Saint-Cloud
LES INSCRIPTIONS SONT OUVERTES POUR LA RENTRÉE 2025
ECOLE
bilingue
Bilingual Montessori School in Saint-Cloud (92)
Language as a tool for thought and communication
Through an active method based on gradual immersion in the language, children appropriate a way of thinking linked to a way of expressing themselves, without ever relying on translation.
A language embodies a way of thinking, being, and acting. To speak a different language, one must shift mindset—and this is exactly what children do, effortlessly and naturally.
They think in English, they speak English.
True bilingualism : native English-speaking teachers
All English teachers, both in preschool and primary school, are native English speakers. This is an essential guarantee that children acquire the best possible accent from a very young age.
English-speaking teachers speak English to the children; French-speaking teachers speak French to them. This strict division of roles allows children to clearly distinguish between the two languages according to their interlocutors.
BILINGUALISM FROM THE VERY START OF SCHOOL
SECOND-LANGUAGE LEARNING FOR VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
Two teachers are present alongside the children throughout the day, including during recess and lunchtime. This constant presence fosters a highly effective first immersion in everyday vocabulary. In the morning, the French-speaking teacher and the English-speaking teacher share the same space and guide children in their individual work, each in her own language.
After recess, they lead workshops (mathematics, pre-writing/graphomotor skills, language), one in French and the other in English. In the afternoon, activities (gymnastics, visual arts, botany, music and dance) take place in either French or English.
The timetable is organized so that each preschool child spends 50% of their time in French and 50% in English.
These preschool years lay the foundations for the gradual establishment of bilingualism.
In this way, as with a child’s mother tongue, natural immersion occurs before the “language explosion”: “they understand everything but do not yet speak.”
It can be observed that, from the first primary class (CP2), the skills acquired in preschool bear fruit: the child begins to speak.
English in primary school
Simultaneously learning to read and write in two different languages is delicate. For this reason, we have chosen a two-step approach: as a school based in France, we logically begin with French before introducing reading and writing in English.
Nevertheless, English remains a core subject up to CM2, where many subjects are taught in English (English language, history, geography, literature, science, physical education) for children who wish to do so.
CP2 - CP
(5 to 7 hours of English per week)
To ensure that all children successfully master reading and writing with solid foundations, this learning initially takes place in a single language: French. However, from CP2 and CP onwards,
English is one of the three main subjects, alongside French and mathematics.
Formal English instruction begins at this stage, with five hours per week and a very gradual introduction to the structures of the language.
For children, learning to read and write in English begins in CP, during differentiated sessions held twice a week.
CE1 - CE2
(5 to 7 hours of English per week)
In CE1-CE2, language teaching takes place within two distinct groups in which children perfect their knowledge and handling of language structures, both orally and in writing, under the guidance of an English-speaking teacher.
One of the two groups is made up of English-speaking children, bilingual children, French children returning from expatriation, or children who started learning English in kindergarten and who are particularly comfortable in English. It offers language learning that is now done both in writing and orally, with sustained progress.
The other group, made up of French-speaking children who need a little more time to master the English language, allows the children to consolidate their oral skills and gradually approach writing with confidence.
All the children in CE1-CE2 have acquired a sufficient level to follow a whole afternoon in English together, with a poetry workshop and a science workshop.
Some CE2 children also participate in the English theater workshop.
CM
(7 to 12 hours of English per week)
Children are now divided into three groups, including a group of bilingual students who receive specific preparation for entrance exams to international sections in public or private middle schools.
In CM, English learning is structured by subject (grammar, spelling, oral and written expression, reading). Depending on each child’s specific needs, the number of hours devoted to English ranges from 3 to 5 hours.
All children spend one full afternoon per week in English: geography, visual arts, or preparation for international section entrance tests. That same afternoon, all children also come together weekly for an English poetry session. In addition, once a month, class life activities take place in English.
Most children also study other subjects in English, either in the morning or afternoon: geometry, science, drama, journalism (writing articles for the class newspaper), and literature.
