Nursery school from 2 to 5 years: the cycle of early learning — cycle 1
The French nursery school: a first ambitious school, attentive to the development, needs and well-being of young children.
One of the specificities of the French system is that it provides education for children from the age of two. This is the first cycle of primary school, the early learning cycle, consisting of:
From the age of 2
The year they turn three
The year of turning four
The year of the 5th birthday
A day
On Wednesdays, lessons finish at 11:50 and the after-school club looks after the children from 12:00 until 17:30.
The six areas of learning
It is based primarily on daily observation of the child. The pupil acquires skills at their own pace, distributed across the six areas of learning over the course of the cycle. The pupil is involved in the assessment and completes their «Achievement Record».
How do children learn in nursery school?
All children are capable of learning and making progress.
The classroom constitutes a learning community that establishes the foundations for building citizenship that is respectful of rules and open to the plurality of the world's cultures.
Teachers set up diverse learning situations in their classrooms, structured around precise pedagogical objectives. They design them according to the needs of each pupil and the class group, taking into account the children's cognitive development.
Learning through play
Play promotes the richness of pupils' experiences throughout the cycle. It concerns all areas of learning and enables pupils to exercise their autonomy, to act upon reality, to develop their imagination, to engage in motor behaviours and to experiment with various rules and social roles.
Learning by practice
Young children's learning takes place over a long period and their progress is rarely linear. It often requires a period of familiarisation, which may involve either repeating known processes or discovering new situations. Stabilising these skills requires numerous repetitions under varied conditions.
Learning by memorising
From the very first year of life, children rely heavily on what they perceive of their environment through all sensory information. Physical and artistic activities, because they engage the body, contribute to the development of attentional and memorisation skills.
Learn together
In nursery school, teachers design learning situations that enable the child to learn within a group that forces them to give up their immediate desires (doing something or paying attention at the same time as others, taking into account group instructions, etc.). Teachers encourage pupils to cooperate, to engage in effort, and to persevere through their encouragement and the help of their peers.
The nursery team
Nursery school in pictures
