C’est la fin de l’année scolaire (en France comme aux Etats-Unis). / It’s the end of the school year (in France and in the United States).  In many ways school in France isn’t all that different from school in America, but in other ways, it’s quite different.

School in France is highly centralized, and as a result every élève** in France in a given grade or program is doing the same things whether he or she lives in une grande ville comme Paris, Lyon, ou Marseille ou au fin fond de la campagne (a big city like Paris, Lyon, or Marseille or in the furthest corner of the countryside).

When I lived in France in the 80’s and early 90’s, young children in l’école primaire (primary or elementary school) didn’t have class le mercredi (on Wednesdays) while older kids in le collège or le lycée had half days, a tradition going back to the start of formal public education in France which gave children a day off during the week for religious studies (remember, France is traditionally a very Catholic country). This mid-week day off was much loved, but it also meant that many kids went to school le samedi matin (on Saturday mornings) to make up class time. In fact, Saturday classes were quite common.

Saturday classes were abolished in 2008 for primary schools, and for older kids in 2009. However, since elementary school children didn’t go to school on Wednesday, this meant they only had 4 very-busy days of school. And so in 2012, the newly elected government of François Hollande decided to reinstate the 4 ½ day week for elementary school children, to spread out the learning time. While most schools opted for Wednesday morning classes, about 2.5% of schools in France decided to bring back Saturday morning classes (most notably in the departments of le Nord, la Seine-Maritime, la Seine-Saint-Denis, et la Val-de-Marne as well as the two “départements d’outre-mer” (overseas departments also refereed to as “DOM’s”) la Martinique et La Reunion.

And I know I shared it once before, but this time I’ve added les paroles (lyrics) and translations.

Donne-moi ta main et prends la mienne / Give me your hand and take mine
La cloche a sonné ça signifie / The bell has rung which means
La rue est à nous que la joie vienne / The streets are ours and joy is here
Mais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, It’s true, school is out

Nous irons danser ce soir peut-être / Perhaps we’ll go dancing tonight
Ou bien chahuter tous entre amis / Or make a ruckus / goof around with friends
Rien que d’y penser j’en perds la tête / Just the thought of it makes me lose my head
Mais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, it’s true, school is out

Donne-moi ta main et prends la mienne / Give me your hand and take mine
La cloche a sonné ça signifie / The bell has rung which means
La rue est à nous que la joie vienne / The streets are ours and joy is here
Mais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, It’s true, school is out

J’ai bientôt dix-sept ans un cœur tout neuf / I’ll soon be 17 with an open heart
Et des yeux d’ange / And angel eyes
Toi tu en as dix-huit mais tu en fais dix-neuf / You are 18 but you look 19
C’est ça la chance / Aren’t we lucky

Donne-moi ta main et prends la mienne / Give me your hand and take mine
La cloche a sonné ça signifie / The bell has rung which means
La rue est à nous que la joie vienne / The streets are ours and joy is here
Mais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, It’s true, school is out

Donne-moi ta main et prends la mienne / Give me your hand and take mine
Nous avons pour nous toute la nuit / We’ve got all night for us
On s’amusera quoi qu’il advienne / And we’ll have a good time whatever might come
Mais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, It’s true, school is out

Au petit matin devant un crème / In the early morning over our coffees
Nous pourrons parler de notre vie / We can talk about our life
Laissons au tableau tous nos problèmes / Leave behind on the blackboard all our problems
Donne-moi ta main et prends la mienneMais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, It’s true, school is out

La cloche a sonné ça signifie / The bell has rung which means
La rue est à nous que la joie vienne / The streets are ours and joy is here
Mais oui Mais oui l’école est finie / It’s true, It’s true, school is out

* Saturday school?!!

** In general terms, un/une élève is the generic term for a student in French schools, equivalent to the English word ‘pupil’. Students in middle school/jr. high (au college) are knowns as collégiens. High school students at le lycée are lycéens. The word for a university student is étudiant. See this concise post for a description of French grade levels.