Toulouse. The “La Prairie” school opens its doors to future students on Saturday February 11
It may already be time for some families to think about the start of the school year in September. With this in mind, the La Prairie establishment (kindergarten-elementary school and college) located in the Rangueil district of Toulouse*, is organizing its open house on Saturday February 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The pupils educated in this associative and secular school under contract with the state “will be the first guides for the families who come to discover the places, explains Amanda Larrive, director of the primary school and teacher in CP-CE1. There will also be all the teachers, the educational staff, the parent delegates of the classes and the members of the Arpents, the association of parents of students”, she specifies. An important parental participation in the associative life of the establishment because one of the principles of La Prairie is precisely the opening of its doors to parents.
In this school of the New Education network, experimentation, the pleasure of learning, sharing and group emulation are at the heart of the pedagogy. “That’s why it’s the children who are going to show possible future students what’s going on in the classroom, explains Amanda Larrive. Alongside this, we also emphasize the importance for children to have projects alongside the teaching of fundamental knowledge and that they are able to develop their character and speak in a group”, she explains.
Same ambition on the side of the college where the relatively limited number of pupils makes it possible to better apply the methods of the new Education, of which the pedagogue Roger Cousinet is the pioneer in France. “Working in groups is at the heart of the project”, specifies Denis Rouger, director of the college and professor of visual arts.
A notion of group which also makes it possible to limit the phenomenon of school harassment thanks to work on the collective freedom of speech via a Student Council or with individual student-teacher meetings. Both departments agree that harassment is less prevalent in La Prairie than elsewhere.
“In class, clarity on what students know and what they have to work on, the establishment of progression levels such as judo belts or even knowledge of skills evaluation criteria allow middle school students to know what is expected”, explains Denis Rouger.
A pedagogy, classes, and a huge schoolyard with trees to discover during this open morning, where the “Children of the Prairie” – named after a documentary film released on this Toulouse school in 2016 – you’re waiting.