Bags needed for school

Kids
1

Hi,
My daughter starts school in France in MS on Tuesday and I’m confused about what bags she’s meant to bring.
In the sheet it asks for:
1 sac de toile pour la bibliothèqie

1 sac de toile avec des affaires de recharge marquées

1 sac de toile assez grand pour la bibliothèqie

I read that as:
1 canvas bag for the library
1 canvas bag with spare clothes in
1 canvas bag big enough for the library

If I’ve translated it right why does she need two library bags?
Also I don’t know how big these should be or what exactly they mean by a canvas bag, would a draw string bag made from canvas be ok or does it need to be one of the open ones with handles like a canvas shopping bag?

Thanks in advance!

2

I agree with how you have translated it but it does seem a bit odd having 2 library bags! I think at least A4 size to fit a big book? I’m sure either sort of bag would be fine. How confusing, I didn’t need any of that for my little guy, just the cartable. Good luck! If you are really unsure I’m sure it will be fine to just check on Tuesday and then get them sorted.

3

I imagine it is a cock-up and they wrote an item twice.

4

That’s a good point, perhaps they wrote the original one and then thought it better to specify that it needed to be a decent size?

5

I can’t help with “what does it mean”… except to say… make sure your child’s name is clearly on everything…

best of luck

6

“des affaires de recharge” = “spare clothes”, OK there is about 0.001% chance I would have managed that translation.

7

Maybe one of the sacs de toile pour la bibliothèque is in fact for EPS or art or something like that. If in doubt ask! They are just what might be called a pump bag in the UK but bigger. You could use one of those supermarket cloth shopping bags and add a drawstring to it. And as Stella said label everything!

That is odd, we would normally say ‘affaires de rechange’ not ‘recharge’. Perhaps it is a localism.

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8

Or a typo - maybe maitresse was having an apero while typing up the list and added the bag twice and a typo :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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9

I did have an extra clue on that one as they wrote in brackets after it (slip-chaussettes-jogging)

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10

For the library bag, I would hasard a guess at it having to be big enough to transport your child’s books and/or the books that he/she might be loaned from the library - which can be up to A4 size and weighty to boot (unless things have changed more recently). It always amazed me the weight and quantity of books that French school kids were asked to lug around. I seem to recall that every year leading up to September back-to-school, the media usually has at least one piece on the debate about over-heavy school bags and the damage it does to childrens’ backs/hips/etc.

11

Rucksacks are better than over the shoulder bags because they distribute the weight more evenly

12

I’d rather give her a rucksack I’m just not sure if it’s allowed

13

Are these bags in addition to the ‘cartable’ (school bag / rucksack)?

I have seen A4 canvas tote bags with rucksack straps, may have even had one at one point for one of my kids.

14

These are the only bags listed. I think I’ll have to ask for clarification on Tuesday as it doesn’t really make sense to have three bags and none of them be a rucksack