The English Language Section at Massillon

 The English Language Section was created at Massillon in 1996 for the children of English-speaking families, bilingual families or children who had spent a period of time in school in English-speaking countries.
Classes of the section go :

• from the sixth form (sixième) to the third form (troisième) called collège

• to the end of secondary school (second form to "Terminale" called Lycée).

A corresponding section in the primary school is in development.

Objective :

The objective of the section is

• first to maintain the linguistic level of these children

• and, on a long term basis, to offer them a linguistic and cultural education which would permit them to enter (or re-enter) academic institutions, especially colleges and universities, in the English-speaking countries if they so desire.

For these reasons, the programme emphasizes writing and the study of the literary classics of the anglo-saxon culture.

Organisation :

English is the ONLY language used in the classes.

The teachers of the section (primary, middle and high school) are native English speakers chosen for their linguistic and teaching skills as well as for the culturel experience they bring with them and are capable of sharing with the children in various activities.

Children take an entrance examination to be admitted to the section. The exam takes into account the children's level of fluency and their ability to read and write in English. Consequently, all those enroled in the section have a good level of English. The number of participants is limited to a maximum of fifteen children per class. This privileged situation as well as the atmosphere created favours frequent participation by all.

The children of the section take regular classes in the national French curriculum for all their other subjects. These students have an additional two hours of English per week with the same teacher during free periods; they do not miss any course work required by the French national curriculum.

The total time of English instruction for each class of the section is thus five hours per week.