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Laughing all the way to class
I think it's fun embarrassing my kids. Fun for me at least.
Ever seen that awful goodbye outside the school gates in About a Boy? It might be cringe-worthy to watch but kind of sweet as well.
I've been adopting the same tactics with my children, shouting "I love you" at the top of my lungs as they join the throng outside the school gates. It gets me quite a few condescending looks from some of the more uptight parents also on the school-run, but it's a pretty effective way of getting the gang quickly from the car into the school...
A French fancy
Uptight parents aside, it's a great school - impressive teachers, good atmosphere, and other kids who seem to have been brought up with the same values and attitudes as my three. And the best thing about it? It's French rather than English!
I don't necessarily think the International Baccalaureate that my children will go through is any better than England's GCSE's and A levels. In fact, there's a growing body of opinion that it's worse. The French system teaches you to learn. The English system encourages you to think.
There's a steady stream of Gauls leaving every year to try their luck with Michael Gove and his gang. So why is it better?
Too much to consider
Well, if you're in the French system in London then you really don't have too many choices. From the age of 11 they will go to the Lycée. It's big and crowded, and they'll do too much memorising and not enough thinking, but that is where they will go.
We won't have endless debates about the kind of school we want for them:
- Do we go private or do we have a chance of getting them in to the Downing Street academy?
- Do people still board in this day and age?
- Is that a good thing?
- How long a commute is too long?
- Do we keep them all together?
- And how competitive are we prepared to be when it comes to extra tuition?
I'm stressed just writing about it!
Fingers crossed
So at least, as far as my children's education goes, I have a stress free life.
They will trot round the corner from their nice South Kensington home and we will all live happily ever after. That is, at least, until they get rejected from the over-crowded Lycée next door and are told to head to the new shiny Lycée in Wembley.
Seeing as though I'm moving to Wimbledon, that's not a commute that will work very well.
Maybe I'll have to make a choice after all.
Ben Black
