OGEC Saint Louis-Jeanne d'Arc - Vouziers (FRANCE)

« Saint Louis College » is a secondary school which counts 200 pupils and a team of 15 teachers . The pupils of the secondary school enter in year 7 and finish in year 10. It’s a Catholic and private school where we try to educate our children to respect, sharing and to open-mindedness. We are situated in the North East of France, in the town of Vouziers, which is one hour from Belgium, one hour from Reims and 40 minutes from Sedan. In our school, the pupils can learn different languages : French, English, German and Spanish. Some of them also learn Latin. During the year, the teachers motivate the pupils to participate in lots of different activities and projects to reveal their talents. In sport, dance, or even drama, they perform in clubs during their midday break. Teachers have their heart set on making pupils feel at ease and grow in a peaceful climate where they can work together. The school project aims at making the pupils evolve in a school where the differences of origin , culture, or tradition are accepted as a part of their European identity. The school is eager to join the project in order to give its pupils the opportunity to share experiences and to learn more about their European citizenship. Thanks to a Erasmus + partnership, our school will have the chance to open its frontiers and to communicate with its neighbours. It will allow us to discover the cultural heritage of the partners and to learn about places. The students will also learn how to work in a community of persons they are not used to work with. They will overcome their fear of langage, they will discover the differences of habits and customs, and they will exchange with all ages and levels. The teachers will be there to guide the pupils to learn from one another. Thanks to this partnership, the pupils will gain confidence, they will develop skills and they will feel more involved in their live as a European citizen. They will be more enclined to travel during their adult life. Above all, such a partnership will allow our school to gain in credibility towards the parents who want their child to grow accepting social and cultural differences. We will be three teachers to take part in the project in our school, Barbara Cornevin will be the coordinator for the project. Saint Louis school has already applied to ERASMUS KA1 projects (for the high school students) for more than ten years and has a good experience in exchanging with European partners. Even if this application is the first in strategic partnership, the past showed how the school can hold strong and efficient projects for its pupils in other categories.