Bilingual Education Exchange, or BEE, is a not-for-profit association ('loi 1901') offering English literacy classes and varied activities for Anglophone children living in the Vallée du Dropt area of South-West France. Classes and clubs are available from age 2 up to 16, including iGCSE in English which launched in September 2009. We currently run six classes with an average of 8 pupils in each. We also offer English classes for French children - please click here. We also offer music classes for 2-6 year olds, a bilingual Junior Choir and music instrument tuition - please click here.

Children attending BEE activities will usually be in French school or college the rest of the week, which is why our classes on Wednesdays are full of fun, varied activities, including lots of creative work, speaking and listening, and socialising while English literacy skills are worked on in a non-pressured, friendly environment. We are able to provide all the advantages of an international school - group work, international community - while enabling your child to remain fully integrated into their life at their French school.

Why should I enrol my child at BEE?

Your child:

• would like to make English-speaking friends
• is starting sounds and letters in English
• is a developing reader looking for new stimulation
• is a confident reader whose writing is falling behind
• is a fluent reader and writer of English needing new challenges
• needs to look ahead to career and university choices
• would like to experience the cultural and creative elements that you feel may be lacking from his or her French state education
• is looking for a fun and different way to spend their Wednesday

Whichever of these categories applies to you and your child, BEE classes have something to offer.

What teaching methods are used?

All classes are taught by teachers who have British teaching qualifications and experience in teaching in classrooms in the UK. Some of them also have experience with bilingual or expat Anglophone children. BEE uses familiar British classroom tools and methods. With our younger learners, letter sounds are learnt partly through the use of the Jolly Phonics method.

We follow the Oxford Reading Tree with our younger learners. We also complement this reading scheme with a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles which are available for children to freely access in our children's library, established last year to celebrate World Book Day 2009.

At higher levels, the pupils are introduced to different types of texts both in terms of reading and writing. By our Key Stage Three class, pupils are being familiarised with reading and writing different genres and types of language use in both fiction and non-fiction. This will enable them to go on to tackle the challenging iGCSE programme in English, which is largely based on textual analysis and recognition and use of different types of writing.

How do classes correspond to the UK curriculum?

Lessons are taught with reference to the UK National Literacy Framework. This is a standardisation tool developed by the UK government. We aim to keep BEE children roughly on track with their UK counterparts in terms of reading and writing, so that by the time they reach adulthood they have a competent level of written English appropriate to further work or study in an Anglophone context. This is made possible by the quality and experience of our teachers and a sensitive learning programme where the language background of every child is taken into account.

Our aim is to provide a place where children who are lucky enough to be English-speaking and living in France can keep up their English while meeting and making friends with others in the same situation. This applies of course to parents too and there will be lots of opportunities throughout the year for parents to socialise!

How can I find out more?

You can find information about our current teaching staff by clicking here. To see a selection of our current projects in class please click here. Please don't hesitate to contact us for more information or to visit our classes and have a look for yourself.