Latin, prayers, chilly dorms at school in France

By Lisa Essex

CHAVAGNES-EN-PAILLERS, France (Reuters) - Learning Latin, attending Catechism and hurrying along draughty corridors to prayer, two dozen boys are experiencing old-fashioned British boarding school life -- deep in the French countryside.

Boxing, folk-dancing and Gregorian chant also figure on the curriculum at Chavagnes International College, a traditional Catholic English boys' boarding school in the Vendee wine-growing region on France's Atlantic coast.

Housed in a 200-year-old former seminary in a region marked by France's wars of religion in the mid-16th century, it says it attracts parents who are disillusioned by the British state school system or the values of modern life.

The fees are also significantly cheaper than in Britain, at 15,000 euros (11,800 pounds) for boarders per year compared with an average of about 22,000 sterling in Britain, according to figures from the Independent Schools Council.

Making a virtue of necessity, the austerity of Chavagnes' surroundings -- sparsely furnished rooms, stone floors and peeling paint -- provides a fitting backdrop.

"It offers a complete package of character building," said Wil Mobberley, a British-based computer animator who has two sons at the school. "They will look back on it as an adventure."

Founded by 36-year-old Briton Ferdi McDermott, who seven years ago sank half a million euros (395,000 pounds) into buying the buildings, the school also taps into a hankering among some British parents for order, achievement and faith in education.

Faith-based schools are very popular in England, with typically more applicants than there are places, according to the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It says there are 600 or so state-funded religious secondary schools.