A day in the life of three Brussels schools

Three pupils from three Brussels schools give us the lowdown on life in and out of the classroom

Chloé, 8
Brussels International Catholic School

After her parents have dropped her off at the inconspicuous blue door of the Brussels International Catholic School (BICS), eight-year-old Chloé Leemrijse heads straight to the playground to play tag or hide-and-seek – her two favourites – with her classmates. A third-form pupil at BICS, she has attended the school for four years. The school is a 15-minute drive from Woluwe-Saint-Lambert where she lives with her French-Cameroonian parents and her brother and sister.

Like at many other international schools, students at BICS come from around the world. At the last count, Chloé’s classmates came from some 10 countries, among them India, France, Sweden, Poland and Italy.

After the schoolwide Mass that marks the official beginning of the day, Chloé mounts the stairs to her classroom on the third floor and settles into her school desk in the penultimate row close to the exit. With her dark, frizzy hair tied in a bun, she looks small in the school’s mandatory uniform for girls – a dark-blue blazer and a pleated grey skirt.

The school’s bilingual programme accounts for Chloé’s unconventional schedule. On Mondays and Thursdays, she has English and maths (which is taught in English). On Tuesdays and Fridays, she has French, geography, history and science (all of which are taught in French). On Wednesdays, she alternately has English and French. This means that, like the other children in the school, Chloé has two teachers – one for each language and the corresponding courses.

Chloé’s first morning lesson is followed by a short break, after which those children who are learning English as a second language go to the small ESL room for extra instruction. Chloé, who is fluent in both French and English (albeit with a French accent), stays behind with the other children for the regular English class.

Maths is Chloé’s favourite subject, and being chosen by her teacher to complete equations or division exercises on the board sends her over the moon. And she’s good at the subject too: she was one of only two students in her class of 27 who obtained the highest mark possible on the Cambridge maths test.

Her favourite moment during the week is Thursday morning, or gym time. But don’t ask Chloé to pick her favourite sport. She simply can’t. There are too many she enjoys, with trampoline jumping, tumbling and exercises on the buck just the first that spring to mind.

As a member of the school choir, Chloé gets to sing hymns during the schoolwide church service that is held in a church close to the school every Wednesday. Chloé and the other children in the choir typically prepare these songs during their Tuesday music lesson.

Chloé’s afters-chool life is dominated by music. On Mondays, Wednesdays and occasionally Thursdays, she has piano lessons while on Wednesdays, she learns classic dance. She is also part of the school’s opera club, which means that one Sunday per month, she and the other kids travel to Liège to watch a performance at the Opéra Royale de Wallonie. 

Melina, 5
International Montessori ‘Savoorke’

Melina Jones is pretty independent for a five-year-old. After her British-Serbian parents have dropped her off at the International Montessori ‘Savoorke’ in Tervuren, she makes her way to the coat room, worms out of her purple puffy coat and trades her colourful little trainers for comfortable slippers. She then climbs the staircase to the first floor and gets to work – all at her own pace and typically without any instructions from her English-speaking teacher, Georgina, or the French-speaking teacher, Marie.

That’s in large part because the school follows the pedagogical method developed by the Italian educator Maria Montessori, in which children independently learn at their own pace in a domestic-like environment in multi-age groups.

The school is in a rustic 18th-century farmhouse with low ceilings, exposed wooden beams and red brick walls. The Toddler Community (15 months to three years old) is on the ground floor, while the Children’s House (for kids aged three to six) takes up the entire first floor. Everything here is made to kids’ measure – from the low shelves, tables and sinks to the child-sized cutlery and utensils.

Learning materials focusing on mathematics, language, practical life, tactile sense and what are called language extensions (botany, zoology, history, sciences) are within easy reach on shelves throughout the room.

Melina’s day is divided into a morning and afternoon working cycle. During such a cycle, Melina is likely to have four lessons – these are planned or spontaneous interactions in which the teacher repeats a previous lesson (for instance, how to tie a shoelace) or shows her how to independently work with a new material.

Like children in traditional pre-schools, Melina has to master addition as part of the standard curriculum, but how she does so is flexible in the Montessori approach. If she can’t wrap her head around the concept using the decimal golden beads for instance, she might get it the second time round through the number-counting stamps.

After the morning cycle, it’s circle time. Since the kids often work independently, or one-on-one with the teacher, circle time is meant to offer them a group experience, during which they typically sing nursery rhymes, discuss what they’ve done that morning or listen to a story by the teacher.

In the practical life area, Melina completes activities that teach her to take care of herself, of her environment and of others – for instance, peeling vegetables for lunch, arranging flowers, dusting the shelves and setting the table. In the Montessori approach, such tasks are meant to foster a sense of responsibility in the children.

Next, Melina and the other children get some fresh air during the one-hour period in which they play in the garden playground – rain or sunshine (parents are asked to pack boots and suitable clothes). One of Melina’s favourite activities is to ride one of the school bikes that are stored in the shed.

After lunch, Melina lies down with the other children in a cosy corner at the far end of the room, while one or two who haven’t finished yet continue to quietly eat until they’re done, without having to be told to hurry up or clamouring to join the rest. After naptime, the afternoon work cycle begins. For Melina, the school day finishes at 3.15 since she doesn’t stay for the school’s after-school hours.

Since Melina has been doing very well in class, she will probably move up to the Montessori primary school next month. Though the Tervuren Rotselaerlaan school is just a six-minute drive away, this is something Melina is a little reluctant about. She’d rather stay with Georgina, Marie and her other friends. 

Karen, 17
British School of Brussels

Every morning, a minivan picks up 17-year-old Karen Borges from a supermarket car park in the Antwerp suburb of Wilrijk. Traffic allowing, Karen and the eight other students in the van get to the British School of Brussels in Tervuren around 8.15. That gives her half an hour to catch up on schoolwork, listen to music, play table football or chat to her friends in the senior common room.

At 8.45, Karen goes to her tutor’s classroom for a group meeting with nine other students during which the register is taken and daily notices are communicated. At BSB, every day consists of six 55-minute periods with a short break after two periods and a one-hour lunch break after the first four periods.

At lunchtime, Karen often joins the science club or Amnesty International meetings. She’s a keen public speaker and last year was part of the Model United Nations group that attended The Hague International Model United Nations Conference. 

As the school president, she and the vice-president also meet with the vice principal every two weeks. Karen ran for presidency on a pledge of introducing a school newspaper, The Buzz, the first issue of which recently appeared. One of her other responsibilities is to attend the student council meetings that take place once every half term. In these meetings, representatives from every tutor group from Year 7 to Year 11 can raise concerns or propose ideas.

Karen was born in Mumbai in India, but has lived in Antwerp since she was two. She used to go an international school there but after she completed her primary education, her parents wanted her to go to a larger school with more resources and after-school options. Karen still marvels at the facilities available at BSB. She recently visited a prospective university in the UK, where she was amazed to see that the touchscreen computers being used there were the same as those at her school. 

BSB offers three pre-university routes for its post-16 pupils – A-levels, the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma and BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) courses in business, hospitality and sport. Karen opted for the IB diploma with science options because it allowed her to really dig into chemistry, biology, engineering and maths. She loves to put on her lab coat and get her hands dirty. Just the other day, she and the other students in her option dissected pig trotters and a cow’s eye. And as last year’s chemistry captain, she gave advice to students wanting to study the subject.

Karen’s school day wraps up at 15.50. Because she has to get back to Antwerp, she chose not to participate in any of the wide range of after-school activities offered on campus this year. Instead, she plays hockey and tennis in Antwerp.

The last few months have understandably been busy for Karen. She is hoping to study medicine in London and has been travelling to the city to visit different universities and talk to recruiters. After university, she would love to join the World Health Organisation.

This article first appeared in The Bulletin's Newcomer spring 2014 issue