Education

In order to cope with the changes in requirements and accommodate new populations, in particular in the districts which have undergone major urban development projects, the opening of three new schools has been announced:

• in Bottière-Chénaie (16 classes ready for the autumn term 2009),
• in Dervallières-Chézine with the science centre (for the autumn term 2009),
• on the île de Nantes (10 classes for September 2011),

These projects are complemented by substantial renovations to the les Garennes school (Bellevue-Chantenay), the school of les Réformes, the school at Linot (Saint-Joseph-de-Porterie), the school at Fonteny (Chantenay / Sainte-Anne), and the Bergson school (Malakoff).

To go beyond school success, by using all the resources around the school to support everything which may contribute to the development and emancipation of young people. In this, if the school continues to play a major role, the creation of an educational success service enables everyone to work together better in co-education. Parents are recognised and supported as the first educators of children and young people, and every player in education must find his or her place: teachers, district organisations, federations of parents of pupils and popular education, and municipal staff, so that together they can construct a shared educational project

. The opening of a science and environment centre at les Dervallières is a very concrete illustration of what it is possible to do together, in a district in the midst of renovation, which enjoys a rich natural environment, so as to succeed together in terms of science and technology as a source of discoveries, experiment and shared projects.

The children of Nantes benefit from daily extra-curricular services and take part in a variety of educational activities, both outside and during school time. In the city’s state schools, the supervision and extracurricular activities in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening are run by voluntary teachers, community personnel (at pre-school) and organisers from the organisation Nantes Action Périscolaire (Nantes Extra-curricular Action).

In parallel and to encourage the success of pupils, the City coordinates and manages educational activities at primary and secondary schools: IT workshops, sporting and cultural activities, school trips, and theatre and plastic arts workshops. The children and adolescents in social housing districts benefit from educational support, in particular via the “Ambition Réussite” (Ambition success) network in secondary schools, to which the city contributed €80,00 in 2008 for 64 different activities.

In Nantes, the rules on the composition of meals and food safety are scrupulously complied with thanks to the team of professionals who have mastered every stage from production to distribution. The meals are developed by a dietician and a chef, approved by the city’s menus committee, and then produced in a central kitchen which supplies all the schools and leisure centres.

The city organises school enrolments and allocates pupils to the public pre-schools and elementary schools depending on their home address, giving priority to proximity and encouraging a social mix. In 2008, the education service endeavoured to make this process easier for parents of pupils and for head teachers of schools, and the latter now have access to the Maélis program for managing enrolments via the Internet. For their part, the families of children already enrolled in pre- and after-school clubs no longer have to fill in forms every year thanks to a partnership between the Caisse d’Allocations familiales (the body responsible for awarding family allowances) and the city.

In order to maintain a close relationship with users, and inform families about their role within the school and the services on offer to them, in 2008 the City developed activities and tools for information and dialogue, such as the information letters for parents which are now sent to the homes of all parents, the sciences forum at les Dervallières in May, or the first issue of the internal journal of the education management department “Educ’info” in June.

The City of Nantes al so supports the running of private schools under partnership agreements, namely 30 schools with 7,411 pupils. By providing social aid for their catering, contributing to the payment of fixed rate fees, to the provision of school books, stationery and equipment, and pre- and after-school clubs, the city gets involved in keeping the costs of access to private education at a moderate level for the families who wish to use this.

Figures on out-of-school clubs and educational outings

1,290 pupils attend the out-of-school club in the morning, 10,817 at lunchtime and 3,372 in the evening.
3rd Contrat Educatif Local (CEL) (Local Educational Contract) for the period 2006-2009: 117 schools (115 state schools and 2 private) are involved in reorganisation projects for the out-of-school clubs.
267,679 pupil journeys for cultural and artistic activities organised by the network le Tan costing €168,083.
517 educational trips by coach took place at a total cost to the City of €53,206.
€45,000 dedicated to activities connected with the scientific centre in the les Dervallières district.
48 classes (679 pupils) enjoyed a stay at the seaside or close to nature with the support of the city.

Figures on catering

88 satellite restaurants (pre-school and elementary school)
€3,341,820 operating budget of which €3,015,660 was for food for the central kitchen
1,456,000 meals produced for the schools
212,520 meals produced for the leisure centres

At school…

7,095 pupils attended pre-school and 9,754 elementary school to benefit from state education in 115 schools, of which 53 were pre-schools, 49 elementary schools and 13 primary schools offering both pre-school and elementary education. 4,490 school enrolments were carried out
Private primary schools under partnership agreements: 7,411 pupils involved in 30 schools. Total support provided by the city: €4,286,405 of which €287,960 came under social aid for catering (1,717 pupils involved).

Switched on pupils

77 of the 116 libraries and documentation centres are equipped with IT, representing 1,602 computers, or an average of 1 item of equipment for every 8 pupils. (Ministerial recommendations are 1 per 10 pupils for 2010).