PEDAGOGY

INSPIRATION

We rely on 4 pillars for our school:

1- Active pedagogy with a change in posture for children and adults. The child is involved in collaborative projects, cooperates, questions, searches, experiments, has the right to make mistakes. The adult is a tutor who accompanies each child to give the best of himself by helping him to build his learning path. This change of posture makes it possible to give meaning, to empower everyone and to create a motivating climate for learning.

2- Positive education supported by caring assessment. We offer a benevolent, protective and constructive framework allowing the revelation of each child’s potential. The assessment is an opportunity to highlight each child’s learning, achievements and qualities. It is always caring, concerted and at the service of the child’s development. Games, badges, masterpieces produced by children, regular feedback, positively validate progress. Children also carry out self-assessments which they present to the parents at the end of the period.

3- Openness to the outside world which inspires and gives meaning to learning. Inter-school projects, corporate events, inter-generational exchanges, immersion in nature and in the city, discovery of the professional world through sponsors, participation in collective initiatives in favor of sustainable development: we put the child in a position of change agent in his local ecosystem, but also internationally through the connections created with other innovative establishments. School is more than a place where children come to learn. It is a space of links between the different actors of the near or far territory, between the generations and between the citizens.

4- Development of human and relational skills by developing self-awareness and that of others. We attach great importance to identifying and managing emotions. Cooperation advice, non-violent communication workshops, daily physical and sports activities, theater workshops and sign language are all situations that allow children to learn to live together.

APPROACH

• We are committed to providing a model that is suitable for everyone, including children with special needs. A representative portion of our students present learning and/or adaptation difficulties in the school environment (DYS, ADHD, precociousness, etc.).

• We are changing the managerial approach that seeks the development of both children and adults by relying on the collective intelligence and talents of each individual.

• Our agility pushes us to constantly improve our method and our pedagogical proposals, by being as close as possible to societal evolutions and by being inspired by the innovations implemented by our partners and counterparts.

• We are giving a reasoned place to digital technology in order to develop young people’s digital skills and online citizenship. We use collaborative digital tools, offer weekly code and robotics workshops and initiate regular work on relevant uses of the Internet and social networks. Digital technology also allows us to personalize courses according to each person’s rhythm, to exchange and build projects with classes or third parties in France and abroad, and to follow distance learning courses following the health crisis of 2020. Young people are as often as possible in the position of authors and researchers with links to the outside world.

GRADES AND EVALUATIONS

We use different forms of evaluation so that young people become aware of their progress, their achievements, but also their difficulties and their needs.

In addition to immediate feedback and quarterly interviews with families, we have set up an evaluation of the “softskills”, 21st century skills that are at the heart of our school’s DNA (commitment, respect, punctuality, team spirit, critical thinking, assiduity…).

The use of digital learning platforms (e-learning) – such as the one proposed by Via Scola – allows children to acquire theoretical knowledge at their own pace thanks to adaptive learning technologies that adapt, in real time and over time, to the level of the child. These tools thus help us to offer personalised support in addition to the discoveries made in class and with a positive evaluation that values the progress made. The skills expected from the National Education Base are thus validated online and by the support of the teachers in the questions asked during class sessions or outings.

Children learn at their own pace, proactively and responsibly, and collaboratively.

Children prepare for official exams: ASSR, 1st aid, Brevet des Collèges…and can take language level certification exams: Cambridge, TOEFL, IELTS… 100% of our students have wanted to take the Brevet des Collèges exam at the end of 3ème since the school opened and they have all passed!

We also work on confidence and self-esteem in conjunction with Cogito’z, the leading French centre for the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities. The goal is to train the team, to make young people aware of their potential and to evaluate the impact of our learning methods on children’s cognitive and psychological development, self-esteem and self-confidence.

Finally, experts from the business world and civil society regularly intervene to promote and anchor learning.

PROGRAM

The schedule is readjusted every two weeks in consultation with the caregivers based on clear objectives, in order to personalize the pathways, respect the child’s balance and meet the needs.

Thanks to the personalized work plan, children progress in small groups as they learn. Feedback times are included, whether regular, collective or individualized. Every day, mental arithmetic activities, silent reading, games and workshops on meditation, relaxation and life skills are offered. The afternoon is devoted to project implementation, artistic activities, code and robotics workshops and sports.

Several times a week, the children participate in creative and playful sessions, in English with an English-speaking facilitator, or in Spanish with a Colombian facilitator.

Shared meals, workshops on Nonviolent Communication or philosophical debate are great opportunities to learn and develop self-confidence, interpersonal skills and interpersonal skills.

With Covid-19 and according to the government instructions received, the schedule was adapted from March 2020. During the confinement, the lecturers proposed a personalized online accompaniment, in groups or individually, whether during sports sessions, writing workshops and collaborative readings based on literary works or during playful and creative activities in arts, sciences and languages! ? All this through small group coaching and individual mentoring sessions set up with students to target their needs, develop their digital skills and consolidate the adult-youth bond.

On the strength of this constructive experience, we are gradually establishing a new path for the start of the September 2020 school year, combining small group workshops in our school in Vincennes, outings to discover and learn from the local eco-system and video sessions for a distance learning approach more suited to certain children…