West Point: An international bilingual school located in Lyon

As learning the English language is essential in an increasingly globalized world, the West Point Bilingual School bases its educational program on learning in English and French, accessible from the age of 2. Interview with school principal Cindy Thomasett.

Can you provide your bilingual school located in Lyon?

Since its creation in 1980, West Point Bilingual School Teaches young children in French and English. We follow an official curriculum and offer half of our courses in English. Our students also pass the “Cambridge Examination” which is an internationally recognized benchmark. This exam allows our students to integrate with the best institutions in France or abroad.

In our school, our students follow a half-day course in French and the other half-day in English.

What age group is your school open to?

We welcome children from Kindergarten to the end of Primary School at CM2. However, we also welcome children from 2 years old. At this young age, they absorb a very large amount of information in terms of vocabulary or pronunciation. They are very sensitive to all these elements; That’s why we feel the need to immerse them in bilingualism very quickly!

What other reasons motivate parents to send their children to your school?

When parents turn to a private school, they want a certain quality of education and comprehensive support. At West Point Bilingual School, we are committed to providing the best conditions for children: rigor, student monitoring and altruism are the keywords.

Our status as a non-contracted private company allows us to have native English speaking teachers. Our students can exchange with English teachers, but also Irish, Australian or Canadian; Transcending their own culture!

Another way to open our students to the world: our CM2s go to school in London for a week, and we welcome our Chinese correspondents from Shanghai. So this bilingual education is a real added value for the child.

In addition to exposing students to the English language and the different cultures of English-speaking countries, various speakers conduct subjects such as music, comics, digital, bilingual drama, Chinese, etc. during school hours. We also offer many developmentally friendly extracurricular activities like fencing, hockey, handball, dance, piano, yoga, etc.

It is also advantageous to take advantage of reduced class sizes within your institution.

In fact, we choose to offer a limited number of classes, which is an essential component Teaching qualityBut also for student monitoring.

In the smallest section, the class size is about fifteen students, for Kindergarten, this number is 22, and then for Seniors, 25 students per class. This allows more time for each child, giving them a solid foundation before they enter middle school. We distinguish ourselves by a good level of education.

Over the past few years, West Point has been integrating digital into the classroom. Can you say more?

Society is changing rapidly and the school must know how to adapt its teaching to the needs of the younger generation. Digital and robotics are the environments where today’s kids will definitely work in the future. For example, we have integrated Digital/STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) courses.

Also, we have equipped our classrooms with interactive whiteboards. They are very interesting for the class. They teach differently and allow students to take it further.

While many scientific studies prove the effectiveness of learning a foreign language from an early age – very young children are ready to learn a foreign language easily and naturally – the West Point Bilingual School wants to combine lessons in the language of Shakespeare with education. Values ​​around respect, openness and tolerance allow children to build a solid background for their future.