I need to take my son out of Lycee

[jackexpat]

My son is 16 at Lycee doing a BEP Comptability. He has a low moyen and is told frequently by his profs that he should be looking at manual work and there is one prof who has told him she has given up on him. Normally he is a happy, talkative boy but now is depressive and feels he has no future here in France. We have applied for him to do an appretisage mechanicien in September at another location, but I do not want him to go to the Lycee he is at any more. I would rather pay for french lessons for him. Can I legally take him out now? Can I expect to not have to pay anymore for the rest of the year? I would need the money that we now pay for tuition and Internat for french lessons. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[jackexpat]

Does anyone know if a child of 16 has to finish the year or can he leave straight after his 16th birthday?

[Lester]

Whether your son has a lower moyen than others or not, I consider it unprofessional for the professors to be speaking to him in the way you have described. I would suggest that a visit from you to see the directeur / directrice should be the first thing you should do in an attempt to try and get this sorted out, explaining the detrimental effect that it is having on your son.

I would also be asking what additional help they have given him to try and get his marks higher.

Your posting doesn't give any indication as to how things have got to the situation they have, but if there is a chance that the matter can still be dealt with between you and the Lycee, so much the better as I feel that taking him out now, could have a greater long term detrimental effect on your son.

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[Nicoletod]

I am pretty sure that schooling in France is compulsory from the ages of 6-16. However there is room for maneuverability such as in cases where a 15 year old might start an apprenticeship or in the case of home schooling.

As Lester said, you really need to discuss all this with the Lycee or you could go directly to the Education Academie for your region and ask to speak with a conseilleur. Depending on your nearest town, you may also have a Centre D'Information et D'Orientation (CIO) with a conseilleur d'orientation there. Their role is to advise on academic situations.

I hope it works out soon as I can imagine how stressful it must be for you and your son.

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[jackexpat]

Thank you for your replies. I have asked for a meeting with the prof principal but no reply yet. We were offered the comptability course as an alternative to my son redoubling 3eme. When the lycee accepted David they said they would give extra French lessons for him but these have not happened due to a number of excuses by the lycee. We are paying for David to be internat although we are quite near the lycee but thought it would be easier for him with the total immersion in the french language.
This backfired because there are two other boys on the same course (recommended by the same prof) who are English. We feel that the lycee is taking our money and babysitting our son because he is getting little help with education and lots of negativity.

Like I said he has applied to do an Aprentissage in September when he will be nearly 17. He has already found a placement job with a garage that he did a work experience with last year at College. This is at a different location. He has 1st interview in April for a basic French and Maths test. I really want to take him out of the Lycee and get French lessons now. He has been told by the school that he can only leave if he has a job lined up. Waffle I am sure! It is the law that I cannot find out, whether he can leave now or has to wait until the end of the year.

Nicoletod - I will look for the CIO today and see where they are. thanks for that.

Thanks Lester too. x

[lobelia]

95% sure you can take him out, but I don't really understand the situation about the fees, is it a private school? I can understand that your son feels hurt that he is being told he is not good enough, but I have in the past told pupils the same thing, there is an age at which, if they do not manage to do the work, then it is ability and what they have not learnt in the past that works against them and sometimes in lycée it is too late. Of course it depends how it is said and it is true that it is unexpected in a lycée pro. It just makes me think of some pupils I had when I taught in a lycée (I am now in a collège) and they would complain that the tests were too hard, but they weren't, they were the level they had to be at in order for the class to move forwards and get the bac. So yes, then, I would say to a 16 year old, that if it is too hard then perhaps the lycée général was not for them. However you seem to have accepted this situation, I think that you should make an appointment by phone to see the proviseur (we say proviseur for a lycée, somebody put directeur earlier, that's for primary schools) and ask that the professeur prinicipal is there.

[jackexpat]

Yes it is a private Lycee. We pay nearly 4,000 Euros for the year. This is an enormous sum for us. Thanks for the advice. My son is quite hardy and used to critisism but on top of the move and the language problem the negative comments and being told that his teacher has given up on him is not acceptable to me at all.

[lobelia]

Wow, that is a lot, and "real" private as well (you know not just the 'sous contrat' schools.) You definitely aren't getting value for money if you are not immediately met with a response from the teacher, and you are absolutely right to think that it is unacceptable that promises of extra lessons did not materialise. You must have signed a contract, you'll have to check this out, but I asked my OH, who's also a teacher and who's had more experience than me, (plus is French) he says it is the 16th birthday that counts.