Maternelle

Monday Isolde started maternelle, which is what Belgian preschool is called, and she has now completed her first week.  The Belgians call it school and it's also (usually) housed in a regular school, but in effect it is like Swedish preschool förskola, with some differences.  Some maternelles don't admit children until the age of four (e.g. the European Schools) but most Belgian schools, and especially the municipal ones, welcome children from the age of two and a half.  Before that there are nurseries, crèches, for babies and toddlers from three months old and up, and most of them welcome children up to four years old.  Maternelle, as it's considered school, is free of charge (but not free of expenses), whilst crèche can be quite pricey (at least compared to Swedish fees), around 6-800 euros per month. 

Isolde is only attending in the morning to start with, 08:30-11:45, but eventually, when we feel she's got used to it, especially a new language, she will stay the whole day until 15:30.   Then she will eat lunch and also nap there.  Once we're both working she will have a longer day, but then she will take part in after-school care (and before school if we need it), garderie, that is offered in the school but not necessarily in her classroom. 

So what is different from a Swedish preschool?

• As it is in a school the activities take place in a classroom rather than in several smaller rooms (at least at Isolde's school; some maternelles are different), though the toys and materials are similar to Sweden (just a bit more plastic haha) and they have organised the room so it feels like several rooms.
• The children wear their shoes indoors, i.e. the same shoes they arrived in (and that is also true for a lot of other countries of course but not Sweden).
• The children must have a backpack so that they can bring a snack and also take home notes from the school.
• There are set school hours (but garderie outside of those hours as explained above).
• There's no induction and parents are not allowed to stay, not even on the first day.  Crèches on the other hand have an induction period, but usually they are still only babies when they start there.  Two and a half is not that old either in my view, but when in Rome...
• The school requires the children to be potty trained though accidents are allowed of course and some schools help more actively with the training than this particular one.  This is why we had to get Isolde dry and as you know, we were successful!  Though she had two accident this week but only two in a whole week is alright I think.  The toilets are very typically French/Belgian - no seat and they have to sit directly on the cold porcelain, poor things! The children attending all day are allowed to wear nappies for the sieste however.
• We have to provide the school with certain items such as wipes (2 packs), tissues (2 boxes), paper towels (1 roll), glue (3 sticks) and plastic bags for dirty or soiled clothes, as well as a box for Isolde change of clothes. 
• We have to pack a snack, mainly fruit, every day for morning snack time and when she goes a full day, also for the afternoon I think.
• Once she starts attending all day we will pay for lunch.  It's not too expensive though and they get a two-course lunch (main meal and dessert), and also soup if we want.  At some school you can also pay for milk to go with morning snack time but I haven't heard anything from our school about that yet at least.
• Staff levels are lower.  I don't know yet exactly how many they are in Isolde's class but I think at least 12 and there's one teacher and one teacher assistant.  Many of the children only attend the morning like Isolde though.
• They follow school hours, so this means the day starts 08:30 and finishes either 11:45 or 15:30 (garderie available outside these hours as mentioned earlier) and if you want to pick them up earlier than 15:30 you can't do it before 14:30 because before that it's lunch and nap time. 
• On Wednesdays, like in France, school is only a half-day (earlier there used to be a half-day on Saturday instead but while that has been abolished the half-day Wednesday remains.  Not very practical for working parents, but fortunately the garderie simply opens earlier on Wednesdays.
• As it's part of school, once we're both working we need to find a solution for the school holidays such as Easter and the summer (Christmas we'll be in Sweden for two weeks anyway), as the school closes during these periods.  Crèches on the other hand are open throughout usually though apparently close for a certain period around Christmas and Easter.  In the summer there are other places that offer activities, so eventually we'd have to enrol Isolde in camp or similar during the summer.

What else could be interesting to know?  Most schools in Belgium are divided according to language (French and Dutch), and some are very strict and only allow one language to be spoken and sometimes even have separate school yards (won't go into Belgium's historical political, cultural and lingual complexities now...), but as Isolde's school is a municipal school, both languages are spoken but I think the teaching is in French only, or at least the main language is French.

Beyond the two Belgian languages (well, actually there are three; German as well), many other languages are spoken at Isolde's school as it's a very international area we live in.  Apparently it has as many as 40 nationalities.  In Isolde's class there are several Japanese children, and in the school in general, which is due to a Toyota factory and test runway nearby.

You can read more about the school here and if you go to galerie there are lots of pictures.

So how was Isolde's first week?  Well, it went far beyond our expectations.  We were quite worried about the first day, as we wouldn't be allowed to stay with her.  And we were also worried about the fact that the doesn't understand the language.  And finally we were worried she would not want to use the toilet or that they wouldn't be able to remind her often enough (or that she wouldn't understand), and that there would be a lot of accidents (and we were really hoping she wouldn't do no 2 there!).

Isolde ready for her first day

But turns out we didn't have to worry (although we are prepared there could be a backlash at some point)!  Isolde is just amazing, we're so proud of her!  We had talked about her going to preschool again and she was looking forward to it.  We had also talked about making new friends but I think maybe she still thought it was her old preschool in Sweden she was going to, or maybe not as she seems to have understood that we now live here and Sweden and other things are not here.  So even though she didn't really want to stay long when we visited the week before (although it might have been because there weren't any other children there then), she was very happy on her first day and wanted to start playing right away and she didn't mind being left there at all.  When Peter picked her up three hours later there had been no tears and no wee wee (well, only in the toilet where it should be). 

The week has continued in the same fashion - she skips happily through the corridor to her classroom and says "bye mummy" even before I've had the chance to help her take her sweater off and hang up her backpack.  Wednesday morning I didn't leave right away because on the Tuesday she had peed her pants after I had left, so I wanted to double-check that she didn't need to go to the toilet.  But then she wanted to leave with me again.  But I started talking about the toy cars and that maybe they would get to paint (she loves painting) and then she was fine again and I took the chance and left.  One day she had been a bit upset because we had packed peach for her and she apparently wanted other fruit, and on Thursday she didn't make it to the toilet again, but otherwise, no difficulties.  It probably helps that she's been to preschool before and that the concept is not new to her (even if it's a bit different from what she's used to).  And maybe the fact that she's quite a late talker, and she's used to people not understanding her and having to make herself understood with body language, helps her now in an environment where she doesn't understand the language.  They say that the language won't be an issue before long.  They told us that the children usually pick up quite a lot in two-three weeks; they have more trouble with the parents!  Luckily Peter and I speak a little bit of French (and we're planning to refreshen our knowledge of course) and one of the teachers also speak English.  So a very good first week!

Now a well-deserved for all of us before another week of preschool, work and daddy duty!

Show & Tell: Morning

Morning has broken. That's the first thing I thought about when I read Saltistjejen's theme (our hostess for the month of March).


Thought this particular version about lent/spring was fitting since I really hope spring (morning) comes soon after the long winter (night).

That song used to end all parties at St Antony's College (my Oxford college). The thing is that we had to end all parties at 1am due to the college's location in a residential area. Didn't really feel like morning at 1am...

We had a lot of fun at St Antony's Late Bar. We were considered the party college, at least as postgraduate colleges go. It used to be pretty crowded on a regular Friday bar night but it was especially so on Saturdays when there was a big party (about once a month).

Sometimes it would be a fancy dress party:

And every year there's a Ball (I was on the Committee one year):



The Hilda Besse, or the Hilda Beast as it's more commonly known, is not a looker from the outside (though listed and can't be torn down - it won an architectural price in the late 1960s) but it's functional, especially for parties.



The ground floor of the building houses the Late Bar (or Buttery as it's called during daytime when it's used for seminars), a TV room and a couple of smaller meeting rooms. Upstairs has Hall, i.e. the eating area/canteen, also used for fancy dinners (so-called High Table) and big parties, and kitchen.



The second upstairs (which is a smaller area, as Hall has very high ceilings and is open all the way up so-to-speak) has the Junior (JCR) and Senior Common Rooms (SCR), Junior for us students and Senior for professors et al. (at other colleges which have both undergraduate and postgraduate students - St Antony's has only the latter - the JCR is for undergrads and Senior for postgrads and the rest). Concrete doesn't look so good on the outside but inside the mix of cement and wooden floors is actually quite alright. Especially with some art and Persian rugs on the walls.

So despite its name I have some pretty good memories from the Beast!

Sorry if I digressed a bit too much from the subject... :)

All own photos except for the one of the Hilda Besse building which comes from Flickr and St Antony's College

Show Without Tell

Rain and Shine

Emma, a Swede living in Scotland, writes about the lack of appropriate wear for children in her adopted home when the weather is not sunny and dry but rainy, windy and cold, as is often the case in Scotland. She reflects upon the Swedish expression det finns inget dåliga väder, bara dåliga kläder ("there is no bad weather, only bad clothes" - sounds better in Swedish rhyme) and wonders how come two very similar countries (especially Scotland where there is also snow parts of the year), weather-wise, can be so different when it comes to the outdoors and weather conditions.

Her post reminded me of an article I read today about the Swedish Ur och skur ("rain and shine") pre-schools being awarded the Nordic Council's Nature and Environment Prize.

The motivation was "Rain or Shine by Friluftsfrämjandet ("Outdoor Life") is a prime example of an organisation that has contributed to children's wellbeing and understanding of nature in an era where people spend more and more of their lives online. Rain or Shine concentrates almost exclusively on outdoor schooling, so the proximity of the individual child, not to mention the institutions, to nature is absolutely central to its activities."

Rain or Shine was founded by Friluftsfrämjandet in 1985. 30,000 children attend the organisation's 200 schools, mainly pre-schools. The philosophy behind Rain and Shine is a belief that children's senses can be developed by smelling, observing and listening to nature, and that outdoor activities can promote learning. Studies also show that Rain or Shine children are considerably more healthy than kids in traditional schools.

And I bet 1 million Swedish kronor that Rain and Shine kids wear proper water-proofs and wellingtons!

The Enlightenment Missed a Few People

The USA can be a pretty strange place sometimes. Here's an article that gives a very good picture of the evolution v. "intelligent design" debate and science teaching in the US and shows that there are some excellent teachers (at least one) out there who are trying the enlighten American children! It's a very long article but you just can't miss it - read it now!!

If you don't get access to the article right away, just sign up for access, it's free and easily done!

Education: Big Money and Free Market?

The Swedish National Agency for Education has just published its latest report on the development of so-called independent or free-standing schools in Sweden. Since freedom of choice for pupils and freedom of establishment for providers were introduced in the early 1990s the number of applications for new independent schools and the number of pupils attending such schools have risen substantially. (I should mention that independent schools are still publicly financed; it is a voucher system of sorts.)

This year 560 applications reached the Agency for Education in its capacity as reviewer and approver of independent school licences. Today 9.1% of Swedish compulsory school pupils and 17.4% of upper secondary school pupils attend an independent school. In some bigger cities, e.g. around Stockholm, independent schools cater for almost 50% of the pupils, while some rural, often northern towns have no or very few independent providers.

Initially most of the independent providers were parent co-operatives or association and trusts, i.e. non-profit organisations, but today most of the schools are owned and run by big education chains, a development which has its pros and cons. Since independent schools in Sweden are allowed to make a profit and filter back that profit to its owners (often venture capital and similar organisations), it makes sense that more and more companies want to have a piece of the cake, and that they want to grow. Economies of scale, makes sense. By the way, this is a very different situation to the UK where profit in the education sector is not allowed. This has however not stopped the Swedish education provider Kunskapsskolan, which is making an entry into the UK education market.

The National Agency for Education, and others, have expressed concerns over the disrepancy between the legislation - and the intent of the reforms - and the current situation and the consequences for society's control over these schools and the school system as a whole. Swedish municipalities are responsible for the education of its minor citizens, but what happens when all or a majority of pupils choose another school? How do they keep the municipal school open or in other ways prepare for having to take in a substantial group of pupils when an independent school close down (for whatever reason: bankrupcy, withdrawal of permit, etc.)?

The Swedish education sector has changed over the last 15 years but the legislation regulating independent schools has not been amended since 1994. The law talks about independent schools as a complement to the municipal schools, for example other types of pedagogical methods, and not big chains with schools all over the country. Despite a completely new and different situation, the regulation about municipalities' responsibility and obligation for education provision has not changed. When an independent school has applied for a permit in a certain municipality the Agency for Education especially looks at the municipality's consequence assessment, including pupil prognoses and possible effects on the schools and education programmes already provided in the region. Unfortunately the quality of the consequence assessments is varying and some municipalities do not have the resources to do one.

Another current topic is how many schools does the sector have room for when the competition for pupils gets tougher? And how long can independent (and municipal) schools compete on different conditions? According to the Agency for Education the risk of over-establishment is huge and the number of applications is a surprise to them. The development in the Swedish school sector has occurred at a time when the age cohorts have been large and growing, but next year is the peak before the numbers start to shrink. The competition will lead to both independent and municipal schools being forced to re-organise or close down. To give an example, in one Swedish municipality last year's applications to start independent schools covered 7,700 education places in a town with only 4,500 pupils.

The Agency for Education argue that the municipalities are badly prepared for tougher competition. Since the municipalities by law still have the utmost responsibility for the education in the area they must always have a preparedness for a transfer of students from independent schools and for having to keep a school open despite a low number of pupils. As government organisations however, municipalities are more slow-moving creatures than independent schools and they cannot get rid of personnel or facilities easily, which means that the cost per pupil increases in such a situation. The ability to plan long-term is diminished. A municipality thus risks both school closures and increased costs for its pupils' education. Since the independent schools do not have the same obligations and responsibilities, they conditions are not the same for the two types of actors. The education market is not a level playing field.

In addition to the "market factors", there are also other differences in conditions between independent and municipal schools. The principle of free access to public records (the famous Swedish offentlighetsprincipen) does not apply to independent schools. The Justice Ombudsman or the Attorney General do not have jurisdiction here. The only inspection that takes place is that of the Agency for Education, and the municipalities have some right of insight into the independent providers in their area. This means that in municipalities with very many independent school the citizens have very little control over a major part of the local school system.

The government is starting to address some of these issues by looking at how to increase national government control (through agencies such as the Agency for Education) over the school system and how to make the conditions for independent and municipal schools more equal, but the "solution" is not obvious. There are also other negative aspects of the present competition in the education sector, such as the methods used by schools (municipal and independent alike) to attract students, for example, through flashy brochures and offering laptops and other perks, instead of competing on the quality of the education and pedagogy. But that's a topic for a future blog post!

Source: Skolverket/National Agency for Education