Primary admissions

Please read all of what follows carefully before applying for a place. This document explains priorities for admission and other important issues which you must understand before applying.

For more information on testing, dates of forthcoming tests and how to register for testing, see the Latest News and Important Dates and Events pages on this website. Consult the rest of this website for further details of the Programme. The Primary Brochure page is especially important.

General Points

The Primary Programme’s principal aim is to provide tuition in English, based on the National Curriculum, on one afternoon each week at mother tongue level for first language and good second language speakers of English, working in collaboration with the French educational system. Pupils who attend the Programme receive the main part of their education during the rest of the week in a French primary school.

Admission to the Programme is not automatic. If fundamental decisions about coming to live in the Pays de Gex or about your children's educational future depend upon gaining a place in the Programme, please seek our advice before taking these decisions.

Places and admissions priorities

Children must be enrolled in a French primary school in the Pays de Gex.
Priority is given to children of parents who are resident in France. Children who attend French primary schools in the Pays de Gex, but whose parents reside in Switzerland, will be considered if space allows.
Within the group of students who achieve a pass mark in the tests for the primary section, priority is given to children of CERN employees whose children attend a French primary school in the Pays de Gex. (By ‘CERN employees’ is meant those who have are employed directly by CERN.)

Testing for Primary

All places in the Programme are awarded on the basis of entrance test performances.

Testing for our intake class (the CE1 class) takes place during April or May preceding the beginning of pupils’ first academic year within the Programme. At this point, candidates are at the end of their CP year within French primary schools. For older classes (CE2 upwards), testing is usually in mid to late September. For all levels, tests can be at placed at any point during the school year, if places become available.

For our reception class (CE1), oral examinations take place in late April or early May for the following academic year. All French primary schools in the Pays de Gex are informed of the test date and asked to give this information to families. Existing members of the Association are also asked to pass this information onto new families who may be interested. The test date is placed on our website (on Important Dates and Events and Latest News pages) about one month in advance. Normally, seven or eight of the Programme's primary teachers conduct the oral tests in parallel. Moderation takes place via tape recordings. The testers’ main goal is to put children at their ease, so that they can respond in English with their usual fluency and confidence. Places are awarded son the basis of performance in the oral test.
For all other classes (CE2, CM1 and CM2), oral and written entrance testing takes place in late September, once the primary rentrée has taken place. These tests consist of a brief piece of continuous writing by the candidates and a comprehension exercise based on a short passage of prose. An oral test also takes place..
Apart from priorities outlined above, only the oral and written results (for CE1 only oral results) are taken into account in entrance testing. The date of a families' contact with the Programme in the preceding year is not taken into account.

Communication about testing and results

Information on all test dates is placed on our website about one month in advance. Written information also goes out via all French primary schools in the Pays de Gex. While we actively seek the cooperation of these schools, we cannot take responsibility for possible delays or failures in the communication of information.
We cannot issue personal reminders to all families who contact us during the year. Please check this website and/or email or telephone us in early April or early September (as appropriate) if for any reason you feel that information has not reached you.
All tests are by appointment only: you must contact us, preferably by email, in order to be given an appointment and details of testing arrangements.

Communication with the Programme

Please use email (secretary@enpferney.org) or telephone (04 50 40 82 66) to get in touch with the Programme’s secretary, Mrs. Howen.