Bordeaux International School:
Bordeaux International School is situated in the beautiful and historic city of Bordeaux in South West France, world famous as a centre of the wine industry. With excellent motorway connections, rapid train services to destinations throughout France and Europe and an international airport, Bordeaux is easily reached from all parts of the world. It provides full-time primary and secondary education from the age of 3 to 19. Full time Boarding facilities are available with French families.
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Secondary School:
The staff (60% British, 40% other nationalities) are all fully qualified and experienced. The student population is approximately 40% British and 60% French and other nationalities in the Primary Section and 70% British, 17% American and 13% other nationalities in the secondary section.
Approximately half the students in the secondary section live at too great a distance from Bordeaux to commute daily, so these stay with ‘host families’ in Bordeaux during the week, and return to their homes at the weekends. The school timetable is adapted to their needs, starting at 10.00 on Mondays, and finishing just after lunch on Fridays. Besides providing accommodation, an important advantage of the "host family" system is that it allow students to practise and improve their French through everyday communication.
In the Secondary school, classes are taught in English and students are therefore only accepted if their competence in English is satisfactory. Bordeaux International school is a registered centre for examinations with the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, and the school prepares students for IGCSEs, and the AS and A2 Level examinations in a range of subjects. The programmes are adapted to meet the needs of American students requiring entry qualifications to colleges in the United States. Emphasis is placed on acquiring competence in the French language both through small classes within the school and involvement in educational, sporting and cultural facilities offered by the city outside the school.
Primary School:
Bordeaux International School welcomes approximately 15 nationalities into its primary education section each year, with 50% of the pupils being French. This fusion of world cultures is particularly stimulating for children of this age. Classes are mixed nationality and the teaching is in both French and English, with equal weight given to each language. The school is unique in that pupils not only learn a second language but also learn in that language.
Teachers teach in their mother tongue only and pupils speak to them in that language at all times. After discussion with the head of section on future plans, parents are asked to identify their child's first language for early language and literacy skills. This enables a stable, smooth progression in both languages.
The full teaching team has contact time with every pupil at some point during the school week, which is important for all-round development. The teaching team participates in weekly meetings to discuss progress. There is no host family option for this age group and pupils attend the school as day pupils.