Rentrée: enrolling buses and meals

SCHOOL starts again for schools across France on Thursday September 2: the rentrée scolaire.

If your children are already in the French system, their move to the next level should have been arranged before the summer, which is also the case for established French residents whose children have reached school age for the first time.

If you have arrived in France or your area recently, contact your mairie.

They will need proof of residence and identity, and of the child having been vaccinated against tetanus, diptheria and poliomyelitis (see Healthcare at www.connexionfrance.com).

Where you have moved from another area of France, a certificat de radiation is needed from the previous school, showing the child has been signed off. Registering new arrivals for entry to collège or lycée is done by application to the local education authority – see http://tinyurl.com/educationauthorities

If you do not wish your child to attend the nearest local school, as is usual, it is possible to request for them to join another one, if places are available, which, in primary, you do via the mairie of the area of the school (or via the education authority in later years). You may also want to consider private schooling.

This is often much cheaper than in the UK, as most private (usually Catholic) schools are sous contrat (under contract with the state), follow the same curriculum and have teachers paid by the state. Contact a school directly if interested.

Children can start in maternelle from three, though some take two-year-olds in a level called the très petite section.

School meals in primary school are organised by the mairie and families pay a set amount at a variable rate, depending on income and family size.

Those in financial difficulties can also seek advice from an assistant social, an expert in different benefits (ask your mairie about this).

In secondary, school lunches are at a price per meal fixed by the departmental council at collège and regional council at lycée.

Families can apply for financial assistance from the fonds social pour les cantines (canteens social fund). Ask the school secretary about this.

School buses are organised by the departmental councils, which each have their own policies.

They may have free or subsidised rates to children meeting criteria based on distance from home to school.

Some also have financial assistance based on means or disabilities. You have to register with the transport service.