Blogger Template by Blogcrowds

About IEAM Outbound

The IEAM (International Education Association of Montpellier) is a "Loi 1901" non-profit association, created in July 2003 by a group of concerned parents wishing to promote and provide access to multilingual education in and around Montpellier.

Today we have around 40 member families. Come join us if you are an Anglophone or Anglophile, and if you share our desires for international education. (en Francais)

IEAM English Language Workshops for Anglophone Children

IEAM Outbound proposes monthly workshops to English speaking children where they can exercise their English as a learning tool. Workshops are open to active IEAM members, and require a strong level of English to participate:

Club - Designed for Anglophone children ages 6 to 11, this workshop helps kids keep up-to-date with reading and writing in English, get ready for future study, and help develop reading and story-building skills as a way into Anglophone culture.

Discovery - Based on reading and personal written work from participants, this program typically involves literature and other written materials used in school programs of Anglophone countries. An Anglophone cultural program for middle- school children aged 11 to 16.

Chatterbox - NEW ! For the first time, classes of English for non-anglophone children are offered at Outbound.
Classes for kids and teens, where oral practice through playful activities instead of traditional theoretical study, leads participants to rapidly and effectively express themselves in English.

PIG - Parent & Infant group meeting every second week for bilingual toddlers up to 5 or 6 years old.

Drama - Using Drama class techniques (improvisation, role-playing, mime,) participants learn to speak up more confidently in English while having fun! Please write to us at the e-mail address for more details. (en Francais)

August 7, 2007

International Option of Baccalaureate

We are continuing our efforts to get an Anglophone section to the International Option of the Baccalauréat in the Montpellier Académie. This time we are going to send a petition to the Recteur's office to try and get them to stop postponing the opening of the Anglophone section we've been fighting for. Sign the petition now.

We'll present your electronic signatures to the Recteur again in September. Thanks!

Since its creation, IEAM Outbound has been the spokesperson for families wishing to see increased presence of international sections in the local French schools. In 2005, our request was heard by the Rectorat, who has proposed to open an Anglophone section at Jean Monnet/Alco in September 2006. We will stay involved with this hot issue throughout the year to make sure it goes through!

Who is it for?

International sections have been designed to welcome foreign pupils into the French school system (they must represent between 25% and 50% of the total student body of the section). Their objective is to ease these students' integration into the French school environment, as well as their possible future return to their school system of origin; they also aim at providing an environment likely to allow French pupils to acquire a foreign language at a very high level.

Curriculum
Primary section: (1st to 5th grades) 3 to 6 hours, out of the 26 hours taught weekly, are done in English Language

Secondary Curricula: Middle school (6th-9th grades/US; year 7-10/GB) = six additional hours of English per week

  • 2 hrs in history and geography, in addition to the classic 2 hrs already included in the French curriculum (which count as one subject area in the French system), based on a syllabus jointly developed by French and foreign administrations.
  • 4 hrs in language / literature taught in English, in addition to the regular study hours of the first foreign language for the section.

High School (10th-12th grades/US; year 11-13/GB) = 8 hours of English per week + 3hrs optional

Same study structure as in Collège for the first year. For the two final years of secondary study, pupils choose to concentrate on an area for the French general baccalauréat. There are 3 choices: L (literature, languages & humanities), ES (economic & social sciences), and S (math & sciences).

Diplomas Obtained
Brevet à Option Internationale, a French national examination with English components, which is an equivalent for the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) in English language and literature, or for the Middle School Assessment Test for the USA.

Option Internationale du Baccalauréat (OIB) contributes heavily (coefficients between 7 and 10) to the overall result of a pupil's baccalauréat. The American Option is equivalent to three Advanced Placement (AP) examinations, and the British option is equivalent to three A levels in English literature, history and geography.

If you want your children to have access to this kind of education, please fill in the request letter to open the Anglophone section in Montpellier. By sending this form to us, you can be sure to be counted among the interested people (download the letter).
(en Francais)

Posted by IEAM Outbound at 5:07 PM