ABSTRACT
The nursery school has long been an integral part of the French education system. Nursery school has for many years been regarded as a preparation for primary school. To some extent the nursery school had by the sixties become a victim of its own success. This was the first major blow struck against the nursery schools but criticism of a more fundamental kind was to follow. The School Committee therefore discusses the general welfare of the pupils, though very often specific matters are dealt with by official regulation. New ideas on the structure of French language and the best way to teach such structure gradually influenced the committee's thinking. After French, mathematics is the single subject with the greatest number of hours set aside for it in the primary curriculum: six hours per week. Thus the primary curriculum is divided into six major areas, namely: French, mathematics, science and technology, history, geography, physical education and games and finally artistic education.
