La rentrée rolls on
The info that came from Gwilym's school was a bit vague about certain things - we have to make a parental contribution to his school of 720 euros, but can we pay that in ten monthly instalments ? Nothing said we could. So I was reluctant to just send them the direct debit form without knowing what they'd do with it.
I tried phoning. Oh boy, how I tried phoning. But the phone was never answered. Never.
Then there was chaos about the canteen. That costs nearly 800 euros for the year. Working it out showed that the meals which, by and large, our children don't eat would cost a lot of money each. We decided to send him with sandwiches - a thing almost unknown and unthinkable in France. Hey, we're not here so everything stays the same !
But when they handed out the canteen cards to the kids having school meals they gave one to Gwilym. He thought it was wonderful, ate his sandwiches and then went off looking for chips. "You've paid for it", he said, no doubt echoing the words of his teacher. No we haven't. Give the card back.
So off to the economat I went. Firstly my son is not demi-pensionnaire. OK, easily done - he changed one thing on the computer and it was done. If I pay with prélèvement automatique is that monthly ? "Yes, over ten months."
Perfect. It's so much better when you see the person face to face.
I also had the certificat de radiation to give in to the secretary. "The lycée pro has no secretary at the moment", said the receptionist.
That explains all those unanswered phone calls.
I tried phoning. Oh boy, how I tried phoning. But the phone was never answered. Never.
Then there was chaos about the canteen. That costs nearly 800 euros for the year. Working it out showed that the meals which, by and large, our children don't eat would cost a lot of money each. We decided to send him with sandwiches - a thing almost unknown and unthinkable in France. Hey, we're not here so everything stays the same !
But when they handed out the canteen cards to the kids having school meals they gave one to Gwilym. He thought it was wonderful, ate his sandwiches and then went off looking for chips. "You've paid for it", he said, no doubt echoing the words of his teacher. No we haven't. Give the card back.
So off to the economat I went. Firstly my son is not demi-pensionnaire. OK, easily done - he changed one thing on the computer and it was done. If I pay with prélèvement automatique is that monthly ? "Yes, over ten months."
Perfect. It's so much better when you see the person face to face.
I also had the certificat de radiation to give in to the secretary. "The lycée pro has no secretary at the moment", said the receptionist.
That explains all those unanswered phone calls.
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