International Bilingual School of Provence

3POSTS

14 years ago

Hi

My brother is moving with family to Provence. We would like to know parents experiences in schooling for kids in IBS of Provence not having French as first language.

Thanks for your inputs.

Regards
Mahesh

The Provence expat guide

Comprehensive and free

Read it now

ProvenceSearch New member

5POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Manesh,

IBS of Provence is an excellent secondary school and caters to children of all languages. The classes are in both French and English and when they are a bit older (at the Lycee level) they choose whether to take the International Bac with English as their first language or not. They can also take the International GCSE's. About half the students are French and they can also take the normal French Bac. Many children have several languages and parents of different nationalities and this is also reflected in the nationalities of the teachers. IBS of Provence thus is a truly International School as opposed to many bilingual schools in France which are more meant for French children wishing to learn solid English. I hope that helps.

Kind regards,

Sophia

gnl New member

4POSTS

13 years ago

Hello,

I'm a French native mom with two children (10 and 8) and we are currently living in New York state. I'm planning to move to Aix-en-Provence this month after living for years in the US. My children have never attended a French school before and I was wondering if IBS would be a good fit for them ?. I'm a little concerned about the overall attitude of the school and the entry test in French (3rd and 5th gr. level)in order to be accepted in this school. I don' t want my children have a bad experience and be teased at or put down during the test or in class by the staffs or students because of their level in French .Do you have any thoughts about it ? I'm mainly looking for a small bilingual school with a easy going/kind/humble director and with experienced and compassionate staffs who truly love working with children and have great communication skills with parents.Does the school has a small ratio/child/teacher/class to make sure that children learn in the best condition and get the attention when needed in French or in English. Do the French and English native teachers customize the curriculum of their students in class when necessary to help students gain confidence and enjoy learning long term ?

Any feedback from others French or English speaking families is very welcome and will be very helpful to me to help me make the best decision for my children.

Thank you for your thoughts and you reply offline at N_et**

regards,

G.Neal

figue2023 Member

1POSTS

3 years ago

@gnl hello did you end up moving to Aix after all? Ready to do the same from Canada this year with my 2 kids (8-10) . I am actively looking for a bilingual school… since your message is from 2013, I thought you might have some interesting feed back based on your experience… thank you HF