Yes he'd have to speak extremely good French to go to a lycee at his age. Why not consider British schools though - I take it that you can pay fees and he speaks English if you're considering the American school and there's some excellent private (and come to that state) schools in London. As 1/3 of Londoners aren't British you'll get an international mix in all schools. The only problem with British schools is that he might have to go back a year to start the GCSE courses which children follow between 14 and 16.

 

i would highly recommend Southbank International School www.southbank.org the school is located just south of marylebone rd near the regents park and great portland place tube stations. it has an international baccalaureate curriculum with a very international flavour. my daughter spent grades 6 and 7 there and it was a wonderful experience for her. she made friends from all over the world not just the usa. you can call them 02072433803 and they will give you a tour and curriculum info. the american school has a very american feel to it despite having international students but it is also very challenging and engaging. they also have much better sporting facilities if your son is into that world.
check out www.ibo.org which is the governing body for southbank's curriuculum.
sincerely
cab

 

The Southbank International School is great, as are all the other international schools in London, but extremely expensive and really not affordable for everyone.
I am not looking for a high school, but a place in the kindergarten section of an international school in London for my daughter, who will be 4 next year. Southbank's tuition is about £13,500 for the full year. Crazy.
My daughter is currently in a French school in France, but we are planning to move to London next year. I wanted her go to a French school there (French schools are more affordable, in the range of £3,000 -£4,000 per year) so that she could keep her French language skills, but since she does not have the French nationality (she is American & German), I learned from the Lycée Charles de Gaulle (the biggest French school in London) that she will have no chance whatsoever to be admitted to this school, and most likely we would have the same problem with the other French schools in London (according to this rather unfriendly person I had on the phone). The waiting lists are extremely long, apparently, and so they stopped admitting non-French students. We have not checked the British schools yet, but I understand that foreign language education is not really offered there. If anyone has any information or idea of how to resolve the problem, that would be great.

 

Evakah, We just move to London, we are a french-colombian family, I spend at least 1 month trying to find the right school for my son (he is 3 years old) My first choice was the Lycee Francais and its other 3 schools (only one of them accept kids from 3 years old, the other one, including the Lycee take them since they are 4 years old) anyway it was impossible to find an available place, and He is french.
Then I start to look to the other french schools and international schools, my favorites were: 1. TASIS ( the american school in London) the problem is that it is very far from london and I think my son is still too little to make 1 1/2 hour trip everyday.
2. We finally choose L'ecole des petits. It is a lovely french school (they actually have 2 schools one in Fulham and the other one in Battersea) there are 2 sections: french and English, both bilingual, they work in the morning in french (or english) and in the afternoon they participate in workshops in english (or french).
Good look finding the right school for your daughter!