International Cottage School opens a bilingual eco nursery in Vevey
The International Cottage School in Vevey has recently opened a bilingual eco nursery, welcoming up to 21 children from the ages of 18 months to 3 years old.
Managed by Nursery Director, Nathalie Graber, and supported by Nursery Assistant Director, Nathalie Bondar, the new crèche offers a child-centered program integrating both Montessori and Reggio Emilia philosophy and activities.
With a strong emphasis on inquiry-based activities, science workshops and languages (French, English, Spanish and Russian), the nursery provides the ideal preparation for entry into the IB Primary Years Program of The International Cottage School, which has recently moved to separate premises on the Quai de la Veveyse on Lake Geneva. You can read more about developments at the main campus in our separate article here.
Institut Polycours has just celebrated its 10th birthday with the launch of a new website, outlining the wide range of education services it now offers the local community of Lausanne and surrounding areas. At the same time, the organization has just relocated to impressive new office space, allowing it to provide a larger choice of services in-house.
Founded by Laure Caron in 2003-4, the organization offers educational support services ranging from social skill coaching for teenagers and language courses for adults, through to special needs support for children and professional development training for schools. Polycours also offers considerable support for families who are either in transition, struggling to find the right educational setting for their children, or who have been living in the region for a while and need help identifying the right kind of support for their needs.
A new independent British international day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 5 to 18 will open in Crans-Montana next year.
Set to open in September 2015, Le Régent Crans Montana College will offer academic programs in English that follow the British national curriculum. Targeted at children aged 5 to 13, the Junior School will provide students with the foundation for success in their later school careers, whether they are taking 13+ Common Entrance examinations prior to moving onto schools in the UK, or staying on in the Senior School to take both GCSE and IGCSE examinations, as well as the IB Diploma in their final year at the school.
Central to the school’s teaching methods will be the development of key 21st century skills, including creative thinking, communication (including Mandarin), problem solving, collaboration, entrepreneurship, risk taking, leadership and digital literacy. ESL (English as a Second Language) courses will also be offered for non-native speakers.
Ten years after its initial conception, a new eco-campus has just been opened at St. Légier in Vaud for the primary and infant section students of Haut-Lac International Bilingual School. More than just a “school building”, the new campus is on four levels with a working surface of 7,500m2, and incorporates a host of environmentally-friendly features designed to encourage children to think about sustainable development from a very early age.
Costing approximately CHF 32 million, the new Praz Dagoud campus now provides state-of-the-art learning facilities for over 650 students, including specially equipped classrooms for art, music, science, and individual needs, as well as a technology laboratory and enormous 8m high triple gym with spectator seating, catering for every imaginable sport. A light and airy dining room also doubles up as a large multi-function space, which can be used as a theatre or conference room with 300 seats, providing for large school gatherings and performances by the children.
At a special inauguration ceremony held on Thursday, 5 September, the international school, GEMS World Academy, invited author, Douglas Kennedy to open its new Discovery World Library and World Language Learning Center in Etoy, Vaud.
Timed to coincide with the annual literary festival in Morges, Le Livre sur les Quais in Morges, the event was one of many special occasions organized to help children explore the world of literature. As an official sponsor of the festival, the school welcomed a number of authors and illustrators into their classes, where they ran creative workshops for students throughout the day leading up to the evening event.
