The British Section is a fee-paying section offering a mother-tongue English curriculum to children aged 3 to 18 within a network of five French state schools in the Saint-Germain-en-Laye - Le Pecq area. Pupils spend between 6-8 hours per week (depending on the year group) learning in English with British Section teachers, and the rest of their lesson time in a French class learning all other subjects in French. Consequently, British Section pupils receive a genuine bilingual and bicultural education and are fully integrated into the French host school system.
Class structure
Please click on the diagram below for more information about each level.
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Early years/maternelle
British Section maternelle classes take place across two sites:
- École Internationale, Saint-Germain-en-Laye: 1 class per year group for the first two years (Nursery/Reception), 2 classes for Grande Section (Reception/Year 1). Most of the children in these year groups belong to the externé programme, a special arrangement with local maternelle and primary schools, which allows our younger pupils to attend their local French school for most of the week and attend the École Internationale for their British Section lessons.
- École maternelle Jehan Alain, Le Pecq: 1 class at Grande Section level. All children attend the École Jehan Alain on a full-time basis.
In this cycle (UK Years Nursery, Reception, and Year 1), the British Section teaches a foundation years programme in English in one weekly session (3 hours) in Petite Section (Nursery) and in two weekly sessions (3 hours each) in Moyenne (Nursery/Reception) and Grande Section (Reception/Year 1).
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Primary
British Section primary classes take place across two sites:
- École Internationale, Saint-Germain-en-Laye: 2 classes per year group. Most of the children in these year groups attend as externés. With the exception of those enrolled in the Français Spécial French immersion class, all new pupils from CE1 upwards will be externé pupils.
- École Félix Éboué, Le Pecq: 1 class per year group. All pupils attend the École Félix Éboué on a full-time basis. In this primary cycle (UK Years 2 to 6), the British Section teaches a programme in English in two weekly sessions (6 hours in total).
Middle school
Middle school/collège
British Section collège classes take place across three sites:
- Collège International, Saint-Germain-en-Laye: 1 bilingual class per year group,
- Collège Les Hauts Grillets, Saint-Germain-en-Laye: 1 bilingual class per year group, and
- Collège Pierre et Marie Curie, Le Pecq: 1 bilingual class + 1 Fast-track class per year group.
In the secondary cycle (UK Years 7 to 10), the British Section teaches English language and literature during four weekly periods of 50 minutes each and history-geography for two weekly periods. In Troisième (Year 10), the students start the IGCSE programme in English Literature and Language which they take at the end of Seconde (Year 11). In addition, students sit a French state exam, the Diplôme national du brevet - mention internationale, at the end of Troisième year (Year 10).
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Upper school/lycée
Upper school (lycée) in France is a three-year programme from Seconde (Year 11) to Terminale (Year 13). All British Section lycée classes take place at the Lycée International in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. There are four British Section classes (with approximately 18-20 students in each) per year group. In the upper school, the British Section teaches English language and literature in four weekly periods and an adapted version of the French national history-geography programme in English in four weekly periods.
Seconde
There are three mainstream British Section classes in Seconde and one class of Seconde Accueil, aimed at academically able francophone students with the ambition and motivation to take up the challenge of a bilingual and bicultural education. Anglophone students with little or no French are admitted via the Français Spécial programme, a one-year French immersion programme.
At the end of Seconde (Year 11), British Section students take IGCSE examinations in English Language, English Literature and History. Students can also opt to take an IGCSE in Mathematics for which they prepare with a private tutor after school.
Première and Terminale
In the last two years of the secondary cycle (Years 12 and 13), British Section students prepare for the BFI (Baccalauréat Français International - the international version of the French Baccalauréat), a fully integrated bilingual school-leaving qualification developed in partnership between the French Ministry of Education and Cambridge International Education, a department of Cambridge Assessment and the University of Cambridge.
Français Spécial
From its very beginnings, the Lycée International has offered a special adaptation class for children arriving in France with little or no French. This class is known as Français Spécial (FS), starting in CE1 (Year 3) and continuing up to and including Seconde (Year 11). Children follow an intensive one-year French immersion course on the Lycée International campus before joining one of the mainstream French classes the following year. During this Français Spécial (FS) year, pupils are also taught in English with their peers in the British Section classes. Children already living in France who are attending a school whose medium of instruction is English may also apply to join Français Spécial.