Sports, arts & culture
03 Dec 2021
Nurturing children's wellbeing and creativity
School life would not be complete without physical, sports and cultural education. Teaching these subjects is important at Jacques Prévert, something which is reflected in our school project. Learning in these domains often occurs as part of our many interdisciplinary pedagogical projects.
Sports
At the Ecole Jacques Prévert, all children take part in three hours of physical education (PE) and sports per week.
In addition to our own resources, we draw on local sports facilities to enable us to offer a wide variety of activities, including swimming, for all year groups. We also offer, depending on year group, climbing, circus skills, ice skating and acrobatic gymnastics. We use nearby halls and parks (Masbro Centre, Brook Green, Ravenscourt Park) and invite specialists into the school to support the work of our teachers. A week of bicycle training, for example, is offered for CM2 pupils in conjunction with the organisation BikeWorks.
We also have one-off sports projects held across year groups:
- Inter-year and inter-school athletics meets
- Annual charity fundraising race
- Sports Day - a day of athletics competitions for all pupils
- No-Car Day, to encourage families to walk to school or come by bicycle or scooter.
Children also go on outings and trips from nursery school onwards, to encourage regular participation in sports during the trip.
Our sports culture contributes to health education as part of the National Education school programme. Classes take place in French and English. In addition, the school offers a significant number of extra-curricular activities and clubs.
Arts and culture
Through the artistic and cultural education it provides, the school seeks to stimulate our pupils’ imagination, awaken their creativity, develop their artistic and cultural skills, and encourage new talent to emerge.
The development of artistic knowledge and skills takes place thanks to numerous classroom projects and through regular expert-led events for all pupils. Each year, these projects are turned into a dedicated exhibition displayed during our arts open day.
We also draw on the active cultural life offered by London. Museums, monuments, shows: every year, from a very young age, our pupils discover the history and artistic wealth of the British capital through school trips and events.
Finally, all our pupils are offered a musical education, which they can put into practice during the highlights of year, such as our Christmas and end-of year shows. The festival of music held on 21 June gives pupils the opportunity to showcase their musical talents, and each year we feature a number of young pianists, guitarists, violinists, and flutists.
Music teaching is part of the artistic and cultural education offered by the National Education school programme. Classes take place in French and English. In addition, the school offers a significant number of extra-curricular activities and clubs.
The serious business of beatbox
In an effort to stay ahead of pedagogical trends, for several years now, the school has offered CM pupils an introduction to beatbox, a form of vocal exercise that imitates the sounds of musical instruments, in particular percussion. Once a week, pupils practice this art form studiously, coached by Etienne Paquereau, who took second place at the 2016 World Beatbox Championships.