless they fall during the holidays: in this case they are celebrated when we get back.

Yes. They are sent to each family at the start of the school year. The main points are touched on in this compilation, and you can consult the full text on the website.

A reminder that the following are forbidden:
- a lack of respect by anyone (teaching staff or not, pupils, families…) towards anyone (see the anti-bullying charter in the regulations)
- lateness which upsets the child concerned and the operation of the group
- dangerous games
- medicaments
- bringing in toys, jewellery, dangerous objects
- bringing animals into the yard

We do not advise you to bring your children to meetings; this can be annoying for them and you will not be able to pay attention to the information which will be given to you if you have to look after your child.
We try to plan meetings in advance and to hold them at the end of the day to facilitate parents who work. Child-minding is not available during meetings. You will therefore have to organise your own babysitting outside school if necessary.

The majority of children stay in our school until CM2 and then go to LFI’s secondary school in Clonskeagh. The junior cycle in LFI offers a Franco-Irish curriculum, ‘Eurocampus’, which leads to two certificates: Brevet des Collège and Junior Certificate.
Others choose to change to the Irish system during their time here. This is possible without the child’s education suffering.