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EEBA (European School of Brussels-Argenteuil) is an international, multilingual school offering the European Schools’ curriculum. It offers a world class education together with the opportunity to stay connected to home languages and cultures. It provides access to schools and universities in home countries and across the world.

Thanks to the Alcuin Funds for the school, EEBA obtained a grant to set up a permaculture project on campus (vegetable garden, edible forest).

The key features of the European School Brussels – Argenteuil are :

• A strong curriculum taught through several modern European languages with a strong emphasis on both scientific discovery and cultural understanding.
• The unique multi-lingual and multi-cultural ethos particular to the European Schools, enhanced by all that is best in the Nordic educational context found at the stunningly beautiful natural estate of the Castle of Argenteuil.
• The development from the outset of conceptual skills built by a multilingual approach which benefits learning in all areas.
• We focus on developing the whole child and nurturing their natural aptitudes to ensure that each pupil leaves here ready to meet whatever challenges await.
• The question we ask is not “how intelligent is your child?”, rather “in what ways is your child intelligent?”. Our message to them is simple: try to be the best you can be in everything you do.
• Preparation for the highly regarded European Baccalaureate, which provides access to higher education across the world.
• Provision of the European Schools’ curriculum through modern languages by fully qualified native speakers.
• Strong individual support and thoughtfully differentiated classroom learning.

With the help of the Alcuin Funds for the School, EEBA has been able to obtain grants to set up an ecological project (vegetable garden, edible forest).

We invite you to visit our website for more details.

The non-profit organisation “l’Écolieu de l’Orneau”, in Gembloux (Belgium) encourages the sharing of knowledge through an egalitarian approach.

Cohesive and inclusive venue accessible to all, the project invites people to experiment new social and economical practices towards sustainable development.

Established 5 years ago, the ASBL École Démocratique de l’Orneau (Écolieu de l’Orneau) was driven by the need of families to create a place of learning, that would bring together “a village to raise their children and themselves” : to flourish in a multi-age and intergenerational living environment, focusing on natural and autonomous learning, with the possibility of taking part in the group’s decisions in a democratic way.

In September 2016, the École Démocratique de l’Orneau was set up in Lonzée, initially welcoming 15 children aged between 3 and 18, and then gradually increasing to around 50 children.

In June 2019, the School moved to a new site in Ferooz (Gembloux). This new space will allow the project to evolve, to diversify the pedagogical possibilities and to start developing new activities.

In May 2020, the ASBL continues its deployment, redefines its vision and launches the Écolieu de l’Orneau project: offering an education pole, a housing pole and an economic activities pole (crafts, coworking, events).

The project uses shared governance based on collective intelligence, legitimising the opinion of each individual, encouraging participation and allowing various degrees of commitment and co-responsibility.

The support of the Alcuin Fund has allowed the school to purchase a new bread oven: a craft bakery activity has been in place since the beginning of 2020, allowing young people to learn about this knowledge and to bake bread twice a week.

For more information, please visit our website.

The Anne Misonne School is a unique structure, recognized by the Belgian French-speaking community as “home schooling“. It provides primary education adapted to children with learning disabilities, who do not find their place in ordinary or specialized education. The goal is to lead the children to the maximum of their ability by offering an entirely individualized education.

In 2018, the school received financial support from the “Fonds Alcuin pour l’École” to purchase learning tools appropriate to each individual as well as to finance some work in the school.

The Anne Misonne School is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 1956 by Anne Misonne in Auderghem. In the early 1950s, Anne Misonne was a psychologist working in a centre for children from the juvenile court in Rixensart. She was struck by the lack of training for teachers working with struggling children, who were seen as ignorant. She decided to try to help them in another way, taking charge of a small school for dyslexic children with teaching limitations, which she led in accordance with her principles for more than 20 years.

Anne Misonne primarily advocated respect for children and her goal was to help them with their emotional, personal and family problems through school education. “Every child, whatever their problem, has potential and we must keep all doors open.”

Today, the school is headed by Ms. Foulik de Meeûs and a Board of Directors consisting of three people. It hosts around 24 students, aged 5 to 13, divided into classes of a maximum of 6 children who have various problems and specific needs, and who require a personalized approach and adapted method of teaching. These children have a learning potential but may present difficulties in the following areas: attention disorders, school phobias, autism, learning disabilities such as dyscalculia, dyslexia or language disorders, as well as family disorders.

A team made up of qualified teachers, psychologists, speech therapists as well as some enthusiastic volunteers strive day after day to understand, teach and stimulate the children both intellectually and socially, so that they can build or rebuild themselves, in order to let them participate in their own way in the world around them.

The school does not receive any subsidies from the Belgian French-speaking community. It is financed by private donations and by the parents’ fees, which allows for the implementation of certain activities such as music therapy, art therapy, occupational therapy, and access to a swimming pool as well as the purchase of equipment for children such as games, art therapy equipment, educational equipment or the purchase of furniture.

The proposed pedagogy is adapted to each child in order to lead them as far as possible with objectives and a precise and individualized school programme, building and restoring the child’s confidence through a positive valuation of their work. The school makes every effort to ensure that the child progresses with confidence according to her/his needs and abilities.

Each teacher sets up an individualized educational project using active methods as well as daily monitoring of learning with homework and lessons. Assessments and reports are organized for parents after each period and the team regular reassesses the child’s needs. The reputation of the Anne Misonne school is gradually being built on the basis of both the children’s academic as well as emotional progress.

More information is available on the website. 

The School for Dialogue is a private school, located in Anderlecht, which welcomes 100 students from 3 to 18 years old.

The school’s ambition is to give access to a full contributive citizenship. The mission of the School for Dialogue is to show that every motivated child naturally surpasses himself or herself both in academic results and in emotional, relational and social intelligence. It allows the child to be the actor of its own learning from the earliest age, while using kindness and mutual aid.

Today the school is runned by John Rizzo and has a board of directors of 7 people. In addition, contributors and volunteers help the school throughout the year. In 2019, the Alcuin Fund gave them financial support to purchase furniture and sports equipment and to offer free school fees to a child in need.

The approach of the School for Dialogue is based on a minimum of collective explanations, but it is the pupils who explain the subject to each other and thus develop their relational skills. They naturally become autonomous and empathetic.

All children are encouraged to help each other in one way or another. By allowing the child to be an actor in his own learning from an early age, he has the tools for the rest of his life, to become more autonomous and increase his potential to the maximum. If the child is happy to come to school and has self-confidence, he will learn faster.

The essential values of the school are : excellence (surpassing oneself, valuing the effort to reach a desirable goal), instructive error (one must accept an error as feedback allowing one to improve rather than as a mistake, which implies willingly acknowledging one’s mistakes rather than victimizing oneself) and autonomy (learning independently, being able to mobilize, getting out of infantilization and assistance), self-help (collaborative learning, helping others to achieve their goal) and caring (caring for others in a selfless and understanding way). Pupils feel creative in making decisions in their school.

Every “type” of learner profiles is welcomed in the school, and the school practices HP friendly pedagogy due to a pedagogical model based on cognitive neuroscience.

Here, everyone learns at his or her own pace, with the freedom to dig and explore according to his or her motivation, enthusiasm, need for challenge and surpassing oneself. Each student is free to learn in the way that is most effective for him or her. Children are encouraged to engage their creativity in the development of a personal and group project.

The daily practice of traditional martial arts is part of the curriculum of the School for Dialogue. Martial arts has an effect on concentration, posture, self-esteem and self-respect, stress, self-control, autonomy and inspiration, all leading to better academic results.

The school is also the coordinator of the School Transformation Lab Project, which links different successful and innovative schools to help traditional schools to transform themselves. This European project proposes a pedagogical transformation in 52 steps over 3 months to adapt to a level of heterogeneity of pupils : help them to  pilot their learning, encourage them to help each other, learn faster,  provide accessible activities to surpass themselves, and to cope with large classes.

News :

• In September 2018, opening of the Ecole du Dialogue for 8-18 year olds.
• Takeover of the 1st grade of the Don Bosco Institute (public school) with a larger team involved.

More information is available on the website. 

Saint Bernadette School is located in Tarbes, France. It is a non-contractual school that was created in 2016, with 15 students in two classes.

Today, it has 60 children in three classes of double level, 2 professional teachers and 2 voluntary teachers. The main objective is the blossoming of each child, as well as the development of his moral and spiritual qualities. An individual follow-up is proposed to the child who presents a particular or temporary difficulty.

In 2019, the Alcuin Funds granted a donation to this project for the acquisition of new premises and its adaptation and renovation work, in order to create classrooms and two dining halls.

More information can be found on the website.

Agnes School was founded in 2002, initially offering French-Dutch immersion education. Building on its reputation based on a commitment to excellence, the school encountered a fast-paced success. It now totals more than 320 students, about 40 teachers and now offers the choice of a language course, in the French-Dutch section or in the French-English section. The aspiration of families to see the school grow more is such that a high school project is under study.

The specificity of Agnes School lies among other things in its unique educational project in Belgium – a project based on three main pillars. The first one: To apprehend the child through all dimensions of his person: Intellectual dimensions of course, but above all and also social, emotional, artistic, sporty, and musical. The second is an education of values in harmony with a Christian vision of life. The third is the very close partnership between parents, students and teachers. Not only has the school set up a coaching system, which allows for individualised follow-up of each child, but it also organises numerous events and trainings in support of parenting throughout the year, in addition to the traditional parent-teacher meetings.

As part of its pedagogy aimed at excellence, Agnes School recently introduced a series of innovative pedagogical activities into its students’ daily lives that complement and support learning. It is the “ANA” workshops which mean “natural learning in autonomy”. The added value of the workshops on the Agnes School community as a whole is great: Students, parents and teachers all derive from it immediate benefits, be it in terms of the anchoring of learning, autonomy, concentration, personal development, or the new teaching posture required.

It is typically during these thematic workshops that Agnes School students were able to mature and implement a new educational initiative. Between 2018 and 2020, thanks to the Alcuin Fund, they implemented a project that was close to their hearts: “Living Nature in School”. The purpose of the project was to reconnect children with nature, stimulate their creativity and sense of observation throughout the seasons; To admire the beauty of life; To familiarise themselves with the rhythm of nature, to understand its rules, to respect the environment and to care for it. Substantial work (green roof, vegetable garden, insect hotel) as well as the purchase of educational materials could be financed for the creation of a greener space.

More information available here.

Notre-Dame au Coeur d’Or is an independent catholic boarding school for boys tucked away in the midst of the Belgian Ardennes. It is however easily accessible by car or by train (on the direct line from Brussels).

We believe in providing a rounded education from Year 6 onwards, fostering the intellectual development of each child, their sporting achievements and artistic talents while at the same time nurturing their spiritual life.

Set up as a non-profit organization (ASBL), Notre-Dame au Coeur d’Or has benefitted from the financial support of the “Fonds Alcuin” which enabled us to recruit a sports instructor in 2019, as well as to carry out renovations in the boarding house in 2020.

To find out more about us, please visit our website.

Our vision:

Notre-Dame au Coeur d’Or offers a comprehensive education to all its students.

Spiritual and intellectual development:

Our aim is to provide our students with a rigorous and structured intellectual education. We value teaching in small class sizes, overseeing the individual progress of each child, supervised independent study as part of a structured lifestyle.

The school is divided into Houses, nurturing a strong spirit of solidarity and loyalty, and encouraging sensitivity to the needs of others.

Under the joint patronage of Our Lady of Beauraing, St Thomas Aquinas and St John Bosco, the school seeks to assist each of its students in their journey of faith, within the framework of a safe and inclusive environment. We are supported in our mission by the brothers of the community of St John.

Co-curricular activities:

Rugby is an integral part of the life of the college for the values it promotes such as team spirit and physical and mental stamina. It is coached in English.

Our students’ artistic talents are encouraged through regular choir practice and drama.

Thanks to the unique location of the college, the students can enjoy outdoor activities such as gardening, listening to the call of the deer, jogging, …