Rome

Italian school is free and compulsory from 6 to 16, the scuola dell'infanzia takes children from 3, and enrolment for September is done online in the second half of January, with your Rome residency in hand. The three AEFE-accredited schools (Lycée Chateaubriand, Institut Saint-Dominique, Petite École de la Trinité-des-Monts) charge fees and are in high demand: start the process as soon as the move is confirmed. Our Schools and School fees pages detail both systems: /en/cities/rome/school-fees/.

Monday to Friday, finishing at 1pm, 2pm to 2:30pm or 4:30pm to 5pm depending on the option chosen at enrolment, with school meals priced by income. Families organise themselves with the school's after-school activities, a tata (declared nanny) or the Italian grandparents of the neighbourhood. At the Lycée Chateaubriand, the CLAPE association runs after-school activities and the parents' association offers school transport and homework help.

Not if one of you works in Italy: enrolment in the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale is then compulsory and covers the partner and dependent children, paediatrician and hospital included, with no upfront costs. Without work, you can enrol voluntarily against an annual contribution, keep French cover (S1 form) or take out private insurance. Many families add insurance to see private specialists without waiting. It is all explained on our Health page: /en/cities/rome/health/.

As soon as you register with the ASL, you choose a free pediatra di libera scelta, who follows the child to age 6 then to 14 at the parents' discretion; the choice is made at the ASL counter or online on Salute Lazio, and each paediatrician has a patient cap. For a private French-speaking paediatrician, the consulate publishes a medical list (a paediatrician, GPs, dentists, therapists, a speech therapist), which we reproduce on our Health page: /en/cities/rome/health/.

112, the single free emergency number, for a life-threatening emergency: the operator hands over to 118, the medical emergency service. For a problem that cannot wait for the paediatrician but is not serious, 116117 is Lazio's non-urgent care number. For a child, the Bambino Gesù children's hospital on the Gianicolo has 24/7 emergencies, as does the Gemelli for ages 0 to 18.

French families follow the schools: Parioli, Flaminio and the Trieste district for the Chateaubriand nursery and primary at Strohl-Fern, Nomentano and Piazza Bologna for the secondary near Porta Pia, the Via Cassia and Vigna Clara for Saint-Dominique. Prati, the Aventine and Monteverde are the other family classics, the south (EUR, Casal Palocco) that of families working towards Fiumicino. Our Settling in page reviews the neighbourhoods: /en/cities/rome/settling-in/.

In order: the codice fiscale for each family member at the Agenzia delle Entrate (check all your first names), a SIM card and a bank account that require it, the anagrafe appointment at the Municipio for residency, then ASL registration for the tessera sanitaria and the paediatrician, SPID, and registration with the French consular register, online, free and valid 5 years. Details on /en/cities/rome/settling-in/.

Not until age 10: with an adult, they travel free on the whole ATAC network (bus, tram, metro). After that, they use the 100-minute ticket or a pass. On regional trains, under-4s pay nothing and 4 to 12-year-olds travel half price: the sea and the lakes are within weekend reach.

Municipal nurseries (asili nido) charge by income but are scarce, reserved for families with residency and allocated first to working parents; enrolment is done online in spring on the city website. Private nurseries are expensive and often full-time. The tata, a nanny declared as a domestic employee, is the most common solution, an au pair another; babysitter ads circulate at the gates of the French-speaking schools.

Quickly, especially before age 10: Italian is close to French and Roman schools are used to foreign children. The real challenge then becomes keeping French: FLAM Italie offers French classes and games on Saturday mornings to 5 to 16-year-olds outside the French system, the Institut français Centre Saint-Louis workshops for ages 3 to 10, and the médiathèque, scouts and parish do the rest. Our addresses are on /en/cities/rome/family-outings/.

Less than Paris or London, but it is Italy's most sought-after rental market and the neighbourhoods around the French schools (Parioli, Aventine, centre) are a world apart. French school fees are rising, childcare for little ones is expensive. On the other side, the paediatrician and public hospital are free, civic museums are free for residents, children travel free until 10, and eating out costs less than in France. Our Settling in page details the budget line by line: /en/cities/rome/settling-in/.

Rome Accueil holds weekly coffee mornings in French, a back-to-school Grand Café and a Famiglia Club for families; membership is family-based. The school gates of Chateaubriand and the Petite École, the Institut français Centre Saint-Louis médiathèque, the Saint-Louis-des-Français parish and FLAM Italie on Saturday mornings do the rest, and lepetitjournal.com Rome and Rome Pratique list the community's events.