Ally Green
@allygreen.bsky.social
Climber, cyclist, critical materials specialist. Likes gardening. Big fan of night trains. May very occasionally write about metals and the energy transition. Based near Toulouse, France.
This is not really correct. French private schools aren’t (with very a few exceptions) anything like UK private schools. They are more like UK church schools. And they are affected by lack of teachers, large classes and crumbling infrastructure just like state schools.
October 6, 2026 at 6:02 PM
This is not really correct. French private schools aren’t (with very a few exceptions) anything like UK private schools. They are more like UK church schools. And they are affected by lack of teachers, large classes and crumbling infrastructure just like state schools.
Hope your son is OK. Something very wrong when ordinary law-abiding middle-class people lose confidence in the police. And they are completely useless if you actually need them for anything. God forbid they get off their backsides and do something other than shoot tear gas at kids!
October 3, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Hope your son is OK. Something very wrong when ordinary law-abiding middle-class people lose confidence in the police. And they are completely useless if you actually need them for anything. God forbid they get off their backsides and do something other than shoot tear gas at kids!
Yep! I don’t have a view on the current one yet, comes over as a bit of a damp dishcloth, but he won’t be there for long and that’s a big part of the problem.
October 3, 2026 at 8:24 AM
Yep! I don’t have a view on the current one yet, comes over as a bit of a damp dishcloth, but he won’t be there for long and that’s a big part of the problem.
I’m not an out-and-out Macron hater but education is the stand-out area where things have got dramatically worse, at least partly due to a succession of incompetent and/or obviously unsuitable education ministers.
October 3, 2026 at 8:20 AM
I’m not an out-and-out Macron hater but education is the stand-out area where things have got dramatically worse, at least partly due to a succession of incompetent and/or obviously unsuitable education ministers.
And it’s getting worse! Very glad my kids out the other side (son was last year before the objectively terrible bac reform)
October 3, 2026 at 8:14 AM
And it’s getting worse! Very glad my kids out the other side (son was last year before the objectively terrible bac reform)
The protests have been quite virulent in my (small) town which is unusual. It feels like the scale of this is different. And quite honestly anyone with children who are or have recently been in state schools can understand some of the complaints. FR education in a terrible mess.
October 3, 2026 at 8:07 AM
The protests have been quite virulent in my (small) town which is unusual. It feels like the scale of this is different. And quite honestly anyone with children who are or have recently been in state schools can understand some of the complaints. FR education in a terrible mess.
My daughter (25) also reads Shakespeare for pleasure. FWIW The Tempest is her favourite.
September 27, 2026 at 8:59 AM
My daughter (25) also reads Shakespeare for pleasure. FWIW The Tempest is her favourite.
The French system still performs extremely well for academically-able students with parents who know how to navigate the system. For everyone else ... not so much. And Macron-era bac reforms were disastrous.
September 23, 2026 at 9:21 AM
The French system still performs extremely well for academically-able students with parents who know how to navigate the system. For everyone else ... not so much. And Macron-era bac reforms were disastrous.
We had a bit of rain yesterday (not much) and now the forecast is endless sunshine for as far out as the Météo France app goes.
September 17, 2026 at 8:42 AM
We had a bit of rain yesterday (not much) and now the forecast is endless sunshine for as far out as the Météo France app goes.
I went to look at the OP on Reddit and tbh I think this is completely made up. (If not it’ll be in the papers soon enough.)
September 13, 2026 at 7:03 AM
I went to look at the OP on Reddit and tbh I think this is completely made up. (If not it’ll be in the papers soon enough.)
I'm helping out at the climbing club in my town where I have great fun persuading the parents (who have brought their kids to try climbing) to have a go ;)
September 12, 2026 at 11:05 AM
I'm helping out at the climbing club in my town where I have great fun persuading the parents (who have brought their kids to try climbing) to have a go ;)
It was my favourite! I should definitely read it again.
September 8, 2026 at 6:31 PM
It was my favourite! I should definitely read it again.
Loved those books as a child!
September 8, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Loved those books as a child!
Maybe we should also ask what it is about UK schools that makes them such unwelcoming places for some young people? My daughter has ADHD, never required any particular support at her (French) school but I doubt she’d have managed at a typical UK MAT-run high school.
September 6, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Maybe we should also ask what it is about UK schools that makes them such unwelcoming places for some young people? My daughter has ADHD, never required any particular support at her (French) school but I doubt she’d have managed at a typical UK MAT-run high school.
As far as I can tell, the most egregious cases (that have been reported in the UK media) involve people who did NOT have a temporary right to remain, but who qualified for permanent resident status.
September 5, 2026 at 2:25 PM
As far as I can tell, the most egregious cases (that have been reported in the UK media) involve people who did NOT have a temporary right to remain, but who qualified for permanent resident status.
Certainly the cases that have made headlines involve elderly people in Sweden for many years, living with Swedish family.
September 5, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Certainly the cases that have made headlines involve elderly people in Sweden for many years, living with Swedish family.
I would imagine a lot of these people were long-time holders of a personnummer in Sweden who assumed (and may even have been told by local officials) that they were unaffected. Lack of communication + deep integration is a recipe for a Windrush type scenario.
September 5, 2026 at 12:14 PM
I would imagine a lot of these people were long-time holders of a personnummer in Sweden who assumed (and may even have been told by local officials) that they were unaffected. Lack of communication + deep integration is a recipe for a Windrush type scenario.
Blaming these people - often elderly and with few remaining UK links - is pretty disgraceful tbh.
September 5, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Blaming these people - often elderly and with few remaining UK links - is pretty disgraceful tbh.
The cases in Sweden often seem to involve people very integrated into Swedish society who may have had little communication with other affected Britons. Easy to see how (in the absence of formal communication) deadlines were missed.
September 5, 2026 at 12:02 PM
The cases in Sweden often seem to involve people very integrated into Swedish society who may have had little communication with other affected Britons. Easy to see how (in the absence of formal communication) deadlines were missed.
Sunak is also about 20 years younger than Starmer, who is mid 60s. Can’t say I blame him for wanting to call it a day.
September 2, 2026 at 6:12 AM
Sunak is also about 20 years younger than Starmer, who is mid 60s. Can’t say I blame him for wanting to call it a day.
100% - especially as you see the same post-Covid trends in other countries where helicopter parenting is much less of a thing.
September 1, 2026 at 5:36 PM
100% - especially as you see the same post-Covid trends in other countries where helicopter parenting is much less of a thing.
Dunno about this - once you’ve had kids (and they’ve grown up) you realise that your influence is far smaller than you ever imagined it would be (barring really catastrophic parenting). I think covid lockdowns/online learning + casual socialising getting harder/more expensive are bigger factors.
September 1, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Dunno about this - once you’ve had kids (and they’ve grown up) you realise that your influence is far smaller than you ever imagined it would be (barring really catastrophic parenting). I think covid lockdowns/online learning + casual socialising getting harder/more expensive are bigger factors.
Pompiers (8 of them with an enormous fire truck) arrived in less than 5 minutes, now the electricity people are here. Public service!!
August 28, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Pompiers (8 of them with an enormous fire truck) arrived in less than 5 minutes, now the electricity people are here. Public service!!