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Can maternelles refuse to accept students?
Hi,
We have enrolled my 3.5 years old son in a maternelle in Etterbeek in September and since then it's been nothing but problems. Today one of the teacher flatly told my wife they don't expect to see him this week as they can't deal with him. He's a very active child, but otherwise completely normal. Another problem is that he doesn't speak French, but that was the whole point of enrolling him at a French maternelle. The complaints we receive is that he's too active, doesn't do the puzzles, sometimes bites other kids, etc. nothing really major (I'd think). Anyway, that's not a sustainable situation for us, my wife doesn't work, but does intensive French courses and can't babysit whole day... I'm going to take an appointment with the director to discuss this and we'll probably transfer to a private school as even if resolved I can't risk punitive action against my son who can't even explain what's going on. Anyway my question is - does maternelle staff have the legal right to refuse to take an enrolled pupil? Oh, by the way they called PMS we met with them and he said he's completely fine, and needs time to integrate. Apparently the staff don't really want to bother though. Any input? Thanks!
Sorry I have no idea if a maternelle can kick out a child, certainly in primaire they can, but it is not an easy process.
Is it possible to ask the school if you can somehow observe your child whilst in the classroom (might be a non starter, as your presence may result in altered behaviour), or possibly if a trusted friend could go in an observe on your behalf, in order to see if this really is a behavioural issue, if it's the school failing to respond to needs.
Do you have a copy of the PMS' findings to take to the director too?
I would say, if you are writing on here, it may indeed be time to move your son, but don't just go to a private school, you simply need any school where your son is happy, not easy I know to know until they have already started. But maybe a small school might be a good solution, or one with a lot of parental involvement, one where parents spend the first 30 minutes of the day in the classroom if they wish.
I cannot answer the question directly either, but I think you should take a more objective look at your child's behavior. "Very active child" in this context is usually a euphemism, and "sometimes bites other kids" clearly means multiple incidents, which you simply brush off as "nothing really major". Perhaps the parents of the bitten children have complained about this. The school has a mixed variety of children of different temperaments and deal with various types of misbehavior, but do they ask parents to keep children at home for minor reasons. My intention is not to attack you. I'm just saying that perhaps he is a more difficult bundle to handle than you, as a parent, feel, and that you can contribute to solving this issue.
