1) Definitions of special needs in France and the network of actions and programs to support students with disabilities or illnesses. 2) Laws guaranteeing disabled students the right to education and adjustments to support their schooling. 3) Structures that help students with learning difficulties at the primary and secondary levels, including CLIS, SEGPA, Relay Classes, and ULIS. 4) The medico-educational sector for students who cannot attend ordinary schools. 5) How one school, Arche du Lude, supports underachieving and students from disadvantaged backgrounds through programs like PPRE and homework

1. SPECIAL
SCHOOLING AND
EDUCATIONAL
NEEDS
IN FRANCE

2. This seminar is about “special needs” within the school systems of the participating
countries in the Comenius project.
Defining what “special needs” is quite difficult for there is no specific term for the
pupils needing particular care adapted to their special educational needs in France.
However a whole network of actions and programmes according to the difficulties,
disabilities or illness of some pupils.
At school, these actions and programmes are under the direct authority of the
Ministry of Education but they can be associated to actions and programmes
depending on the medico-educational sector and/or the socio-educational sector.

3. DISABLED PUPILS

4. DISABLED PUPILS
The law of February 11th, 2005 on the
Equality of Rights and Opportunities,
Participation and Citizenship of Disabled
People affirms disabled pupils’ right to
education and the responsibility of the
educational system to guarantee the continuity of
individual schooling careers.

5. Disabled Pupils
This law institutes for schools the obligation to:
-provide the pupil, whenever possible, with ordinary school access as close as
possible to his home;
-> “Whenever possible” is important because, for instance, in our school Arche du
Lude there is no lift although there are two floors. So we cannot have pupils with
wheelchairs. However we have already taken in blind pupils which required
individual specific device.
-guarantee the continuity of the schooling career, adapted to the capacities and
needs of the pupil and associate their parents in the decision process of orienting
their child and in stages of the definition of his personal schooling project (PPS for
Projet Personnalisé de Scolarisation);
->In our school Arche du Lude a few pupils suffer from diabetes and the school
doctor and the parents meet together and adapt the pupil’s schooling project.
-guarantee the equality of opportunities for disabled and other candidates, by
ensuring a legal basis for the adjustment of examination conditions.

6. Disabled Pupils
The has been created in order to help disabled puMDPH
for Maison Départementale des Personnes
Handicapées
( Departmental House of Disabled Persons) pupils and
their families, it is also a link between schools and the
families.
-> For instance, in our school, they make sure that some
of the pupils with dyslexia get extra time to write their
papers during national exams.

7. SCHOOLING DIFFICULTIES

8. SCHOOLING DIFFICULTIES
Primary school (first degree)
The RASED networks have been created to spot and help pupils in
their schooling difficulties in ordinary educational establishments.
Some primary schools have CLIS for Classe pour l’Inclusion Scolaire
can also help pupils with schooling difficulties such as mental
disability, hearing disability, visual disability or motor disability, or
behaviour problems.
Pupils are part of the time together in a special class (it is generally a
small group ) and part of the time in regular classes. The teachers
are specialized teachers and can work as educators.

9. SCHOOLING DIFFICULTIES
Middle school (secondary degree)
If the schooling difficulties persist, underachieving pupils can integrate SEGPA
for Section d’Enseignement Général et Professionnel Adapté. These sections
are fully integrated into ordinary middle schools, but not every middle school
has one SEGPA so it may be difficult for pupils in need to integrate the SEGPA.
Another problem is that sometimes educators, teachers and specialists strongly
advise (after testing the pupil) to integrate the SEGPA but it hasn’t always have a
good reputation among parents who give the final aggreement.
Pupils are helped in achieving basic skills and thus acquiring the basic level of
qualification thanks to priority enrolment into vocational high schools.
-> Our school Arche du Lude doesn’t have a SEGPA but there is one in another
middle school in our city Joué-lès-Tours. So nearly every year some of our pupils
do integrate this SEGPA.

10. SCHOOLING DIFFICULTIES
Middle school (secondary degree)
Relay classes (classes relais) have been created pupils who can’t stand
being at school. Some of them are constantly absent from school or can
create a disrupting atmosphere within the classes.
After acceptance of a common board of teachers belonging to the Relay
class but also social workers and education specialists these pupils can
integrate these Relay Classes for a temporary period of time within a school
year and then re-integrate their ordinary classes.
-> In our school, regularly a few pupils integrate the Relay Class which is in
the center of Tours. Teachers and educators are in constant relation with
our school to assess the pupils’ social and educational progress.

11. SCHOOLING DIFFICULTIES
Middle school (secondary degree)
Another structure is called ULIS for Unités Localisées
pour l‘Inclusion Scolaire which are somehow the
equivalent of the CLIS but at secondary level, that is a
small group of pupils sharing the same type of disability
are part-time integrated within ordinary middle or high
schools.

12. SCHOOLING DIFFICULTIES
Middle school (secondary degree)
Another ways of learning for special needs pupils
is distance learning with the CNED for Centre
National d’Enseignement à Distance.
This center allows pupils who are not physically
able to go to ordinary schools to get the school
curriculum. Sometimes teachers can even go and
teach at home.

13. THE MEDICO-EDUCATIONAL SECTOR
When school attendance in ordinary schools is not possible, disabled
pupils integrate medico-social institutions, mostly IME for Institut
Médico-Educatif, in which they get schooling, educational and therapeutic
care, according to their type of disability.
The CMPP for Centre Médico-Psycho-Pédagogique ensure diagnosis and
treatment of pupils with neuro-psychic or behavioural disorders.
->In our school Arche du Lude the teachers along with the school
psychologist and career counsellor and the school nurse and doctor
sometimes advise the parents to go to the CMPP for diagnosis and
guidance.

14. HOW OUR SCHOOL ARCHE DU LUDE
DEALS WITH LEARNING
DIFFICULTIES
A lot of our pupils come from socially deprived environment and are, regarding
to the national tests, underachieving pupils.
We help them through different ways:
PPRE Passerelle: a link between primary school and middle school, the action
starts in primary and is carried on at the beginning of middle school.
PPRE for Programme Personnalisé de Réussite Éducative for year7s and year8s:
We coordonate actions in order to help pupils with their learning difficulties in a
document discussed with/between pupils, parents and teachers. It lasts for a
period of maximum 6 weeks, by the end of which progress is assessed. The
actions are then carried on or not.
One teacher works with a very small group of pupils sharing the same type of
difficulties, for instance « organize one’s work », « reading instructions » etc.

15. How our school Arche du Lude
deals with learning difficulties
Aide aux devoirs or Homework assistance:
small groups of pupils who may need
assistance for various reasons such as minor
learning difficulties or unfavourable conditions
of work at home do their homework with an
Educational Assistant or a teacher at school
after class.