ELFS Plan for the Year 2024/25

ELFS' (an SGIS Collaborative Group) first in-person event of 24-25 will be a workshop facilitated by Sean Walker (see biography below). The focus of the day will be on how we can harness the potential of play across the 3 to 6 year old continuum. Including different types of play and how play-based learning evolves and develops throughout the Early Years. 

The event will include time to meet and make connections with Early Years colleagues from across Switzerland as well as tour the Early Years section of the International School of Lausanne. 

Location: ISL - International School of Lausanne, Chem. de la Grangette 2, 1052 Le Mont-sur-Lausanne 

Time: 10.00-16.00 (Coffee, tea and a small breakfast is available from 10.00-10.30 with the event officially starting at 10.30)

Cost per participant: This event is free of charge thanks to the joint support of SGIS (Swiss Group of International Schools), International School of Lausanne and Ecolint, The International School of Geneva.

Please note: A small breakfast and refreshments will be provided with lunch at the participants expense. There will be a lunch option for an approximate cost of 20chf OR participants are welcome to bring their own lunch. Details regarding lunch will follow for those who have registered. 

Sean is an advocate of playful, conceptual and inquiry-based learning. With nearly 30 years of classroom experience, Sean has worked in the UK, USA and now Paris, France. He is currently teaching Early Learners (3 and 4 year olds) at the International School of Paris after teaching Kindergarten for the past three years. 

Sean has collaborated with Anne van Dam, Kath Murdoch, Jo Fahey and PressPlay on a range of webinars, blogs and workshops, and has been a workshop leader for the PYP (Primary Years Programme) for nearly 20 years. 

Sean is passionate about creating learning environments that offer possibilities, invite exploration, nurture curiosity and stimulate thinking. 

Sean’s blog can be viewed at https://seanpypparis.blogspot.com Most posts are from a Kindergarten classroom, but the most recent post ‘Mixed Emotions’ hosts a journal that is updated daily with connections to learning for 3- and 4-year olds). Of course, the big ideas of pedagogy can be applied well beyond the Early Years.

This event will focus on practical aspects of forest school including how to set up your program, the sharing of good practice as well as essential skills such as knot tying, rain shelters etc. If you are a forest school expert and would like to run a workshop to share your knowledge please contact: tanya.fink@ecolint.ch and hpreston@.isl.ch . 

Further information will be shared closer to the date.