“Resilience is the art of navigating torrents.”
I would like to share these words from Boris Cyrulnik
as they represent the situation
that our world has been thrown into due to the pandemic.
A new school year, a new approach to pedagogy
and attendance at school,
this is the fight we have had to lead,
in order to continue to provide effective education
for all students.
From 16th March 2020 onwards,
EPBI was faced with lockdown,
like all schools around the world.
The health and safety emergency situation
forced us to revise our ways of teaching and learning.
I would like to highlight the strength of adaptability
that the entire educational team,
as well as parents and children,
were able to demonstrate in this unprecedented situation.
Indeed, during the lockdown in March,
the pedagogical management team had to act urgently
to set up an educational system adapted to this situation.
Thanks to G-Suite Education,
each teacher has created their own “Classroom”
and uploaded all of their lessons,
which have also been delivered by videoconference.
This method, different from usual teaching,
has developed learners’ autonomy
but also their communication skills.
EPBI management were not only surprised,
but were extremely proud of the responsiveness of teachers,
learners and their parents.
Despite the build-up of stress,
we were pleased to note that everything was set up
to allow continuous educational support in an efficient manner.
Indeed, the COVID-19 epidemic continues to force us
to embrace new ways of teaching.
Since the start of the September 2020 school year,
lessons taught face-to-face are supplemented
by all the necessary follow-up documents
and links in the Classrooms.
During the summer, EPBI prepared educational protocol guides
that would be ready to be implemented depending on the state
of health and security in France.
At the moment, I think I am quite realistic
when I say that we are ready to face any health situation
while maintaining efficient continuous educational support.
While this new school year has been marked
by educational changes and a rather special atmosphere,
this is not the only problem facing the school.
The violent attack perpetrated against freedom of expression
during the terrorist assassination of Samuel Paty,
a History, Geography and Moral and Civic Education teacher,
leads us to reconsider the power of speech,
education,
awareness of all cultures
and the strength of difference and their place
in education and teaching today.
These apocryphal words attributed to
a philosopher of tolerance, Voltaire,
still carry as much weight:
“I do not agree with what you are saying,
but I will fight to the death so that you have the right to say it.”
EPBI, an international school that promotes
a philosophy of openness to the world,
places reflection on other cultures
at the heart of its teaching,
showing that understanding others will help reduce hatred and intolerance.
Remember that the genesis of the IB rests
on a misunderstanding following the First World War:
How could men, who are geographical neighbours, kill each other?
In what name can hatred and violence prevail?
The education delivered at EPBI,
supported by teachers of all cultures and nationalities,
to learners from all walks of life,
will always seek to develop tolerance, altruism, and open-mindedness.
Freedom of expression will be a force that is always defended.
If there is a value that we stand for,
a skill that we want to develop in our learners,
it is the ability to become thoughtful adults.
Our teaching will always be based on information,
objectivity and the ability to take into account all points of view.
As a staunch defender of the Enlightenment,
the educational team will always be committed
to combating obscurantism
and turning its learners into knowledgeable citizens,
ready to defend universally just causes.
Because hope lies in the education and happiness of our children,
EPBI will continue to fight,
get involved and commit itself,
no matter what pitfalls it faces.
Dorothée LEBAILLIF
Headmistress