Beyond the Classroom
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At ICS Paris international school, we take learning beyond the classroom, guiding our students to broaden their horizons and discover new passions via abundant co-curricular and other opportunities, plus international connections. We live in a world in a state of constant change, and therefore we prepare students for life outside of the classroom as much as within it. Our school and the wider Globeducate group offer a constellation of enrichment activities.
Globeducate Events
Being a part of the Globeducate family provides increased opportunities for students to take learning beyond the classroom and enjoy real-world experiences.
These events are hosted by a school, sometimes involving travel to the host school, sometimes hosted virtually. Prestigious and dynamic opening and closing ceremonies involving inspiring keynote speakers and representatives of international organisations such as WWF, bring our global community together and offer regular opportunities for all members of our worldwide family to celebrate learning together.
Students from ICS Paris participate in all these international events and compete with 65+ premium international schools and 40,000 students from around the world.
Globeducate provides a unique platform for students to explore their potential and connect with young talent worldwide.
International Music Festival
January: This festival is open to all ages and is a platform to showcase each international and bilingual school´s musical talents. Students also work collaboratively towards a concert that forms part of the event closing ceremony.
Model United Nations
March: This United Nations simulation event is fantastic for developing public speaking and negotiation skills. It has motions linked to UN priorities. The competition is open to students aged 16+ and each participant represents a country in the United Nations. Debates about key global issues to develop skills of conflict resolution and critical thinking.
Global Olympics
June: This sporting event promotes health, physical well-being and sporting skills. The host school develops a programme to encourage and showcase team skills and a variety of sporting skills. Typically, some of the sports featured are connected to local traditions or environment, and teams are often mixed between schools.
Student Leadership Summit
October: This summit brings together senior students aged 17-18, those in leadership roles, for a packed timetable of seminars, presentations, interactive activities targeting topics such as public speaking and communication skills, problem solving and a key note speaker. Social activities such as quizzes, climbing and a formal dinner give students a rounded experience that will prepare them for leadership roles in their futures.
Arts Competition
June to November: Students aged 5 to 18 take part and submit entries linked to a theme associated with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Genres include: painting, performing arts, photography, English poetry and English narrative. This is a virtual competition, entered by schools across the group and with winning entries and those highly commended shared with schools.
Academic Olympics
November: Each year, Globeducate organises the Academic Olympics, an exceptional international educational event bringing together students from schools across the group. Students 13 to 14 compete in mixed school teams in activities designed to test their ability to work as a team, their logical thinking and their knowledge.
Paris is our Classroom
A French immersion experience through outings and trips in and around Paris.
ICS Paris strives to ensure that each of our students is immersed in many different aspects of French culture through outings in Paris and trips further afield in France, making for a rich learning experience. We are convinced that our students’ experience in Paris should also be an opportunity for them to learn the French language; most of children who join our international school have regular French lessons until Grade 10. This unique feature makes ICS Paris different from the other international schools in Paris and contributes to a particular educational goal: to promote the learning of French for our students through playful, lively, immersive activities.
UNESCO Headquarters
Students can enhance their learning experience beyond the confines of traditional classroom settings through field trips. Our visit to UNESCO presented our students with an exceptional chance to acquire knowledge in a new environment and develop real-world connections to the concepts they have learned in class. Fourth-grade students were able to apply their critical thinking, listening, and communication skills by posing questions, taking notes, and reflecting on how our visit related to their unit of inquiry on children's rights.
Accrobranche Paris
Our second-grade students have been learning ways to support their physical, mental and social health with their first health unit on Health and Well-being. We couldn’t find a better way to build confidence and teamwork skills and to get our bodies and our hearts working than a trip to Accrobranche Meudon. 13 meters above the ground, the children passed through nets, walked over bridges and ziplined their way to the ground, all while supporting one another with words of encouragement.
Cité des Sciences
Just before the holidays, the International Nursery, Pre-K and Kindergarten classes took a wonderful day trip to the Cité des Sciences. Here, the children were introduced to 6 little characters, each made of a different material but all fragile in their own way. They followed the story of Rocky, who got broken in an accident, and they found different ways to mend him once more. The children used all of their senses to investigate their own bodies, machines, movement, and differences between them and their friends. We ended with a lovely picnic and they returned to school full of stories about their new experiences and challenges!
Atelier des Lumières
Our youngest, 3 & 4-year-olds, visited the Atelier des Lumières Paris 75011. Connected to the current Unit of Inquiry, How we express ourselves, this trip brought our students from our international preschool into the landscape of Cezanne and Kandinsky's works projected on the walls of an enormous warehouse. Before the visit, the students had several opportunities to know the two artists and their exceptional works of art.
Ms. Villafane, our Early Education Coordinator, shared the children's comments. One said, 'I can tell a story in my painting!' Another added, 'It's dark, but I like the colors. They look like a rainbow!' 'I can dance inside a picture!'
Boat ride in Paris
Our Grade 2 students had a blast exploring the Seine river in Paris on a boat ride before spring break. The field trip was connected to their PYP Unit on cities and the first line of inquiry: the location and growth of cities. During the boat ride, children learned about how the location of Paris impacted its growth and development over time, and how the city's connection to waterways like the Seine helped it flourish.
Jardin des Plantes
Just before the holidays, our international preschool classes went to the Jardin des Plantes zoo in Paris! It was so much fun to watch the kids explore and learn about plants and nature while enjoying the sunshine. They saw some incredible animals, including monkeys, flamencos, and deers! The children were thrilled and couldn't stop talking about the experience. They were already looking forward to their next adventure!
Centre Pompidou
Last week our Grade 1 students on an incredible day trip to the Center Pompidou. The trip was perfectly aligned with their ongoing unit on Patterns and Cycles, enriching their understanding through hands-on experiences. The highlight of the visit was the captivating children's gallery, featuring the mesmerizing exhibition 'Les Plantamouves.' Our young explorers were delighted to engage with the diverse range of materials, igniting their creativity and imagination. They eagerly interacted with the exhibits, immersing themselves in a world of artistic patterns and cycles.
The Grade 1 students left the Center Pompidou with beaming smiles and enriched minds!
Outdoor Learning
The environment is our 3rd teacher. Every day our international primary and preschool students go to the park. It is a wonderful way of exploring nature, enabling them to use their senses and learn about the world. Children experience different herbs and flowers, explore water streams, discover new smells, play with the slide, climb the ladder, run around, and try out their gross motor skills.
The park is a genuine environment for experiential learning!
WWF and Eco School
The Eco Schools programme and educational partnership with WWF offer additional learning opportunities for our students to contribute to a better and more sustainable world.
As a proud member of the Globeducate network, Globeducate is the educational partner of WWF and this partnership aims to make sustainability education an intrinsic part of life in and beyond all Globeducate schools.
What is the Eco Schools programme?
Eco Schools is the world's largest sustainable schools programme. It is dedicated to advancing environmental education, management, and certification in schools. The initiative's holistic approach and the combination of theory and action makes it a powerful tool to reduce the environmental impact of the school community and to spread good environmental practices among young people, families, local authorities and other representatives of civil society. At ICS Paris international school, the Eco Schools programme is coordinated by Ms Charlotte Nicolas
ICS Paris joined the Eco-Schools international network in 2020 and is committed to raising awareness of important environmental themes that engage the entire learning community.
