Our tradition is our quest for innovation
École alsacienne – Paris – France
Academic Year 2020-2021
Ecole Alsacienne is an independant, secular French school, which welcomes pupils from age 3 (“maternelle”) through Upper Sixth Form (“Terminale”). Accredited by the Ministry of Education, we follow the national curriculum, and our pupils prepare the French Baccalaureate. We offer European and Oriental Sections, which enable pupils to study Science in English, as well as History & Geography in English or Chinese.
COVID-19: Our School’s Response
Despite the sanitary situation, our pupils have continued to receive instruction and successfully complete coursework.
16 March – 4 July 2020: school doors were closed to Upper School pupils. However, they participated in lessons via videoconferences (1-2 hours/week for every 3 hours of traditional class-time) and assignments. All pupils were technologically equipped to participate in both synchronous and asynchronous learning. During this period, according to government instructions, Ecole Alsacienne did not give marks due to the inability to judge the home environments of individual pupils. Yet, coursework was consistently evaluated and pupils received teacher feedback.
As of 2 September: our school has been open to all pupils and all classes and activities (excluding field trips and foreign exchange programmes) have resumed.
French Baccalaureate (from 2021) & Predicted Grades
A key change to the French Baccalaureate is continuous testing throughout Sixth Form. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown in France, pupils were “excused” from the second round of continuous testing in Lower Sixth (1e).
At the end of Lower Sixth, pupils receive 3 final marks for the modules which are not continued in Upper Sixth (Te):
- French Literature (oral)
- French Literature (written)
- One specialism
Again, the COVID-19 lockdown did not permit pupils to partake in the planned examinations. The final marks that appear on pupils’ official reports, were validated first by a Ministry of Education commission, then by a Ministry jury, based on the continuous assessment marks received pre-lockdown. It is important to note that, for the past three years running, there has been no significant difference between our pupils’ continuous assessment marks and those received on national exams.
Concerning predicted grades, Ecole Alsacienne’s university advisors have taken a similar approach in determining pupils’ future performance. The results of pending Baccalaureate modules have been predicted based on continuous assessment from Lower Sixth and the beginning of Upper Sixth. We have also taken into consideration each individual pupil’s overall performance and consistency throughout his/her Upper School education.
In predicting grades, we take into account our pupils’ best interests, in sync with the end goal of university success. We remain objective and aim at making predicted grades achievable.
