GUIDE TO LA RENTRÉE The start of the academic year means kitting out
your kids with an extensive list of school supplies, says Catharine Higginson, but it’s also time to turn a new page and start with a clean slate – and to bag a bargain in the supermarkets!
A
ugust is holiday time in France; many businesses close for much of
the month, villages hold their fêtes, holidaymakers fl ock to the coast and the shops start gearing up for September’s la rentrée. This is a sort of ‘back to school’ but one that aff ects the entire country! It marks the start of the
academic year but it’s defi nitely not just for school children and students. It’s more like the fi rst of January; a chance to turn a new page and start with a clean slate. Magazines run features encouraging their readers to ‘prepare’ for la rentrée (cleaning, organising and dieting all seem to feature!) clubs and associations recruit new members, and parents sign their kids up to various extracurricular activities. And of course, shops and
supermarkets get in on the act. Thirty years ago it was just the stationers and stationery isles in the supermarkets that were busy promoting their
‘spécial rentrée’ off ers, then the supermarkets began using the period to increase sales in all departments and these days, just about every shop and business will have some kind of off er or promotion on!
A LONG LIST
Going back to school is, of course, still the core of la
rentrée. While parents all over France will be relieved at the thought of the long summer holidays fi nally ending, an equal number will be in a state of utter panic at the mere idea of shopping for la liste des
fournitures. At the start of every academic year, from maternelle through to lycée, parents are expected to supply their children with a selection of items that the school considers essential. For the smallest children, schools are likely to request items such as slippers for the kids to wear indoors, a cuddly toy for nap time and napkins for lunchtimes.
By primary school the lists include pens, pencils, paints, exercise books and are
extensive, including items like rubbers, rulers, paintbrushes, pencil sharpeners and glue sticks, to name but a few. Secondary school, and
especially collège, is probably the period where the lists are the most specifi c. By now your child will have diff erent teachers for diff erent subjects and each one will have their own preferences. This is the point when you can spend over an hour desperately searching the stationery isle for exactly the right exercise book; the French teacher requires a ‘Cahier - 17 x 22 cm - 48 pages grands carreaux’ - and the geography
teacher has requested a ‘Cahier - 24 x 32 cm - 96 pages petits carreaux’. In addition to ‘copy’ books, your child will need a fairly unlimited stock of paper - copies simples et doubles - art supplies (the type of drawing and tracing paper, felt pens, paints and coloured pencils will
Don’t leave it too late too shop for stationary – you might bag a rentrée bargain 90 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: September/October 2023
all be specifi ed) and you will also need to source all the other items on the list such as pencil cases, calculators, fountain pens, highlighters, sports gear
The schools will provide an extensive shopping list for supplies
and so forth. And, of course, your child will need an ‘agenda’ – an academic year diary – to note down their timetable and homework, a school bag and, if they’ve grown over summer, new shoes and clothing!
LAST-MINUTE ADD-ONS If you are lucky, the school may off er a scheme where the parents pay a fi xed fee and the children are issued with all the school supplies they need (usually exercise books and some basic stationery supplies) in September, with parents being expected to ‘top up’ as required throughout the year. Such schemes are growing but they are still the exception rather than the rule. Schools issue la liste de
fournitures at the end of the academic year, but there are almost always last-minute additions to the lists in September. As suppliers start
© SHUTTERSTOCK
© SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
