Curriculum

Structure of studies

The Nursery cycle consists of a 3-year curriculum for children up to 6.

The core curriculum in Nursery School is referred to as the "Early Education Curriculum" and consists of 4 main areas:

Me and my body
Me as a person
Me and the others
Me and the world

Each of these areas has 3 dimensions:

Learning to be
Learning to live with others
Learning to do and to know

Teaching and learning in the early years is holistic. The whole child is considered important and the areas of the curriculum are based on physical, psychological, social, cognitive and emotional development. The objectives and content of the children’s development are incorporated into different pedagogical activities and structured play.

Each child creates a portfolio with a collection of their work, records of self-assessment and teachers’ assessment. Our pupils learn to set their own goals and keep track of their progress and evaluation.

We support parents to ensure that their children develop into active and conscientious citizens. It is important to strengthen children’s healthy sense of self-esteem with the aid of positive learning experiences and to provide opportunities for diverse interaction with others.

Languages: our greatest asset

The opportunity to be exposed to different languages and cultures from an early age offers many advantages to children’s learning and development.

Our Nursery School has three language sections:

Dutch language section
English language section
French language section

The spoken language in the nursery classes corresponds to the language of the section. Nonetheless, during breaks, lunch time, joint activities, etc. children will hear other languages as well. This early language exposure will greatly benefit them in learning other languages at a later age.

SWALS (students without a language section) also follow courses in their mother tongue for 150 minutes per week.
More information on SWALS

Additional activities

To support the physical, psychological, social, cognitive and emotional development we organise the following activities that complement the curriculum:

European Hours

Every Thursday afternoon the pupils are split up in mixed groups across the language sections. In these groups they visit a different class every week and do activities in English, Dutch or French depending on the language of the teacher they are visiting. European Hours support language awareness and the interaction with peers across the language sections.

Water confidence sessions

Every second week the eldest pupils in Nursery have water confidence sessions in the swimming pool.

Mini KiVa

To support personal and social-emotional development, our Nursery and Primary Year 1 pupils work on a joint ‘Mini KiVa’ project throughout the school year. They work with themes to develop confidence, self-esteem, understanding of codes of behaviour and learn to become sensitive towards differences between individuals.

School hours and holidays

Monday: 8:30 - 13:30
Tuesday: 8:30 - 16:15
Wednesday: 8:30 - 12:30
Thursday: 8:30 - 16:15
Friday: 8:30 - 12:30

School holiday calendar

Transition

To make the transition from Nursery to Primary School as smooth as possible, we organise joint celebrations, performances and pedagogical projects. Twice a week, our Nursery pupils also use the Primary School gym.

At the end of the school year the oldest Nursery children visit their future classrooms to get to know the teachers of Primary Year 1 and the new environment. Nursery is concluded with a graduation ceremony and a celebration together with Primary School.