7. French Primary School - Ecole Primaire

1. Structure
2. Enrolment
3. Curriculum
4. Assessment

7.3. Curriculum in a French Primary School

Primary school education consists of five years of education. These five years are divided over two main 'cycles of learning'.

The first three years in primary school are called the cycle apprendissages fondamentaux where the emphasis is on the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

The next two years is called the cycle de consolidation.

The basic curriculum for each cycle is shown below, which can be subject to only minor local variation.

Table: Cycle Fondamentaux

Table: Cycle Consolidation

As can be seen, priority is given to the French language, although it is of interest to note that teaching of a second modern language is part of the curriculum.

The cycles must include two hours a day of reading and writing, which can be taken within the subject areas.

History and geography are taken together as a single discipline.

There are also preliminary studies on information technology leading to a certification process at the end of primary school or in collège.

Pupils are required to be given an understanding of common risks they may encounter in life, accident prevention and the basic principles of emergency first aid treatment. The topic is taught within the main curriculum.

From September 2022, President Macron has stated that all primary schools pupils must undertake 30 minutes of sport each day. A daily sports routine is already part of the school days in many schools, but will now be obligatory and national policy from September 2022. Schools will have the discretion to determine how it is organised.

The school week is 24 hours, attended over 4 or 4.5 days a week, as determined by the school. Most schools have opted for 4 days, leaving Wednesday free. Attendance at school on a Saturday morning, which used to be so much of a feature of schooling in France, has been abolished.

In recent years the government has sought to ban the use of modern teaching methods of French in all primary schools, insisting on a return to more a more orthodox teaching of the language.

The decision has been taken because of concern about the number of pupils leaving primary school without an adequate grasp of the language or ability to read.

They claim approximately 20% of primary school children enter secondary education without a sufficient level of reading proficiency.

The ruling has caused outrage amongst teachers, and, whilst parents seem to have welcomed the change, some of the parent-teacher associations have expressed reservations.

The guidance stipulates that language teaching should focus on a proper understanding of letters and sounds (called méthode syllabique), rather than learning through reading of text and phrases (called méthode globale).

The government argue that without a proper understanding of the rules and construction of the language, a pupil's ability to use the language is seriously impaired.

Teachers refute the sharp distinction that is being drawn between the two methods of learning and say that a strict implementation of one type of teaching method will be to the detriment of some pupils.

Others argue that the problem is not with the teaching method, but with the French language itself, which is considered to be too complex and contains too many irregularities.

In practice, therefore, a great many teachers have simply not adopted it!

Next: Assessment

Back: Enrolment