Navigating La Rentrée: My daughter’s first week of school in France
From stationery lists to school insurance, there is a lot to learn about the French school system
Earlier this week I rode on a bike with my daughter to her first day of school. She is 12 and like a lot of kids her age, extremely self-conscious.
As a result, she requested I ride my bike a short distance from hers to ensure that none of the children we passed might suspect a relationship between her and the scruffy-looking Englishman huffing away at the pedals.
I did not mind the rejection. After all, I am not so amnesiac that I have forgotten what it was like to be a pre-teen and mortified by the very existence of your parents.
Even so, this was a particularly sensitive moment for my daughter. It was not just her first day of school. It was her first ever day at a French school.
We just moved here from the US and she is taking her first tentative steps into the French education system.
Up to now, first impressions bode well. I came here first in May with my daughter so that she could visit her new collège and be evaluated ahead of her enrollment into the local education system. You can read about my experiences here.
I was a little worried at first about the degree to which our efforts might be stymied by the fameux French love of bureaucracy. But in the end my concerns were overdone (and potentially fuelled by some of that equally fameux English stereotyping of our Gallic brothers).
The enrolment process was straightforward and the quality and professionalism of the teaching staff we met impressive to say the least.
The dreaded supplies list
Fast-forward a few months and in the midst of her first week of school one thing has become very clear: while the French may be less enamoured of bureaucracy than I first feared, boy do they love stationery!
Ahead of Alice’s first day, the school provided us with a long list of supplies she would need for the new term, the liste de fournitures scolaires. My wife and I took the list with us to a nearby supermarket where we joined other parents huddled around similar lists, all of them scratching their heads as if trying to decipher the Rosetta Stone.
It was a level specificity I have only ever encountered before in Ikea furniture assembly guides. They told you the exact dimensions, page numbers, colours and physical materials required for every exercise book, folder, pen, pencil, marker and protractor. The list was so extensive I nearly put my back out lugging it all home.
It is worth noting at this point that the French state very helpfully offers financial support to families for the expense of all these supplies.
Administered through CAF, the French public body that manages family and social benefits, it is a means-tested payment intended to help lower-income families with school-related costs such as stationery, clothing and equipment.
Known as the allocation de rentrée scolaire (ARS), it is available for children aged 6 to 18 with the 2026 payments set at €426.87 for children aged 6–10, €450.41 for ages 11–14, and €466.02 for ages 15–18.
You can find out about how to apply here.
School insurance certificate
Stationery was not the only thing included in my daughter’s rentrée list.
Besides the usual permission slips, waivers and registration documents there was also a requirement that I furnish the school with an attestation d’assurance scolaire, a certificate showing a valid school insurance for Alice.
French schools require parents to purchase insurance policies to cover extra-curricular activities such as sports clubs and trips, as well for using the school canteen. Often, these policies are included in home or renters’ insurance in France.
If you don’t have this type of insurance then you can cheaply and easily purchase assurance scolaire separately online from major insurers and other companies that offer these services (I paid about €15 for the year and the whole process took no more than 20 minutes).
The school also required our bank details to be kept on file to pay for school meal fees and other expenses throughout the year.
To do this we had to provide them with a RIB (Relevé d'Identité Bancaire), a document containing your French bank account details, which can usually be downloaded or printed from your online banking app or website.
La rentrée is only the beginning of the journey of course and I am anticipating far more significant challenges in the coming months than just a lengthy stationery list.
Switching schools is hard enough at the best of times. But doing it in another language is a whole other ball game.
But we came here in search of the new, and I think in her own way my daughter is relishing the challenge this new life is calling her towards.
Only time will tell of course and in the meantime her mother and I will be at her side to help (albeit at a safe enough distance away not to provoke embarrassment).
