Elementary school
The program of the elementary school is organized in two cycles
Cycle II with CP, CE1, CE2. This is the first three years of Elementary school.
Cycle III with CM1 and CM2.
It should ne noted that the 6thgrade class is now part of the third and last year of Cycle III.
In Elementary, students benefit from a bilingual program that combines the pedagogical core requirements of both the French Ministry of Education and the framework of standards specified by the Cambridge Program. Teaching is conducted in both languages, 50% for each language, which allows a strong, stimulating and varied academic program offering a unique wide open vision of the world.
Teaching methods and projects implemented help to develop skills and qualities essential for the future: communication, critical thinking, positive leadership, hard work, courage, creativity and team spirit.
Cycle II: CP, CE1 and CE2 Fundamental Learning Stage
In 1st grade, students learn to distinguish sounds and the signs that represent them in writing. They also learn how to read by decoding phonetic and morphemic structures, and, later, acquire skills necessary to understand texts. They reinforce and improve those skills throughout the 2nd grade by reading and writing text supported by exposure to a wide variety of children’s literature. In 3rd grade, students develop a love of books and the habit of reading for pleasure in both French and English.
Strong emphasis on oral skills
Oral language activities such as asking questions, describing, explaining and sharing information play an important role in the learning process.
Mathematics
Students consolidate their knowledge of numbers and calculation with manipulations encouraging them to develop their thinking from concrete to abstract. Everyday practice of mental calculation reinforces numbers and the techniques of addition and subtraction… They develop the ability to search, think, and communicate. Mastering four operations is studied by exploring problems giving sense to the specific calculation, with problems on size and measurement and problems questioning the world.
Social Studies/Discovering the world
Students access knowledge more easily using their language skills in reading and vocabulary. They master specific corresponding vocabulary when questioning the world in Science, Geography or History. Students are encouraged to ask questions, develop their curiosity and critical thinking. They discover the living world, the matter and objects. Students acquire references in terms of time and space tobetter understand the world in which they live.
Art, Physical Education, Information Technology, Civic and Moral Education are studied using different methods during the five years of the Elementary School, where students often use a project based approach. Those subjects help to develop and feed competences and essential skills, such as the ability to interrogate, to create, to expand judgment, to communicate and to become world ready.
Cycle III: CM1, CM2 at EBiHS: Reinforcement and Development
During the three years of the Cycle 3 (CM1, CM2 and 6thgrade), students are exposed to a bilingual, balanced and demanding curriculum. They reinforce, consolidate and expand their knowledge with different approaches in all topics. Reading in French and in English is now mastered and it allows the students to work in groups on multidisciplinary projects. Mathematic is also taught in both languages.
In cycle III, students’ language – oral and written skills in French and in English are reinforced. For several years, the students are assessed with the “Cambridge Assessment International Program”, a well recognized institution. Most students are successful and their good results attest of the quality of the bilingual program at EBiHS.
Students are able to apply a new rigor and exactitude to their studies which leads them towards autonomy. Students are prepared to continue their studies successfully in the middle school.
Individualized support
The end of the school day is a dedicated time for individual support: from 4pm to 4.30pm, a small group of selected students is engaged in remediation and enrichment work with either their French or English teacher on a very specific topic.
After 4.30pm, students can stay for study hall where they can do their homework. Parents can also register their child to Supervised Homework where a qualified teacher will assist the children for their homework.
Odyssey Of The Mind
OOTM is an international programme developed in the USA that has spread throughout Europe. It is a competition for creativity and finding solutions to complex problems.
It is a cooperative work that spans several months allowing students to learn, develop and use skills related to teamwork, resource management, design and manufacturing, divergent thinking and much more…
This programme is ideally suited to EIP (intellectually precocious) children, it’s offered during lunchtime.
The strengths of our program
- A rich and varied bilingual program
- Official French Program are taught in both languages and supplemented by activities offering a wide open vision of the world.
- Small class sizes (20 students)
- Pedagogic tools that take into account each student’s individual needs.
- Teachers who communicate their language skills, culture, and passion for teaching.
- Motivating projects all year round: field trips, festivals, shows, exhibits…
The directors of each campus
Martine Ouelette
Primary school director at Pré Faucon
An unusual life path gave this life-loving Canadian all the tools necessary to take up the challenges of a career change. Indeed, as someone who delights in exploring every opportunity, Martine did not hesitate to turn her back on a first hard-earned career to make her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher a reality! Although she held a Business Management degree from Sherbrooke University, which led her to work in Administration for 8 years, she seized the opportunity to study education at “Université du Québec” in Montréal, where she earned a degree in Preschool and Elementary Education. Degree in hand, Martine began her new career working at an English language School District in Montréal where she taught French to Anglophone 1stgraders in an immersion program.
Always thirsty for more, Martine continually attended training sessions and professional development sessions. And so, she set up long-term projects in her class, differentiating content to meet the different needs of each student. She created and adapted texts of particular interest to her students and necessary for their learning and growth. In the hopes of cultivating a pleasant and inspiring environment for all students, Martine led diverse school projects like Artists at School or Meet the Author or Illustrator. She was a part of several committees within the School District who brainstormed and implemented innovative projects.
Upon her arrival in France in 2008, Martine continued to teach a wide-range of learners before joining the EBiHS team when the school opened. Eager to learn more about learning difficulties and their implication, Martine enrolled at the “Université de Lyon” and obtained a degree in Neuropsychology Education and Pedagogy, to learn to tailor her instruction to the specific needs of students. Hence, the creation and development of a program for Gifted and Talented Learners was a natural next step in her work to reach every student.
In September 2018, with the success and well-being of the greatest number of students at heart, Martine gladly accepted the position of Primary School Principal at Pré de Challes.
Emilie Tarraf-Lescoffier
Pre Elementary school director at Pré de Challes
Born in Paris as the child of an American mother and Syrian father, cultural diversity has been a central part of Emilie’s life since her earliest memories and a defining aspect of her personality. Languages – English, French and Arabic – have followed her from birth to adulthood, each one bringing with it a different culture. This particularity certainly contributed to Emilie’s open-mindedness and led her to teach despite her varied educational cursus.
Indeed, Emilie studied Political Science and Economics at the University of Illinois, during which time she completed a successful year at Sciences Po in Paris in the International Program there. After graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Illinois, Emilie returned to France as a Language Assistant at the Université de Bourgogne. In her free time, she taught as an English Assistant at a private middle school. During these two years, she spent her summers as a Language Assistant at the University of Homs, in Syria. These two years which included so many different teaching and cultural experiences encouraged her to pursue a career in teaching and she applied for and was accepted for Teach for America, a prestigious program in the United States which “enlists, develops and mobilizes…future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equality and excellence.” Always searching for ways to perfect and grow, Emilie enrolled in a Master’s program in Education at Hunter College in New York. She specialized in Early Reading Instruction and defended a thesis in the Development and Measurement of Character Traits in children. Diploma in hand, Emilie participated in the opening of a new school. She taught and was promoted to Grade-Level Chair at a school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, which has become one of the best in New York City. This school’s mission, which has proven more than successful, is to provide a good future through education to children in one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods of Brooklyn and the United States. Despite all the interesting ventures and challenges that Emilie undertook in Brooklyn, she decided to return to France, where she was offered a position to teach at Ecole Bilingue International de Haute-Savoie. She enjoyed several years of happiness, teaching several classes of wonderful students and working with their parents. With the growth of the school and opening of a new building, Emilie worked in parallel to her teaching as the Pré Faucon Coordinator. Seeing the personal and intellectual growth of each of her individual students confirms her choice to work and grow in Teaching.