Springboard boarding schools, boarding schools of excellence… What systems exist in France to support students?

While the government shows its desire to create boarding schools for “dropout students”, several systems already exist in France.

The Prime Minister was in Nice on Monday April 22, four days after his announcements to fight against the violence of certain young people. Gabriel Attal inaugurates an experimental boarding school for “dropout students” And “first time offenders”. The head of government sees in the boarding school a means of protecting young people against “bad company”. Boarding school as a tool to put adolescents back on the right path is not new, there already exist what we call springboard boarding schools.

Springboard boarding schools are public structures which welcome middle and high school students considered to be “highly disruptive” to use the terms of National Education. Students who have, for example, been excluded from their establishment several times during the same year. The objective is to prevent them from dropping out completely and being out of school.

Eight springboard boarding schools

Each springboard boarding school accommodates between 10 and 12 students. Small structures supposed to guarantee individual support, in particular a youth judicial protection educator. After classes, boarders can benefit from help with their homework and often from cultural or sporting activities. According to the latest count, which dates from 2019, France has eight springboard boarding schools.

There are two scenarios for deciding on the arrival of a student in a springboard boarding school. This can be voluntary, at the request of the family. In this case, the educational commission of the college or high school prepares the student’s file and then it is a departmental commission which decides whether or not to admit him or her. In the second scenario, the student is placed in a boarding school by court decision. This concerns one in three interns. For example, in the context of criminal proceedings or when a judge considers that the adolescent can no longer stay with his family.

There are also excellent boarding schools. They are not aimed at dropout students. The target is middle and high school students who, on the contrary, are very motivated in class but who encounter social, economic or family difficulties. This could be, for example, a teenager who cannot isolate himself at home to do his homework. At the boarding school, he spends the week in a sort of bubble which allows him to concentrate on his schooling. There are currently 304 boarding schools of excellence in France with at least one establishment per department.