BELGIUM

Preschool Koekatoe

In Belgium there are two preschools who participate in the project. Both are situated in the province of Antwerp.

Preschool de7sprong

Our autonomous preschool is situated in Deurne, a suburb of the city of Antwerp.

Our team of educators consists of 8 preschoolteachers, 1 physics teacher, 1 assistant teacher, 1 special needs coordinator, 1 education manager and a principal.

The children are between 2.5 and 6 years old.

Our school has arround 170 pupils in 8 different classes and divided into 4 different age groups. Each class has between 22 and 25 children and one teacher.

School philosophy

The early years are crucial years for children’s holistic development. Our school works by the principles of the

Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, Professor of Education at Harvard University.

It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults.

These intelligences are:

Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”)
Logical-mathematical intelligence(“number/reasoning smart”)
Spatial intelligence (“picture smart”)
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”)
Musical intelligence (“music smart”)
Interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”)
Intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”)
Naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)

We believe that it is important to nurture all forms of intelligences so that children can develop and grow to their full potential.

Why we are in the project

Working with the principles of Multiple Intelligences lead us to search for new ways of observing and evaluating childrens' learning. We are curoius and anxious to get to now other ways of assessing childrens' learning so we can implement them in our school.

By the end of this project we hope to have developed a digital proces growth Portfolio that fits with the phylosophy of our school.

Located in the rural north of Belgium near Antwerp, preschool ‘De Zevensprong – Klavertje 3’ houses two establishments. At this moment our school has 184 pupils aged between 2,5 and 6 years old, divided over 10 groups according to their age. One full time teacher supported by 2 care teachers per group.

We have an assistant teacher who supports the 2,5 years old group for 13 hours a week. All children get their weekly movement education. We also use a special program to enhance the writing process. This stimulates the motorial skills necessary to end up in writing.

Regularly the oldest children are being taught Sherborne, a movement method that focuses on a strong body awareness and relationship building.

The care team, consisting of 2 coordinators and the principal, a delegation of assistant teachers and the pedagogic adviser form together the core team that discusses, amends and executes the pedagogic approach.

Our team monitors the development of the children with the emphasis on the observation of wellbeing, involvement, competences, interests. Talents are being screened to meet children’s needs as best as possible. To monitor children’s development, we use a digital tool ‘zorgkompas’.

This digital tool focusses on the educational needs of the children; what do they need instead of what is wrong with them. We put emphasis on positive aspects, their interests and talents. We support children’s development in a process-orientated manner. We co-operate with parents as parents are the experts on their own children.

Teachers focus on the following aspects of their pupils:

• Wellbeing;

• Involvement;

• The competences such as positive thinking;

• Social development*;

• Musical development;

• Motorial development;

• Sensory development;

• Cognitive development;

• Language development and self-management;

• Interests and talents.

Teachers use mini guides** and register the observations 3 times a year in a whole group screening document, a part of the digital tool. This approach teachers a full picture of children’s development. This leads to interventions with the focus on interests and talents. In this way we increase the self confidence and motivation of our pupils.

The care team of our school is specialized to monitor the use of the digital tool and care policy. They coach teachers and collaborate strongly with the Centrum voor leerlingbegeleiding (CLB ~ Centre for accompaniment of students).

*In our school we have the same policy for children with special needs. Our first goal when handling cases of difficult behaviour remains working on a positive self-image by giving compliments.

**Our own mini guides are based on the toolbox of talents (Go with your talent) from Luk Dewulf and the centre of experienced-orientated education (CEGO).