Interview with Ms Malik
‘I think that trust must be our departure point’
Sanjee Goonetilake and Natalia Karpenko talk with Kamila Malik, the new EEB2 director, about choices she made in her life and about what it means to her to be a parent in one European school and a director of another. They find out what she thinks is important when it comes to parent participation in school life.
The first thing we see stepping into the office of Kamila Malik is a notice saying ‘Non, mon bureau n’est pas encore fait!’ The director is using her secretary’s room at the moment but is happy to show us her future working place. She tells us that one wall will be decorated with 28 European flags and another one – with artworks of EEB2 nursery and primary pupils. There will be also a nice table for talks and small conferences, and those physically absent will have the chance to connect online and join in projected onto a screen.
For the time being we have to use the cosy office of Ms. Malik’s secretary, Ms. Nathalie Wauters. We are happy Ms. Malik has found the time for this interview. We have prepared some questions and are very interested to get to learn our new director better – and to tell other parents about her in our newsletter.
Ms. Malik, thank you for inviting us over for this interview. We are happy you agreed to talk with us about your experiences as a parent in one European school and, at the same time, as the director of another. We would be very curious to hear about your personal experiences and perhaps also about your personal view on parent participation at school.
You know, I like the questions you asked because they are very human. It’s not only about the vision of the school or our objectives. Of course, they are very important but… I think a newsletter should be lively. Because the school is full of life!
Indeed, your interview will apppear in an issue of our newsletter with a few contributions about the events which took place in December like the Christmas concert etc. The dedication of teachers was immense. A lot of events united all children, from nursey to S7.
Of course, the school has already done things together but I would like to really make them visible, to show that we are one school.
What does it mean for you to be a parent of a European school?
I am a very silent parent. I have no time to be involved in any extra activities other than normal parental supervision of my kids. I have no issues with the school and come only for parents’ evenings. And there I just enjoy sitting and listening.
Does you being a parent of the European school influence your job as a director of one?
Everything is mixed in life, you cannot separate things. I think everything we are doing, has an influence. But I’m happy that I’m also a parent in the European school system because I can have a different perspective. It was more challenging in Varese because I had the children at the same school that I was working for. My office was in front of the main entrance to the school, my door was always open, so every day my son would come along greeting ‘ciao, mama’.
My personal experiences as a parent don’t have an influence on the teachers’ work but I could see some issues, difficulties or weaknesses of the system from the parental point of view, and I could see also benefits. I can read documents as a director but I am still able to read documents or some instructions as a parent. Of course, for my kids it’s not very beneficial that I am a school director as well: I can always find an argument to react to their complaining, especially about timetables or because a teacher was absent. For me, it’s much better now: my children are in the same school system but they are at a different school, unlike in Varese; in Uccle I’m just a parent.
I can read documents as a director but I am still able to read documents or some instructions as a parent.
Could you tell us a little bit about your story? Why did you actually choose for this path in education?
To be honest, I started working in the management by chance. In Poland I worked at a high school where I had been previously a student. It was February, one of the deputies resigned. It was from one day to another. The director looked at the teachers like ‘Oh my goodness, who will help me with some administrative issues?’ I think it’s my personality, I put my hand up, ok, why not? Sometimes, when I have my hand already up, I’m asking myself ‘why?..’ [laughs] Afterwards I said ok, it’s only for a few months, only till the end of the school year, why not, maybe it will be a nice experience, baccalaureate, why not? The school was not so big. And I really enjoyed it, I really enjoyed it. After that I was back to teaching but then another director who already knew me as an interim deputy and was looking for a deputy for another school, asked me and I thought again ‘why not?’, and I changed the school.
As for Varese, I knew about the European school of course but I enjoyed being a director in Poland. I remember it was May, the baccalaureate time, I was checking something on the website of the Ministry of Education, and I thought ‘well, it’s quite interesting’…
And then your hand just went up by itself again? [everybody laughing]
Yes. Why not? I thought to myself, I’m so comfortable here, I’ve just started. It was only two years after I started that I did this selection committee, I’m really familiar with the school and really enjoy the work, should I tell my husband or not? Because if I tell him, he will push me ‘yes, let’s do it, you can do it’. Of course, I told him, and I sent an application, and I was invited for a meeting. Afterwards I was selected to go to Brussels. The selection committee met the next day after the school was finished in Poland, it was very very late. So we went to Brussels by car because I couldn’t even find a flight last-minute. We went to Brussels, I did the selection and I was quite happy. Then I was back to Poland – you know, the end of the year, the beginning of the holidays, the preparations for the new schoolyear, and then I got a phone call from Varese, from an Italian number, and somebody started to speak to me in French: “Madame Malik, je m’appelle Mario Da Torre, je suis directteur de Varese, je voudrais vous dire…’ No, it’s a joke, I thought. It’s that friend of mine who likes to play practical jokes. But he doesn’t speak French, so it’s not possible. And it was so fast!
You know, we had only a few weeks to move, to find an apartment. It was in July! That was in 2011, I’ve worked in Varese for 6 years, and after that – for 2 years in Ixelles here in Brussels. I really enjoyed being in Varese, being in Italy. That was a real change to our life, to our family life. It was the first time we moved abroad, the first time we moved away from our childhood city in the south-west of Poland. My elder daughter started P4 in Varese and my son started P1. The little one was born in Varese in 2016. Now Nina is already in S7, Kajetan in S4 and Liliana will turn 4 in two months.
What were your experiences in Varese?
We really enjoyed living in Italy. But now, my family really enjoys living here, in Brussels,too, especially the teenagers. They really appreciate the fact that they are absolutely independent in this big city. In Italy we were living in a small village, in Ispra, where the Commission is situated. It was 300 hundred meters to the beach, mountains, the Alps, lakes, in March you could eat outside. For us it was great. But they told me that they felt as if living in a forest. Every time that they wanted to go somewhere, they needed to engage us because public transport doesn’t exist between little villages there.
How was it to move from Italy to Brussels? Was that also a big change?
It was not such a big change because we had had this big change in our family life already. It was more like a new challenge: a new country, a new city, a new apartment, but not such a big shock, you know, to take our stuff and to go to live somewhere far from our family and friends. Of course, we are social, so we find people around us. I can say that the most close friends we have are in Poland, plus some few but special friendships in Italy. I think the older we get we prefer to keep relations with our close friends, not to spread too much because time is limited. And the family, they are all in Poland except for my brother who lives in Paris, so now we are closer to him compared to our stay in Italy. But the rest of the family lives in Poland.
How was it for your children to change schools, to change languages?
In Varese they learned in the Anglophone section as SWALS. It was challenging. Very often adults think ‘children, they are like sponges’ but it’s not so easy for them. It’s not easy because it’s 6-7 hours per day in a language you don’t understand and you need to work in that language! You’re not only there for fun, you need to do work, you need to understand what you have to do: to copy others, to follow other or work on your own. For me as a director, as a teacher, as an education professional it was very interesting to see, to observe them how they develop their language, their communication skills too. It wasn’t just like: after three months they started to speak English. It didn’t go like this, they needed to develop non-verbal communication skills all by themselves to survive and to enjoy being at school. I think that it’s a big challenge but it also delivers a big reward. Of course, our teachers are familiar with children who arrive with little language knowledge etc. and this awareness helps, but it’s anyway the children who need to do the work.
Very often adults think ‘children, they are like sponges’ but it’s not so easy for them.
Are they in Uccle in the Polish section?
Yes, because they had Polish as L1 in Varese for 6 years. Of course, we could have enrolled the children in Varese in the Italian school too but we went for the European school. They really enjoyed their Polish lessons. Really. They had a very special relationship with the teacher, with their group, with their mother tongue. They were proud and happy to communicate in a normal way. I remember in the first year, in the first months, coming back from school I couldn’t stop them talking. Can you imagine how hard it is to spend a few hours in silence? Sometimes parents come to me and say ‘Ah, they will learn anyway’. Of course, they will learn anyway but what is the price to pay? Please go to Poland now, start working in some company in Polish and do your work! You will learn! Of course, you will.
The biggest argument to enroll my children in the Polish section was that Polish is their mother tongue. It is still their dominant language, even after 6 years in the Anglophone section. They prefer to speak Polish, to read in Polish, to watch films in Polish. They have no problems with English, they read English books as well, they have friends with whom they speak English but I never heard them speaking English to each other.
This seems exceptional as there are many children who eventually switch to their school language also outside the school. Your kids must have a very strong groundwork in Polish already.
I think it’s just that we talk a lot! [laughing]
In the light of your own experience, what do you think of the enrolment policy of the European school when the final decision as for the language section the child is placed in, is up to the school, that the school decides in the end what is the dominant language of a child?
It is a very difficult decision. As a deputy for the primary it was my role to decide about the language section. Sometimes it was a very difficult decision because I knew that I decided about somebody’s life. I think that if we would like to keep the principle of the European school to guarantee the learning and the teaching in the dominant language (old ‘mother tongue’), I think we should convince the parents that this is the principle, that’s all.
I knew that I sometimes decided about somebody’s life.
For example, for many reasons I won’t yet enroll my youngest daughter at the European school. She has the right to enter the European school starting from September because she is four years old. But she’s absolutely fine in her Belgian school, next to our home, it’s a small school with small classes, no transport, just walking to the school, friends who are around. I chose this school for her wellbeing rather than for her French, because she feels good in the environment. But should I decide to choose the European school, I wouldn’t push to enroll her in the French section because our mother tongue is Polish. Unfortunately, a lot of parents forget sometimes about the present and project the lives of their kids already into the future, and sometimes it’s too far. What is a foreign language anyhow? It’s just a tool of communication. You can communicate also in other ways. Maybe in five years we will all have electronic chips ;) They will translate automatically: you can speak Dutch and I will speak Polish to you and everything will be understood. And also the languages: the children will learn languages as we did!
Which role do you think the parents should play in the school life of their children? How do you see them in the pedagogical project of your school?
I think that parents are very important stakeholders but our main concern is the child. Our goal is not to satisfy the parents; we need to satisfy the pupils. Once the pupil is happy, once the pupil is served – education, teaching, learning, wellbeing etc. – we don’t need to ask ourselves if the parent is happy or not.
Our main concern is the child.
It’s like in a hospital, you go to a doctor and tell the doctor ‘I read on Google that you should give me this or that’. Would you do that? Here it’s exactly the same.
If you enroll your child at the school, you need to do so with trust.
Sometimes parents forget to give their children the freedom, to give them room to make mistakes, give them the responsibility to cope with consequences.
We have this tendency to overprotect our kids. Give them the freedom!
What do you expect from the parents, apart from being happy for their kids?
I always appreciated the parents’ vision of the school.
When working on a document, or on some rules in a working group, we are so much “inside” that I always ask the participants to test our work on their family, friends, whoever has nothing to do with the school, and to ask them if this document is understandable, if it’s user-friendly.
A clear way to communicate
How do you see the role of the students in this governance?
I’ve always been very close to students. In the past I’ve worked in the secondary school with the students who are 16, 17 and 18. I’ve always recognised the influence they have and the important role they should play in the school. They have their positions and opinions, sometimes they are different than ours, it’s normal. Teenagers are supposed to have a much bigger vision than we do, they don’t yet see the obstacles that we can see.
Be innovative, don’t be modest.
Maybe I will stop you later, for security reasons of for technical reasons, but you need to go beyond our pragmatic adult way of thinking. I asked the students to get involved. Even if you are in S7 and it’s only a project, maybe when you come back here for whatever reason in ten years, you will be able to say ‘ha, that’s my baby’.
Special stories?
Oh my goodness, there are so many I could write a book! [laughing] Diversity is very interesting. My goodness. I think it would be nice if directors had a possibility to collect special stories.
Ms Malik, thank you for this conversation.
APEEE overview
On January 23rd 2020, elections of the new APEEE administrative board will be held at the Annual General Meeting. But… What is the APEEE?... What is the APEEE board? What do these people exactly do?... Why is this important?
The APEEE Annual Report has the answers but it’s a rather long read. So the WoluwInfo team has produced a potted version for your convenience!
At EEB2, parents are represented in a voluntary parents’ association: the APEEE (Association des Parents des Eleves de l’Ecole Européenne). At the moment almost 4000 parents are members. The APEEE is an important partner of the school management on many issues. The association lets the parents be heard in a well organized way.
To help this large association run the matters, an administrative board of 22 volunteers is elected. Once members of the board, they organize themselves in working groups which focus on specific issues.
Canteen, transport and the afterschool activities at school are run by the APEEE. To manage the services the APEEE has a paid staff of 20 regular employees, coordinating the work of almost 140 other employees such as bus supervisors or monitors of the afterschool activities. The volunteers of the APEEE board working in these areas discuss issues like how to make the bus service greener, how to safeguard proper information on allergens in the canteen or which afterschool activities can be introduced.
Through Interparents the Woluwe APEEE board members, in collaboration with the parents associations of the other European schools, represent the parents’ interests in the European school system and their executive bodies with equal voting rights, thus influencing the European school policy and decisions.
APEEE board members, most often themselves parents of nursery and primary children, attend meetings with the deputy director of nursery and primary and the school management where they can ask questions about pedagogical, organizational and other matters. Apart from the individual contacts between parents and teachers, they are the most important link between the parents and the school.
A similar role is played by the APEEE board members engaged in the secondary educational group: they attend meetings with the school management and the teachers, take part in discussions on various matters in the secondary cycle and serve as an important link between the parents and the school.
As the school is so big, it is not possible to invite all parents to all school events. The Communication working group members follow closely the developments at EEB2, varying from most acute discussions to feel-good happenings, and report about them by e-mail, on the website www.woluweparents.org and in the newsletter Woluw’Info.
The School Community Building working group members share a vision of the school community made up of students, teachers and parents. They enhance this spirit by attending various events, reporting about them, working on informal networks and on a relationship grounded on trust and respect for all the parties.
The Active Community board members work closely with parent volunteers in the school through projects which enhance wellbeing and social skills of pupils, and promote events in the whole school or in individual sections.
The volunteers of the Welcome working group devote themselves to informing and supporting new parents at EEB2 as our school is big, complex in its structure and different from other schools. They issue information brochures and organize meetings for the newly-arrived families.
A committed group of board members join forces to follow-up the issues on health, safety and security like maintenance of school premises or security measures, as well as helping with safeguarding the wellbeing of the children with respect to, for instance, mental health awareness or bullying prevention.
The board members engaged in the Special Educational Needs working group help parents who need additional advice as for the support their children receive and manage a network of contacts of specialists in this field per section. These volunteers facilitate mediation in individual cases and organize whole-school events on related topics.
To follow the developments in the Enrolment Policy of the European schools in Brussels and to participate in discussions, a committed board member attends regular meetings with the Secretary-General and other stakeholders on the issue and serves as an important link between the European schools and parents answering parents’ questions.
Christmas Market
Local seasonal delicacies and the Christmas spirit abound. Sanjee Goonetilake and Elita Petraitiené report on our school’s Christmas Market 2019 which provided, once again, an impressive display of unity in diversity in action.
“I believe this is a unique event where all partners of the school community gather out of their own will and with one goal in the spirit of Christmas, charity and human warmth” – says a parent of EEB2.
The Christmas market of the EEB2 was held on Saturday December 7 at the school canteen. The School Community Building team took a walk through the market and felt overwhelmed by the human warmth of the parents, the students and the teachers of the EEB2.
This is a key event where the parent volunteers play a crucial role in the school community building by organising themselves on their own. Every year a group of volunteer parents from some of the language sections get together to raise funds for charity by selling food, craft or other items at the Christmas market. There are also other groups which sponsor specific charity projects and students who also participate such as the Eco group of the CDE and the Amnesty Group. For example, the French stall is organised by the teachers of the school.
The Christmas market is a place where one sees the unity in diversity. Each stall tries to instill their culture in the stall and it is so beautiful to see how the Portuguese proudly present their delicious food, the Italians presenting the delicious Tiramisu and other delicacies with ecological and sustainable cutlery, the Lithuanians coming up with creative ways to raise funds such as the picture frame, the English having the trendy and much loved Christmas market raffle and the second hand English books, the Dutch selling delicious cakes and the Germans selling incredible handicraft.
Latvian and Dutch stands
Lithuanian ladies posing for ‘Christmasgram’
Volunteers really involved in raising charity funds! (LT stand)
Primary teacher Ana Paula supported La Terre des enfants Ngo with a stall. Primary teacher Gabrielle Arnett is about to buy some beautiful stuff from South America.
The Eco group students with Finnish parent volunteer Taija Toratti who was a parent volunteer of the school for 17 years till her daughter graduated last year from EEB2. She contributed a lot of the plants for sale for this stall.
The French section teachers at a stall selling more beautiful stuff from Madagascar helping a women's coorperative.
FaThe family of former APEEE board member Carlo De Grandis (his mother Mariarosa and his son Lorenzo) being offered Dutch section cup cakes at the price of 50 cents from Ahimsa (P3 NLA) who was doing the last rounds before the market closed.
The EN section stall team in the full spirit at the end of the market.
Vibrant products being sold from Zimbabwe
APEEE board member Saida supporting Giraffe Children's charity.
Some of the many families visiting the Christmas market making it a family fun day!
The warm and dedicated Italian stand team celebrating in style at the end of a hard day of work
The Portuguese stall offering us some temptations...
For many years the Christmas market has been organised by parent volunteer Andrea Troppmann of the German language section whom we are very grateful for. She stepped down last year after having organised the event for more than 12 years. We are lucky that Christine Thomas, primary teacher and parent of the school stepped in to follow in the footsteps of Andrea Tropmann.
Christine Thomas, Dominique Dubois and Souad Hamlili
There was also the Father Christmas Alberto Toso who is an Italian parent from the German section. Alberto and his son Luca (S3 DEA) were cleaning up in the end when we met them. They both asked if we can send a message out to the parents in our next newsletter asking for more participation of students in the Christmas market.
Luca said to us "I am happy to help, willing to contribute to maintain such a nice tradition for kids, teachers and parents."
Father Christmas Alberto Toso and his son Luca Toso
We saw Mr Arnedo from the primary school, Mr Dre Van Geel and Ms Malik strolling through the Christmas market including some of the teachers. The children of the parent volunteers walked around selling cup cakes and other items in this cosy atmosphere while the school choir students and children of different language sections performed to entertain the public.
Students of the Violin classes and the School choir perform to entertain the visitors at the market.
Dré Van Geel from the primary school and his spouse visited the Christmas market.
The APEEE helped the Christmas market this year by providing the cutlery, cups and plates to reduce single use plastic and provided courtesy of APEEE the services of the cantine staff to help cleaning up. All the stalls made a dedicated effort not to use plastic cups, cutlery etc and some stands such as the Italian stall took the extra mile by offering water in glass bottles etc.
It was a beautiful event and we hope that more language sections would participate in this event in the next Christmas market bringing the school community closer.
A big thank you to all the volunteers who made this event happen and to the organisers!
Merci!
Christmas Concert
The EEB2 Christmas Concert 2019 was the first ever presented together by both primary and secondary school musicians. Sanjee Goonetilake and Pia Pistol Diboine report, and also talk to one teacher involved.
For the first time ever the EEB2 held " a one school" Christmas concert on December 3, 2019. The participants included the students of nursery, primary and secondary school. The concert was also attended by Ms Malik, Mr Schmelz and Mr Arnedo.
APEEE School Community Building Working Group was invited by Ms Gabrielle Arnett, one of the choir teachers from the EN section to assist in preparing the hall on Friday November 30 lunch time. Primary students and teachers were busy setting up the Christmas tree and the decor in anticipation of the concert. The decor was put up within one hour thanks to the enthusiastic students who participated.
Christmas decorations were set up via voluntary efforts
The concert was started off with Ms Malik giving a beautiful speech where she took her four year old daughter up on stage. There were performances of all ages starting from the nursery to the secondary school. It was difficult to choose which ones touched you most as the primary school choir, dressed in red Christmas choir t-shirts, expanded the beautiful selection of songs from Latin to French to Spanish and Norwegian, while the Secondary school choir, dressed in all black, performed some unforgettable pieces. There were special items from different grades including a performance of the School Orchestra and the Jazz Club.
Teachers Sabina, Riina, Niina and Gabrielle, in charge of the primary section choir, and perischolaire instructor Vanessa were delighted with the concert.
The concert ended with the students of primary and secondary school singing jointly with the school Jazz club the song " Feliz Navidad". It was an emotional ending and a first celebration of the entire school together.
The concert was filled with magical moments
Here is an interview with Finnish section teacher Niina Viima who is one of the teachers organising the primary school choir. As we have met her in other events where music seems to fill up her soul, we thought this would be the beginning of such interviews with teachers to give insights into all the wonderful activity that happens in our school.
Niina Viima, teacher of P5 FI, was one of the organisers of the event
WoluwInfo: How long have you been teaching at the school, and what made you get involved in the organisation of the Christmas concert?
Niina Viima: This is my seventh year at EEB2 and I have participated in Christmas concerts quite many times with pupils from our section. For example, a few years in a row we did a Lucia procession with Finnish section pupils who are studying ONL Swedish. This time it was my first concert with our Primary choir and I was more involved with planning the event with our Music Coordinators.
WI: We understand that you teach/help with the primary school choir during the European hours. Which kind of activities do you do during the choir lessons?
NV: Yes, I'm one of the teachers of the European hours choir together with Gabrielle, Sabina and Riina. Of course we have a syllabus for European hours that we follow. So the objectives such as to encourage a European and a global perspective overall and to foster tolerance, co-operation and concern for others come from the syllabus. All in all we seek to develop the eight Key Competences for Lifelong Learning with our pupils.
The activities are related to music and drama education, singing and playing together. We prepare our bodies and voices for singing by doing different kind of warm ups. We sing canons and two-toned songs in order to develop our ears for listening to the harmonies. Also, we use drama exercises to develop attention skills. Furthermore, we sing in many different languages: for instance during the Christmas concert we sang in English, French, Spanish, Latin and Norwegian. We practice rhythms with body percussions or rhythm instruments. What I hope the most for is that the pupils in the choir would be able to feel the joy of singing together, be able to express feelings and emotions through music and to really have a sense of belonging in a group. A big group of 86 pupils in our case. We are working a lot to accomplish these goals with all our activities.
WI: What was your favourite song in the choir?
NV: Oh, this is a hard one. Of course I loved them all. I was picking up the songs with my colleagues. Well, it is very hard to compete Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sing, which was maybe musically our biggest song in this concert, but I have to choose the Norwegian song En stjerne skinner i natt. Because I got the opportunity to conduct this one, it became very close to me.
WI: How did you find the Christmas period at the EEB2? Were there special activities organised at the primary school by the staff and different sections?
NV: The Christmas period is always lovely with all the different traditions and special spirit. When walking in the corridors you can smell ginger bread being baked in the Nursery, you can hear joyful music and see different workshops in the classrooms along with hard school work of course. The best coffee break of the year is on the 13th of December when the Swedish Nursery pupils come to sing Lucia songs in our staff room and you only hope that you don't have a supervision shift out on the schoolyard on that moment.
For our section it is a busy time, because we celebrate our independence day on the 6th of December, organise a traditional Christmas Carols event for the pupils and the whole section's Christmas Party for pupils and parents where all our pupils perform class by class. Also, the school's Dutch-speaking section organises a visit by Sinterklaas to the school during the first week of December. This school year our French-speaking section brought lots of joy and cheerful moments by carrying out a "Secret Santa" for staff members. So lots and lots of organisation for getting the right spirit.
WI: What was your most unforgettable moment?
NV: This question leads me back to the Christmas concert. What I specially loved most this time is the philosophy behind, that we did the whole evening as a one school together, so Nursery, Primary and Secondary together. From the beginning of planning the event I raised this topic together with my colleague Riina and we are so happy that this was possible to organise. So when standing on the stage and singing Sing with the Primary choir, at a certain point the Secondary choir pupils stood up in the audience and started to walk towards the stage and sing with us. This was my most unforgettable moment.
Then after our turn the Secondary pupils performed, singing, playing and dancing, and I could see the look in our Primary pupils' eyes. That one day they would be as talented, they would be able to do something like that, they would sound like that. Vice versa, when the oldest students watched Nursery pupils performing I could hear them expressing positive emotions and comments. These are the highlights of lifelong learning that our school can give when we do things together.
The Warmest Week
Board member Natalia Karpenko finds out about how the Dutch-language section in nursery and primary celebrates Christmas by imbuing it with the spirit of charity.
As in December 2018, also this Christmas season the teachers of the Dutch-language section joined the project ‘The Warmest Week’ run by VRT, the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Region and Community of Belgium, via the TV-channel Ketnet and the radio station Studio Brussel. The idea of ‘The Warmest Week’ is to organize fundraising for a charity. This year the goal was to collect money for the animal shelter in Zemst, in the province of Flemish Brabant in Belgium.
The teachers of the Dutch-language section thought of a few ways to create the true Christmas spirit of giving and sharing in their section: on December 12th the parents were welcome to come to the classes and help their kids bake cookies and waffles to be sold to other kids and their parents, and on December 17th a movie night was set up, with teachers turning classrooms into atmospheric movie theaters, the kids enjoying a nice Christmas film. The parents, in the meantime, were heartily welcomed in the staff room for a chat. The whole school community – the teachers, the pupils and the parents – was brought together and enjoyed the spirit to the full. Below are some photo impressions of the events.
Baking the waffles in P3NL with Ms Cammy, the kids and two parents, on December 12th
The movie night at the Dutch-language section, on December 17th
The Warmest Week turned out to be not only very warm for the EEB2 school community but also quite profitable: the Dutch-language section has raised no less than 1189,40 euro for the animal shelter in Zemst!.. A visit to the shelter is planned for a later moment to hand the money which, in its turn, is a nice educational activity for our children.
Thank you, dear teachers, for organizing such a wonderful event, and thank you all, parents and kids, for participating and sharing the lovely atmosphere!
Christmas in the Finnish Section
A trip to Finland without leaving Brussels.
Sanjee Goonetilake, coordinator of the APEEE school community building working group was invited to participate in the Christmas celebrations of the Finnish language section of EEB2 on December 12. This is her report.
As a distant observer of the Finnish educational system I have always imagined that the Finns would be advanced in most areas of education as the world claimed them to be. However, my experience today was a test of understatements. Finns in my opinion are far too humble and do not tell the world all the wonderful things they do. They simply assume it is normal.
I arrived into a room full of children dressed as elves, Santa's helpers. The Finns call them Tonttu (https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tonttu). Perhaps you may remember that Joulupukki (earliest form of present day Santa) lives in Lapland.
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joulupukki). As a custom the parents and the kids wear the red hats of elves. Tonttu is loved by every one.
Every thing is organised to the minute detail. The benches have names of classes so they just have to follow the instructions. Every one is relaxed. There are traditional Finnish sweets like Korvapuusti. Pia gifts me a traditional hot drink (glögi) made of black currant juice.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gl%C3%B6gi
Ms Niina Viima, one of the primary choir teachers and the class teacher of P5FI introduces me to her partner who is visiting and dashes off to start the Mistress of the ceremony part. She is full of life and full of vibrant musical soul
Mr Arnedo, the deputy Director of the primary gives an emotional and inspiring speech about the European identity. He told that he was struck by a peculiar thought on December 6th. That day the Finnish section of the European school celebrated the Finnish Independence Day. The same day Spain was celebrating its Constitution Day. In both cases beside the national flags the European banners were flown. Mr. Arnedo stressed that whereas it’s very important to stay connected to your country and your roots, we as European do share common values, and that is also very important.
There is a procession of Santa Lucia by the Swedish speaking Finns that brings tears to my eyes. This was done by the Finnish section children who study Swedish as L3.
It is simply beautiful and keeps you in a trance.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy%27s_Day
The kids joke about Finnish metal music in one item in the concert. With girls acting like mid summer princesses with floral crowns and boys with heavy metal band craze.
There is another item where they do a rap song with Santa. It is absolutely cool. I have not figured out which one I like most, Finnish rap or Finnish heavy metal.
I visit a class P2 ( children aged 7/8). They will go as a class to the teacher Riina Niutanen home, bake cookies, order pizza and then go to the movies as an end of term activity.
Ms Riina shows me a board which asks the question "what is important for you today?". It says "the present". The children have placed special things on that cupboard. A favourite soft toy gifted by a child who has left to Finland and soft toy doll which is blind and they teach about disabilities are there. Clearly, inclusion and emotional intelligence are key competencies in the Finnish educational system.
Ms Riina says that in Finland you can simply ask to observe a class room in action. All you have to do is ask the time unless they have something important happening which should not be disturbed. There is openness and transparency. I am told I can come any time to see what they do.
All the teachers welcome me. They have such an informal and warm relationship with the children and the parents. I see this in other cultures too but not in such an intense way.
And I hear one word over and over again. That is the word "trust". It is all about "trust" they say whenever I am amazed at something. I have yet to discover what "trust" means to the Finns. Perhaps one day when I visit Finland.
In the meanwhile, all I can say is that the world should follow Finland in education. We have a lot to learn from them.
I feel like a frog in a well when I see how much we miss out in the rest of the world.
This is what Finland should give to the world as development aid- their educational system.
Kiitos to Pia Pistol-Diboine, the Finnish board member who invited me to this unforgettable experience! It was inspiring and I felt like I was in Finland.
Hyvää joulua!
St. Nicholas at EEB2:
This day everyone believes in him, even the grown-ups!
Natalia Karpenko wraps up the Saint’s appearance in our school, gathering insights from pupils, teachers and directors involved. She also discusses the history, the traditions and the more recent debates about them.
Every year, at the beginning of December, St. Nicholas comes to school. Every year hundreds of nursery and primary children spend days and weeks in happy anticipation and then finally fill the playground welcoming the saint at school.
St. Nicholas greeting P1-students at EEB2
- How did it go this schoolyear?
- Why is the St. Nicholas celebration so special?
- Where does it come from?
- What happens at the backstage while the kids are cheering, and before that?
- What happens in the classes of various sections prior to the celebration itself?...
Looking for the answers to these questions, you are very welcome to join Natalia Karpenko, an APEEE board member representing the parents of the Dutch-language section, who wandered among the happy-looking people at the playground of EEB2 and at school itself in the morning of December 5th. Below you will find what she has found out talking to kids, some primary teachers of different sections, the coordinator of the St. Nicholas celebration Mr. Van Geel, the deputy director of nursery and primary Mr. Arnedo, the school director Ms. Malik and even St. Nicholas himself!..
December 5th, 2019: what will the day bring?...
‘I don’t know if St. Nicholas arrives at our school today, guys…’, wonders Miss Marieke concerned.
Marieke Jansen is the classroom teacher of P1NL. Today, just as last year, she is presenting the St. Nicholas celebration at EEB2. She is doing that together with Dré van Geel, the classroom teacher of P5NL, the pedagogical coordinator of Primary and Nursery and the coordinator of the St. Nicholas celebration. The presentation at the playground is done in Dutch, French and English so every child, no matter in what section he or she learns, can enjoy.
Miss Marieke and EEB2 children awaiting St. Nicholas at the school playground
All nursery and primary children and their teachers are at the playground. The suspense is building up… It’s not sure if the Saint will arrive at all... What might help?...
Singing!!
Spontaneously the children start singing St. Nicholas songs. Miss Marieke goes around the circle with her mike, you hear kids’ voices fly over the playground in waves:
O lieve Sint Nicolas, O kom ook bij mij,
En rij dan niet stilletjes ons huisje voorbij.
(O dear St. Nicholas, Please come to my place
Please don’t pass my house unattended)
The excitement is building up more and more.
An aircraft flies over the school grounds.
Will St. Nicholas arrive by airplane this year?...
In the meanwhile I interview a few kids:
Sonja, Ahimsa, Victoria (P3NL)
What do you think, will St. Nicholas arrive? Are you excited?
(all three) Yes!
Ahimsa: Yes, ‘cos you never know when he is going to arrive.
Last time he arrived late and he arrived then by bus.
By bus!... How about this year? What do you think, how will the Saint arrive this year?
Victoria: By helicopter!
Ahimsa: Or by private airplane!
Sonja: By truck! Last year he arrived by truck.
Emma and Fatima Zahra (P2NL):
What do you think, girls, there is so much suspense, the Saint hasn’t arrived yet!... Will he arrive at all?
Emma: Yes
How do you know that?
Emma: He arrives every year.
Fatima Zahra: There is a very big traffic jam! He is stuck in the traffic jam and that’s why he is late!
And then there is this suddenly this tractor at a distance. What could that be?...
This year the helpers of Saint Nicolas arrive by tractor, followed by the Saint himself in a fancy black car with an open roof.
As the Saint is going around the circle greeting the children I interview a few teachers:
Per Soderberg (P1SV)
Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicolas: is it a holiday that is also celebrated in Sweden?
No, we don’t celebrate it in Sweden, it’s special for here.
What do the children of your class think about it?
They like it. I think it’s very important that we can teach about different traditions and how to adapt to them. I think it’s very important for kids to learn about them.
Carla Da Silva (P3PTB)
Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicolas: is it a holiday that is also celebrated in Portugal?
No, we don’t have it in Portugal but almost all children of my class were born here, in Belgium, and they celebrate it at home. And they like it very much!
Is there anything in Portugal that you can compare Sinterklaas / Saint Nicolas with?
No, it’s very different. We just celebrate Christmas, on December 24th-25th.
Do you do anything around Sinterklaas / Saint Nicolas in your class?
The children know a lot and they teach me about this holiday! It’s new for me. We talk about this celebration and learn a lot from each other.
Anna Ricci (MAT12IT)
Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicolas: is it a holiday that is also celebrated in Italy?
No, only in Molfetta, in the region of Apulia, they celebrate San Nicola, not in other places of Italy.
Do the children of your class like this holiday?
(with a big smile) Yes!!
Andrius Jelaga (P2LT)
In Lithuania, is there a celebration connected to Saint Nicolas at the beginning of December?
No, we start celebrating in the middle of December, closer to the Christmas Eve.
Then I suppose the Saint Nicolas celebration is not something your pupils know from Lithuania, right?
The majority of the children are born here in Belgium, so they follow Belgian traditions. It’s also a way to meet another culture. I explain the kids that we live in Belgium, that’s why we celebrate St. Nicholas, but their grandparents are Lithuanians, so we celebrate Christmas Eve a lot as well. So for them it’s better to have two holidays.
So actually you celebrate everything: all Lithuanian and all Belgian holidays?
(Laughs). Yes, of course! Because you feel the culture by following the traditions, and step by step we are doing that.
Marine Stroobants (P2NL)
What do you think of the celebration? I understand that a lot of people – the Swedes, the Portuguese, the Italians, the Lithuanians – don’t really have this celebration in their cultures. How is it in Belgium?
For us it’s a huge celebration, we are looking forward to it for weeks and weeks. And finally the Saint is at school, how unbelievable is that?... What do you guys think?
The kids around the teacher: Yes!!
What a beautiful car brought the Saint to us this year!...
Yes, it’s all perfectly arranged, a perfect arrival, we are very enthusiastic. And shortly we can meet him personally, that’s even better!
What do you actually do in the classroom – in anticipation of the celebration?
We sing songs and make art works, we watch the Sinterklaasjournaal, that’s a Dutch tv-program for kids about the time St. Nicholas spends in the Low Countries. We get ready in a lot of different ways and, of course, we look every day if we are getting closer to the day when the Saint arrives at our school.
What is this St. Nicolas celebration?... What is its origin?
The cover of Jan Schenkman’s book
The feast celebrates the name day of St. Nicholas on December 6th. The tradition is celebrated in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, some parts of Germany, northern France as well as in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba and Curaçao. And, surprisingly, in Molfetta in Italy as Miss Anna of MAT12IT has mentioned!..
Although the tradition of St. Nicholas being a patron saint of children who gives them presents is quite old and dates back from the Middle Ages, it was most probably the illustrated children’s book by a teacher from Amsterdam Jan Schenkman from 1850 that gave the St. Nicholas celebration the image we know today. He combined various traditional elements and introduced a few new ones to create a modern legend of St. Nicholas.
Who is St. Nicholas and where does he come from?
St. Nicholas of Myra (270 – 343) was an early Christian bishop of the ancient Greek maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor during the time of the Roman Empire. The former Greek city of Myra lies within the boundaries of the present-day city of Demre in the Antalya province in Turkey.
Numerous early and later legends tell about St. Nicolas helping children and, unseen, bringing them gifts which gave rise to a belief in him as a children’s patron and friend.
What is the Italian connection?
St. Nicholas died and was buried in Myra in the 4th century AD. For hundreds of years his remains were kept in the St. Nicholas church there. However, in 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of the region were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuk Turks, and soon after their church was declared to be in schism by the Catholic church, a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in the church and brought them to their hometown, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola.
Although in Bari, in the region of Apulia in Italy, the name day of St. Nicholas is celebrated in the cathedral where his remains are preserved, it is in the city of Molfetta, some 25 km to the North-West from Bari, where the celebration is a true folk festivity. The saint arrives from the sea in the evening of December 5th, parades through the city followed by hundreds of people, gives little gifts to the children, visits sick children in hospitals etc.
Why exactly the Low Countries, and countries connected to them, celebrate St. Nicholas’ name day so widely?
According to some sources, starting from the medieval times, on December 6th every sailor or ex-sailor of the Low Countries (which at that time was virtually all of the male population) would descend to the harbor towns to participate in a church celebration for their patron saint: St. Nicholas. On the way back they would stop at one of the various Nicholas fairs to buy some hard-to-come-by goods, gifts for their loved ones and invariably some little presents for their children. While the real gifts would only be presented at Christmas, the little presents for the children were given right away, courtesy of St. Nicholas.
In the later centuries this loved-by-all tradition incorporated other elements like giving alms for the poor or attending to orphans, surviving to our days.
Why do the gifts arrive in a shoe?
Receiving gifts in a shoe is perhaps the oldest element of the St. Nicholas celebration. In the Netherlands, starting from at least the 15th century, the poor would put their shoes in front of churches and the rich would fill them with coins and gifts. Starting from the 16th century, it became a common practice for children to put a shoe hoping St. Nicholas would leave there a gift for them.
The St. Nicholas celebration by Jan Steen from ca. 1665.
The P1EN class at EEB2 on December 5th, 2019
Why does St. Nicholas arrive from Spain and why exactly on a steamboat?
It is not a big wonder that St. Nicholas, being a patron saint of sailors and travelers, arrives by sea. By why from Spain if he had lived all his life in Asia Minor?...
The solution must be sought in his other devotional name: St. Nicholas of Bari. As the remains of St. Nicholas were moved later to Bari in Italy and that part of Italy belonged then to the Spanish Crown of Aragon, post mortem he would officially travel from Spain.
And why on a steamboat?... It turns out that Jan Schenkman, a teacher from Amsterdam who brought together various pieces of the St. Nicholas celebration and published a children’s book about it in 1850, was fascinated by the then new invention: the steamboat. The song he wrote telling about the arrival of the saint on a steamboat is still one of the most well-known and loved Sinterklaas tunes:
Zie ginds komt de stoomboot, Uit Spanje weer aan!
(See there comes the steamboat, Once again from Spain!)
Horseback riding over the roofs and the big red book
As the story goes, as soon as St. Nicholas arrives in the Low Countries, he travels over the roofs on horseback and lets his helper, the piet, drop the gifts down the chimney. Prior to that, the saint’s helpers find out if the children have been good that year, and the saint notes that in his big red book. How authentic would this image be?...
It has been speculated that a very similar belief in a deity watching over your good and bad deeds and sweeping through the air on horseback, was popular among the Germanic peoples in Northern and Western Europe already in pre-Christian times. Wodan or Odin, a major god for them, flew through the air riding his white horse Sleipnir, always accompanied by two black ravens. Those helpers would listen, just like the helpers of the present-day St. Nicholas, at the chimney to tell the god about the good and bad behavior of people.
The big red book of St. Nicholas, on the contrary, is an element added by Jan Schenkman only in 1850 in his book.
The helper
The helper of St. Nicholas as we know him today, the dark-skin Zwarte Piet (black peter), is also inspired by the book by Jan Schenkman dating from 1850. During the late 19th century the image evaluated ever more to a blackface Zwarte Piet, with bright red lips and golden earrings, in a colorful attire of a page of a Spanish nobleman.
Initially, an idea of a dark helper of the shining saint didn’t bother anyone: as argued by some scholars, this double nature of the St. Nicholas celebration – rewarding and punishing, white and black – would go back to the pagan beliefs in a close relationship of good and bad.
In the 20th century though, as this dual belief started to fade away being replaced by the saint only giving presents and not punishing anymore, strengthened by the ever growing similarities of the Zwarte Piet with a caricature of a Moorish slave in popular image forming, a movement arouse linking the St. Nicholas celebration and racism. The debate is as old as 1930 when the weekly newspaper De Groene Amsterdammer published a controversial cartoon depicting the saint having dark skin and the helper white.
Gradually, after a wave of fierce protests in the Netherlands as well as the international attention in the last decennium (in 2015, the UN Commission on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination advised the Dutch government to prevent negative stereotyping by adapting the image of the Zwarte Piet) and an ongoing public debate, a kind of a compromise seems to emerge. Consequently, the Dutch icon tv-program Sinterklaasjournaal shows lately only helpers with black sooth marks on their face as they need to go down the chimneys to deliver presents. The new Flemish St. Nicholas film Ay Ramon! from 2015 portrayed an adapted image of the helper as well.
A growing number of schools in the Netherlands and Belgium, especially in the larger cities, choose not to use a totally black make-up for the helpers of St. Nicholas but instead to make sooth marks on the face. EEB2 fits well into this progressive tendency allowing all children of all backgrounds to enjoy the festivity.
Miss Marieke of P1NL watching the Sinterklaasjournaal with her pupils.
December 5th at EEB2: St. Nicholas in the Nursery
After they have welcomed the saint at the school playground, the excited nursery pupils fill the préau of the nursery level. ST. Nicholas is expected here any moment…
In the meantime Natalia interviews Ms. Malik, the director of EEB2, and Mr. Arnedo, the deputy director of nursery and primary.
Ms. Malik, Mr. Arnedo, what do you think of the celebration? I see a lot of happy faces around me but what is your impression about how it is going this year?
Ms. Malik: I think that every party, every festivity we can offer to our children, linked also to a cultural tradition, is very important. The children are happy. If we propose something Dutch or French or English or American they will be happy if it’s a very nice celebration.
Are there any events prior to the celebration so that the children would learn more about it? If yes, are these activities organized in the whole school or is it up to individual teachers what they do in the class?
Mr. Arnedo: Normally every country has special celebrations and they celebrate it in their own classroom. But this is a big event for all the children because the whole school is waiting for St. Nicholas, St. Nicholas will visit almost all the classes.
What does that actually mean organizationally? How long does it take to prepare such a huge celebration?
Mr. Arnedo: To be honest, it’s always the same people who are doing that, especially Mr. Van Geel, our pedagogical coordinator. So this is something that we are already very used to and it doesn’t take that much time any more. But of course, we arrange small presents for the children, we have to prepare all the decorations, it does take time but it’s very nice.
Ms. Malik: Yes, it takes time, but if we do something regularly, then it’s easier because everybody knows how to prepare, it’s much easier than to do something new. If it’s something new, you first need to convince people to do something and afterwards you need to really do that. The party of St. Nicholas is known to everyone here.
It doesn’t look like you needed to convince any child here to have a St. Nicholas celebration this year.
(Ms. Malik and Mr. Arnedo laugh.)
Finally St. Nicholas is there!...
The saint sits down on the podium flanked by his helpers, a silence of awe falls. The saint greets the children in 4 languages and would very much like to hear what songs and little verses the different classes would like to perform for him. Which the children do with a lot of pleasure as the pictures below show.
When the performances are done, the classes receive little gifs from the saint and may shoot a picture with him and his helpers. Then the children leave the préau. After a short break St. Nicolas will come and visit the nursery class of every section.
St. Nicholas takes a short break: it’s time for some backstage talks
After the last class leaves the préau, the saint has just a couple of minutes to breathe up. At the background Mr. Van Geel, the coordinator of the festivity, is already preparing for the next part of the show: the saint’s visit to each nursery class. Taking advantage of this spare minute Natalia asks St. Nicholas a few questions.
Dear St. Nicholas, how often do you come to our school? Once per year, as I understand, of course, but for how many years already?
Oh… I believe starting from 1982.
That’s long! Why do you actually do that? What motivates you personally to send no other substituting St. Nicholas instead but come here in your own person?
Hmmm… Shall I speak the truth?
(Both laugh).
Yes, please. It’s for the newsletter for the parents.
Ah, it’s for the parents!... I worked here earlier as an accountant. And I knew the school to the core but the children didn’t know me. I knew the school, I knew the teachers. When I played St. Nicholas I could always tell something that would make the children frown: Oh!.. How could he know?? And also because I probably did it fairly…
Mr. Van Geel: Dear St. Nicholas, the schedule is tight, we need to move on!
St. Nicholas: … did it probably fairly well, I may play here St. Nicholas every year again. That’s how it started. Now I’m already retired for five years but still every year I get a telephone call with a request to come and act the saint.
It seems to me then that you truly enjoy the job, don’t you?
Yes, of course. I know the people, I still know the most teachers.
Mr. Van Geel: St. Nicholas! The nursery kids are waiting for you!!
St. Nicholas: I’m coming, I’m coming!!
As the Holy Man enters one of the classes, his helpers and Mr. Van Geel have a few minutes to take a cart with some materials to the first floor. Natalia squeezes into the elevator with them, her voice recorder ready in her hand.
Dear pieten, do you come here also starting form 1982?
(Both laughting): No, we are S7 students!... S7 of the Dutch-language section. We are Amber and Alicia.
Why are you actually doing this?
They asked in our class if anyone wanted to help. We liked the idea.
On such a day, do you yourself believe in St. Nicholas?
Yes, he looks incredibly real.
That makes us think back of the times when we were small because we met this very St. Nicholas when we were small.
The elevator door slides open and Natalia follows Mr. Van Geel with her voice recorder at hand. He is the classroom teacher of P5NL, the pedagogical coordinator of nursery and primary and, today perhaps most importantly, the coordinator of the St. Nicholas celebration at EEB2.
If I understood Mr. Arnedo correctly, you are the true St. Nicholas at EEB2, right?
(Laughs).
Because it’s you who take care of the whole organization of the festivity, isn’t it?
Yes.
How difficult is it actually? How difficult is the organization of such a celebration?
For me it’s of course a routine. We start at 6.30 am at my place. Actually – a week before that already: we take care that the sweets for the kids are there, that is arranged via an asbl for a good cause; each child will receive a little cachet with speculoos and some candies. The sweets are delivered at school and then together with the secretary we pack all of it.
Then the presents for the classes must be arranged and the saint and his helpers must be contacted. And thus they arrive at my place at 6.30 in the morning. My wife helps them to get dressed and makes them up. And then every year we think of a scenario, let’s say, of a way how the saint will arrive at school. Last year he arrived by truck, this year it was done with a tractor, next year perhaps by a police car or by who knows what. The only problem is that the school is so big, St. Nicholas is here only in the morning, that makes the schedule so tight.
Does St. Nicholas visit all classes?
Yes, all classes, including P5’s.
How do the P5-children take it? Do they still believe in St. Nicholas?
Oh yes. This day everyone is a believer, even the grown-ups!
Do I see it right, does the whole organization take only one week?
No, no. We are busy quite for some time. Ordering this, arranging that, contacting people… No, no, the organization starts almost right after the summer vacation. We need to arrange everything, take care of the security.
For how many year are you personally involved on this organization?
Oh!.. (Laughs). For too long. Almost for twenty years.
Why actually?... What is your personal motivation?
The St. Nicholas celebration is a typical Dutch thing. By chance I ended up doing this, and so it stayed.
I understood that not everyone is familiar with this tradition.
True, but there is always respect. Even if people do not know something there is always respect for each other’s culture. It’s the same like we don’t celebrate Santa Lucia but we respect the Swedish culture. The same goes for the Fins. Everybody is open for each other. This is one of the enriching aspects of this school.
The schedule is tight: Mr. Van Geel has to leave.
Natalia steps out of the teachers’ room where she accompanied Mr. Van Geel to – and runs, luckily, into Marieke Jansen, the classroom teacher of P1NL and the presenter of the St. Nicholas ceremony at the school playground earlier today.
Miss Marieke is a musical spirit: she sings, performs, and moderates and organizes all kinds of musical and social events at EEB2 and EEB4 where she worked earlier.
Miss Marieke, you are the voice of the celebration, aren’t you?
(Laughs).
Why do you actually do this? What is your personal motivation? This is not the first time you are presenting the show, is it?
This is my second year, indeed. I just like it, it’s of course the most important celebration for the children of the Dutch-language section. So I do this with pleasure.
What other learning activities do you do around St. Nicholas in the class?
We watch the Sinterklaasjournaal, every day, so we knew already beforehand that there were problems and that it was uncertain if St. Nicholas would arrive today. We have a special St. Nicholas corner with hand puppets, we count days with the St. Nicholas countdown calendar, we read books about St. Nicholas, we rhyme, count, play, we do all kinds of things.
Miss Marieke of P1NL and Miss Marine of P2NL together with their classes unpack the presents they have just received from St. Nicholas (December 2018). The presents are arranged beforehand by each teacher according with the educational needs of his or her class.
St. Nicholas and the P1-pupils
In the meantime P1-students of all sections assemble in the préau of the nursery level: they would like to meet St. Nicholas and perform for him. The saint arrives strictly on time and according to the schedule, and mounts the podium for the second time this day, accompanied by his faithful helpers.
The celebration begins: St. Nicholas interacts with the children in 4 languages again and they perform some most beautiful, touching and funny pieces in all section languages.
Miss Marieke, presenting the show again, wonders if anyone remembers why this day is so special… Of course, it’s the name day of the saint, his ‘birthday’! All children from all P1-classes who have a birthday in November or December may join St. Nicholas and his pieten for a picture together.
The final performance of the day is truly European in its spirit: the Swedish class in collaboration with the Finnish one sing ‘Jingle Bells’ first in there national languages, in turns, and then the children from all the sections join in English.
What’s next?...
In a spare moment Natalia chats with Samantha Boulter, the classroom teacher of P1EN.
What do you think of this celebration? Is it very common in England to celebrate St. Nicholas?
We don’t have anything like this. We don’t have St. Nicholas, we have Santa Claus, and my class and I have been finding out the differences between the two. There are similarities but there are differences. And we’ve focused on those for the celebration today.
St. Nicholas and Santa Claus? Differences and similarities?...
Anyone who would like to research the subject for Woluw’Info?...
St. Nicholas at EEB2 on December 5th
Santa Claus at the Christmas Market
at EEB2 on December 14th