Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
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The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is a large French secondary school situated in South Kensington, London.
Founded in 1915, it caters for some 3,200 pupils between the ages of 3 and 18, and teaches predominantly in French. Usually referred to simply as "the Lycée", the school is an important centre for London's sizeable French community (thought to number several hundred thousand) [citation needed] as well as one of the most academically-successful French schools outside of France. Its curriculum and management are overseen by the French National Ministry of Education through the Agency for the Teaching of French Abroad (AEFE). In addition to serving the French community in London, 12% of pupils at the Lycée are British, placed in the school by parents wanting their children to benefit from a bilingual education. The Lycée has a proud multicultural and international makeup, with a further 12% of pupils forming an array of 48 different nationalities.
The vast majority of the teaching done at the Lycée is in French and caters to French curricula and indeed, as far as quatrième (at the age of 14/15), all pupils are taught entirely in French. From troisième onwards (equivalent to Year Ten), pupils can opt either to stay in the French Section and study for their Brevet and their Baccalauréat or to transfer to the smaller British Section (60 students per year) and work towards their GCSEs and A-levels.
The Lycée Charles de Gaulle has the highest average mark for the Baccalauréat Général outside of France, followed by the Lycée Claudel in Ottawa.
[edit] History
The Lycée Charles de Gaulle was founded in 1915 near Victoria station, and provided education for 120 students. In 1920, the Lycée relocated to Cromwell Gardens, opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum. Sustained growth saw it relocate for a third time to buildings directly opposite the Natural History Museum on Cromwell Road, adjacent to the French Embassy.
In 1980, the school was officially named The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle - a reference to the famous French statesman, who had taken refuge in the Lycée whilst in exile from Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Bombing raids on London, perhaps directed at the leader of the Free French Forces, destroyed a wing of the Lycée, which was rebuilt to provide students with modern science laboratories and multipurpose classrooms, as well as a spacious lobby at 35 Cromwell Road.
Due to limited room at the South Kensington site, the Lycee expanded by opening two primary school adjuncts, based in Wix and Ealing, in 1993 and 1995 respectively. Since May 1997, the Ealing adjunct has been known as the École André Malraux, named after the French author, adventurer and statesman, André Malraux.
[edit] Prominent alumni
Famous alumni include:
- Gyles Brandreth, former Conservative MP and British political commentator
- Jacqueline Bisset, actress
- Thomas Garland, architect
- Edward Leigh, Member of Parliament
- Bill Tchato, professional footballer
- Tania Tolstoy, writer
- Daniel Topolski, writer
