Q & A

Introduction

Hub School 21 à Vincennes est la 1ère école du réseau d'écoles innovantes Hub School 21. Nous proposons de nouvelles façons d'apprendre pour faire éclore et valoriser le meilleur de chacun. Hub School 21 utilise les pédagogies actives "learning by doing" et "flipped class" pour permettre aux enfants d'être auteurs et acteurs de leur parcours d'apprentissage en lien avec le monde qui les entoure et en s'appuyant sur tous les potentiels. Une attention particulière est accordée au développement personnel (connaissance de soi, gestion de ses émotions, rapport aux autres...), à la communication non violente et au développement durable. Nous décloisonnons matières, espaces, temps et âges dans une approche inclusive, collaborative et constructiviste. L'utilisation des nouvelles technologies et la formation aux usages pertinents du numérique sont inclues dans l'emploi du temps, au service des projets menés. L'initiative est portée par 3 chefs de file, parents, enseignants et/ou entrepreneurs, tous impliqués dans l'Economie Sociale et Solidaire, entourés d'experts polyvalents en lien avec l'Education Nationale, des familles, des entreprises et des associations. Durant la période exceptionnelle que nous traversons depuis mars 2020, l'équipe s'est adaptée rapidement pour proposer une continuité pédagogique en ligne pour tous nos élèves du CP à la 3ème : coaching et mentorat individuel, suivi personnalisé des enfants, vidéo-conférences en petits groupes, ateliers ludiques et créatifs autour des sciences et des arts, lecture et écriture collaborative, etc...)



Does Hub School Vincennes prepare the pupils for official exams?

Yes, Hub School Vincennes prepares for official exams. Our pedagogic approach is based on excellence of tools, people, places and projects. It is supported by the Ministry of Education. We develop and validate each year all the skills of the educational basis. Pupils in the classes Year 10, Year 12 and Year 13 have special training for exams, both written and oral. In 2019 and in 2020, 100% of our students succeeded in the Brevet des Collèges exam.



Will my child be able to change schools after a cursus in Hub School 21 Vincennes?

Of course, each child can attend another school after one or several years spent at Hub School 21 Vincennes, since the core skills and knowledge is validated at the end of the year, in accordance with the National Education framework. In addition to immediate daily feed-back, each pupil has got a portfolio, or digital booklet, to track all the skills acquired. The child also carries out a self-assessment of his progress and commitment. He receives a personalized and constructive assessment for his achievements and his commitment.



What does « decompartmentalize » mean?

To foster the success and wellbeing of children, we create an atmosphere that favours learning. Therefore, we decompartmentalize spaces, time and school subjects with particular emphasis on autonomy, inclusion, confidence and empowerment. To this end, we provide learning situations that are at once playful, complex and motivating, in relation to the environment. Spaces: we regularly move visit other locations, we call them “learning spots”. These fields facilitate learning such as museums, fablabs, sports halls, companies, incubators, natural areas … These visits create links over time between the persons from these places, projects and our pupils. Children are thus changemakers in the society. They bring solutions to real issues. Time: children learn at their own pace, thanks to a personalized schedule. Time slicing is flexible, variable, with large time slots if necessary, weekly adjusted. Each child has enough time to go to the end of concepts without being penalized by a pace that would defeat him/her. Ages: we alternate work groups (pair-work, cycle groups, large groups) according to themes and needs. Children enter learning in a transversal mode, per short, medium or long term projects. School subjects: core skills are validated individually over time, through interdisciplinary cooperative projects and by presenting realizations (“chef d’oeuvres”) in congress, exhibitions, performances, “genius time”… Digital technology is a learning tool, which facilitates decompartmentalization and assessment. Differences, often displayed as a brake in the educational system, are thus erased, whether cognitive or physical. Following the lockdown and the Coronavirus pandemic, space and time have been modified to adapt to the conditions imposed for remote schooling. In 2020-2021, we want to build on the positive lessons learned from this period and offer a few distance activities for our students who might not be able to come to school for whatever reasons. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information. A caring assessment which develops the child’s personal qualities and skills



What are our active pedagogies?

Active pedagogies include project-based learning, problem solving, case studies, experimentation and research based learning. Experience, creativity, enquiry are at the center of the learning process. We also apply the Design Thinking approach to address issues and progress. This cooperative and reflexive approach includes 4 stages: imagination, search, proposition, dissemination. The child is a researcher who learns by asking questions and by working with his peers. He is an actor and author of his curriculum. Trial and error are support points to go on. The realization of “masterpieces” (articles, artistic productions, videos…) allows to value the child’s work, to make sense of learning, and to increase motivation. Adults ensure respect of the framework, set academic targets with the children, help them build their knowledge, make possible the construction and deepening of the concepts approached. The adult is a mentor for the child. He is at the same time a teacher, guide, coach and tutor. He has a constructive view of progress and, thanks to regular feedback, allows everyone’s success. The concept of Active pedagogies was created in the United States in the early 20th century by Dewey who offered his lab-school for concrete activities supporting learning. This is the “learning by doing”. Experiments conducted in France and abroad (Quebec, Finland, Singapore, etc…) show that these approaches help the development of “soft skills” such as autonomy, creativity, cooperation… and also allows to improve significantly academic performance, especially if they are combined with self-development.



What is « self development »?

Self-development consists of improving self-knowledge and knowing each other. That means identifying one’s strengths and talents, one’s patterns, in relation to positive psychology and multiple intelligences. The structuring of time and activities in the school was designed to allow time for inclusion in the group, sharing of experiences, exchange of ideas and decision-making regarding the collective. The goal is for everyone to feel welcomed and listened to. For example, the practice of positive feedback leads to becoming more thoughtful to oneself and to the others, kinder and to improve the quality of relationships. It also helps to develop emotional intelligence and verbal expression. Children have multiple opportunities to take responsibility. In addition to the class responsibilities that allow its proper functioning (cleaning the room, sorting equipment, watering plants, garden maintenance, weather, call ...), they manage the weekly Collaborative Council on a rota basis: they establish the agenda and lead the assembly. The secretary lists all decisions made in writing. This Council is an opportunity to strengthen the cohesion of the group, to make a point about the organization of the school, make choices about projects progress and vote before making decisions.



What about foreign languages?

In the timetable, languages are taught through digital and reading, through projects in foreign languages (eg articles, contests, coding, dance, life and earth sciences, cooking, yoga etc.), through exchange with other schools (that will be offered as soon as possible). Particular emphasis is placed on learning English. Three mornings a week are devoted to it. Students can apply to exams such as TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS with a specific preparation. Since September 2018, all children have started Spanish. Since September 2020, we have opened a Chinese class.



Who is in the Hub School 21 teaching team in Vincennes?

The holder of the Hub School 21 project, Fanny Peissik Riblier, has cumulative experiences of mother, teacher and entrepreneur. After working in a company, Fanny has been teaching in Primary school for 18 years. She is recognized as an expert in pedagogical innovation and regularly talks at conferences in France and abroad. Florence Castagnos is the president of the Hub School 21 association and she is responsible for the back-office management. She is specialized in multidisciplinary teams coaching and management. She is passionate about educational change. Alexis Jacquand develops the strategy of the school. As a corporate executive and an international expert, he lived in 16 different countries to accompany food industries in organizational and human transformations. He strengthens relations with the school's partners and works on the project development with Fanny and Florence. They are surrounded by twelve polyvalent stakeholders including a sophrologist, sportsmen, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs and teachers ... The whole team has a good knowledge of the educational system in its totality. Each one brings his skills and talents to the success and the well-being of the student in accordance with official curricula. The school works with companies and various associations. Each child has a mentor who accompanies him, welcomes him once a year to his/her workplace and undertakes to introduce him each year to two people around him/her who do not do the same job. The school team, to embody the values it wishes to spread among children, is constantly training and inquiring, practicing self-improvement, develops its talents and expresses its doubts ... In doing so, the team progresses “tightly”, with agility and being attentive to the development of the best in each. The team is surrounded by a Committee of recognized experts from the National Education system, research, community organizations, sporting world and business world.



What does a typical schedule look like?

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, we have creative and fun activities in English, Spanish or Chinese. Thematic weeks are organized during the year and we attend different Congresses during which the children conduct workshops, take part in international projects and present their written or audiovisual works. For example : we took part in the Education Fair in November 2017 by Google Edu. We did some coding, made videos for Contests “Toi-Même Tu Filmes” and “My Class Has Got Talent”, We also participated in the fair Code&Play in Nice to achieve an international challenge “the City of Tomorrow” (model, coding and robotics), we also visited the incubator WAI of BNP Paribas to think a "bright future", and finaly we spent an afternoon discovering the Master Class of countertenor Philippe Jarrousky… The first few weeks of the school year are special and allow to create the atmosphere of the school, its regulation, the cohesion of the group and its ecosystem, to define the projects and to determine the timetables with the children and the educational team. After spending a few days building the base of our community, we go to meet a few companies and external partners already identified by the teaching team in order to consolidate links with contact persons who work in these locations. In doing so, we concretely address all the points of the program by organizing our trips, workshops. Adult/children workshops are on specific topics with people working at the partner places. We conduct interviews, reports in the form of articles and videos. Therefore geography, writing, mathematics, moral and civic education, history and science, digital skills are concretely trained, in connection with the construction of the school ecosystem. Two school trips are scheduled during the year: - one during the first period to create a bond: English Class in October 2017 in Brittany, Exchanges with schools in Barcelona in September 2018, School Immersion in Finland in November 2019 and in Montreal in March 2020, School immersion in the South East of France in September 2021 - one at the end of the school year, fully prepared with the children, to close the year: Salon Code&Play in Nice in April 2018 and in April 2019 in association with the Research and Innovation Laboratory of Nice Moreover, Learning Expeditions are regularly organized with Middle School pupils to participate in international gatherings, to be inspired by worldwide schools' best practices and share our own teaching methods (in Quebec in March 2019, in Barcelona in July 2019, in Helsinki in Finland in November 2019 and in Montreal in March 2020...). Because of Covid-19, we are adapting our trips in 2020-2021. We are favoring trips in local areas and we will consider more distant trips when the global health situation allows it. Some practical details about the organization ... Meal : Children bring their lunch-boxes every day. We can heat up their meals at school.



Where is the school located?

Our Hub School 21 pilot school in Vincennes is in the center of the city, at 19-21 Rue Diderot. We share the premises with Magic Makers, a start-up that offers coding and robotics activities on extra-curricular time. The place is designed to accommodate fifty children. Recently renovated, it has an outdoor area on the ground floor.



How much are the tuition fees at Hub School Vincennes?

The cost for a pupil's education in France, without any help, is more than 10,000 euros *, mostly paid for by the State and, for the private sector, by families. The two main cost drivers are wage costs and accommodation charges. Any new school in France is completely private for a period of 5 years. Although the Ministry of Education has a positive view of Hub School 21, we can’t bend this rule. Through public and private partnerships, and with support of sponsors, we seek to reduce tuition fees to an acceptable level, close to that of private schools which are under agreements with the State. Currently, tuition fees are 12,500 euros/year. At this amount, we must add 1,300 euros for the pre-registration fee, covering a 5 days’ integration period and annexe costs (contributions, supplies, insurance, uniforms and trips in the Paris area/sports activities). Please note : As all scholarship applications have already been completed, we are currently unable to offer tuition fees lower than 12,500 euros per year excluding pre-registration fees and annexe costs. * source: Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research http://www.education.gouv.fr/cid61665/le-cout-de-l-education-en-2015-pres-de-7-du-pib-consacres-a-l-education-soit-147-8-milliards-d-euros.htm



Will my child be able to follow all of his/her education at Hub School Vincennes?

Our ambition is to gradually open all sections from the age of 6 (first year of primary school) to 18 (final year of A level). We opened the pilot Hub School 21 in Vincennes with a dozen children (age ranged between 8 and 13 years old) in September 2017. The three classes Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7 represent the same academic cycle, called “Cycle 3”, which is a transition between the end of primary school and secondary school, a basic pillar of education. In December, facing strong demands, we opened the classes “Year 8” (age 13) and “Year 9” (age 14). Since September 2018, we welcome children from Primary School to the end of Middle School.

We will now accompany them by opening gradually High School levels over the years.

New pupils will therefore come and increase gradually the size of the school, with a maximum of 25 children for the current school year. Our school welcomes children aged 6 to 15 years old.

Personalised studies can be set up for children wishing to benefit from adapted schedules and to complete a cycle combining education/arts or education/sports or education/digital.