How does it feel to be the Director of an OASIS School?

The Tandou Kindergarten is located in the 19th Arrondissement of Paris, a mixed-income district with a population density of 27,687.1 (inhabitants/ Km2). The total surface area of the schoolyard is 960m2 with an additional area of 650m2, which previously were fenced sports courts. This area is given back to the school for the purpose of the school's transformation. The school serves 200 pupils in 9 different classes. One class of 22 pupils (5 years old) actively participated in the co-design workshops.

 

Although at the beginning of the project, I thought that we would receive complaints and concerns from the parents for the natural playground, it was a surprise to realize that almost every parent was excited and supportive of this change. We had only two complaints from parents during the first two years of the new schoolyard", says the school director Mrs. Corinne Vilkoviskis. 

"Today, parents are asking to use the schoolyard for gatherings and birthday parties, and we are considering creating a framework for allowing such events in collaboration with the Parents Association.

According to Mrs. Vilkoviskis, the most popular area among the children seems to be the quiet area with huts, where they enjoy gathering in small groups of 2-3 and developing their imaginary games. Such activity was not possible before the transformation as the area did not provide the incentives for this type of play. 

The Tandou Schoolyard now has a large area dedicated to luscious vegetable gardens. As Mrs Vilkoviskis describes with excitement: "We were lucky enough to have a vegetable garden before the transformation as well, but it was a fenced garden next to the schoolyard with regulated access during the day. Now, we have large areas inside the schoolyards with wooden pathways where the children not only take care of the plants as part of the school curriculum but they enjoy observing them any time of the day. We noticed that children are more excited now with the vegetables. They observe their growth every single day. For example, now we have those large pumpkins ready to cut, and the big discussion in the schoolyard is when and how we will cook them!" 

The Emeriau Kindergarten is located in the 15th Arrondissement of Paris, a medium-income district with a population density of 27,398.9 (inhabitants/ Km2). The total surface area of the schoolyard is 583m2. The school serves 150 pupils, and one class of 24 (5 years old) actively participated in the co-design workshops.

The concept of the OASIS Schoolyards is perfectly aligned with our philosophy in this school!” says the school director Mrs. Isabelle de Chauveron, as she welcomes us to the Emeriau Kindergarten. “All our teachers are applying the Montessori educational approach in their classrooms, and therefore our re-designed schoolyard is exactly what we need for our outdoor and nature activities.

According to Mrs. Isabelle de Chauveron, contrary to what many would assume at first sight of the schoolyard, maintenance is not a big challenge! Obviously, there are still maintenance needs, as every schoolyard has, but the key difference here is that our school community is also actively participating in those tasks.

Every class is responsible for watering and taking care of the planting beds. It is part of their learning process. The school has its own composting bin, and the children learn how to compost and nurture their plants with enriched soil and water. Sweeping leaves from the pathways and composting them is another task that children learn to do as part of taking care of their communal space and strengthening their sense of responsibility. This skill is highly appraised by the Montessori educational approach.

Moreover, the Emeriau Schoolyard features a unique element called the “Educational river,” where the children can play with water and nature while at school! The rooftop stormwater is collected and stored in a water tank. This water is used either for irrigation or “activating the river” by letting it flow along the small channel constructed around the playground.

Today, we have fewer accidents and conflicts in our schoolyard, and that is easily explained! When the space was a plain field lacking interesting elements, the children just wanted to run around, and usually, they ran quite fast. Now, the space provides all different types of incentives for play, and children are way more cautious than before. The schoolyard is an endless resource for imaginative play!

says Mrs. Chauveron. 

The new design layout also strengthens the sense of equality in the space. Contrary to the previous play equipment, in which children needed to take turns using it, now they can explore and use all elements of the space at their own pace. Thus, as Mrs. Chauveron highlights, the conflicts among children have been eliminated.

The Pierre Alviset Middle School is located in the 5th Arrondissement of Paris, a high-income district with a population density of 25,535.6 (inhabitants/ Km2). The total surface area of the schoolyard is 1,219m2. The school serves 610 students in total, from which two teams of students participated in the co-design workshops, the students of the 5th grade and 20 ambassador students from all grades, the so-called: “eco-delegates.” 

In our school, we had an issue with outdoor space. Just imagine that the allocation of the outdoor space is only 2m2 / student. Today, despite the shortage of space, the transformation of the schoolyard managed to accommodate a variety of places and uses, allowing multiple activities for the students to enjoy,” says the school director, Mr. Jean-Charles Volkmann, while guiding us around the schoolyard. “We have two outdoor amphitheaters also used for outdoor classes, a chess corner, and a new running track for the physical education class.

According to Mr. Jean-Charles Volkmann, there were no complaints about the new schoolyard either from students, parents, or teachers, as everyone was fully informed about the project and participated in different stages of the project. “Everyone agrees that the schoolyard is much more pleasant in general! The students have actively participated in every project, not only during the co-design phase but during hands-on workshops for planting the schoolyard after the transformation as well”.

Similar to the other OASIS Schoolyards, Mr. Jean-Charles Volkmann, agrees that maintenance of the schoolyard has not been a challenge. Before the transformation, only 2% of the schoolyard’s total surface area was vegetated. Today, the percentage of permeable surfaces is more than tenfold, but this doesn’t seem to cause a maintenance headache for the school!

The school community has taken an active role in this task. As Mr. Jean-Charles Volkmann mentions, “All of us, students, teachers, school staff, and parents, are contributing to the maintenance of the schoolyard. Even during vacation periods, when the school is closed, we coordinate with each other, and either myself, another teacher, or a member of the School Parents Association becomes responsible for watering the plants.”

The Jean Dolent Kindergarten is located in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris, a medium-income district with a population density of 24,149.5 (inhabitants/ Km2). The total surface area of the schoolyard is 1.050m2 ,but before the transformation, only half of this whole area was accessible to the children, which was also covered in asphalt. Although the schoolyard already had around 468m2 of vegetated areas, they were not accessible by children due to fencing.  The school serves 158 pupils. A group of 30 pupils of all ages (3-5 years old) actively participated in the co-design workshops.

 “What is not to like about this project? It is only for the benefit of the children and a wonderful everyday environment for all of us! A win-win situation.” says the head teacher of the extra curriculum classes, Mrs. Sandrine Raynaud.

The school has developed a schedule for watering and taking care of the plants; every class has a role in it. “The younger ones are responsible for watering the plants every morning. It is amazing to see their dedication to this task. It is the first thing they want to do once they arrive at school.” says Mrs. Raynaud with excitement. During vacation periods, when the school is closed, the adults of the school community, school staff, teachers, or parents take responsibility for watering the plants. “ Maintenance has not been an issue. We coordinate with each other to make sure our schoolyard remains alive! We all share the same vision. To give you an example, we didn’t need to ask the substitute school guard during the summer season to do it. She took the initiative to do it herself!”

As Mrs. Raynaud describes:

We had fewer accidents with the new schoolyard and zero complaints from parents about risk play because it is simply like playing in your house’s backyard. This is how we see it!  And yes, the children might get dirty when playing with mud, but this is also part of the learning process.