Institut International Notre-Dame du Lac

Nestled in a verdant oasis on a hillside in Cologny, Switzerland, the International Institute of Notre Dame du Lac has always strived to achieve academic excellence and the values of the French education system. But above all else, we promote the joy of learning. By respecting each individual's pace of learning, we encourage children to develop and allow them to get the most out of their first few years at school. Our school welcomes children aged between 3 and 11 years in mixed-gender pre-school and primary classes and promotes personalised mentoring within an exceptional environment.

Over the last 70 years, large numbers of both Genevans and international youngsters have achieved success at our school. Between classical academism and the dissemination of knowledge using state-of-the-art equipment, we place a great deal of emphasis on the basics: learning to read, express oneself, write and count. With effect from the start of the 2017 academic year, the number of hours of English-language teaching will be doubled at all levels, drawing upon the concept of co-education. At Notre-Dame du Lac, we are convinced that learning a language at a young age, particularly through the teaching of a subject, provides an excellent springboard for success in later education and openness to the world.

The educational approach at Notre Dame du Lac aims for personal fulfillment in one’s studies. Class sizes range from 15 to 20 students, allowing for an important place for accompaniment and follow up of each and every student. The child, at the heart of his education, stays the principal guiding light in our pedagogy. Notre Dame du Lac Institute strives to be a fertile ground for many successful elementary academic experiences. The teachers are concerned with offering a framework and an organisation of activities which favorises autonomy to each and every student while at the same time, giving them the time to develop their first social interactions. The child entering the preschool will progressively become a student.

From the age of 4 years, a most particular attention will be given to the handling of the pencil, to cursive handwriting, to the discovery of numeration and to the control of spoken expression, which constitute the fundmental base for a perfect mastery of the French language. A daily appropriation of the written language starts as well. This progressive skill building at the child’s rhythm continues to the age of 5 in order to ensure the fondation of a perfect acquistion of reading and writing at the cusp of elementary school. Elementary school accompanies their students in the mastery of French language both written and spoken, towards an autonomy in mathematical reasoning and a practice of foreign languages.

These fondations are an essential springboard for sucessful and fulfilling scolarity. From the age of 6, students structure their understanding through reading workshops as well as fun and challenging mathematical dispositives. The teachers offer methods that give real life meaning to their learning. Evaluations are given at regular intervals in order to guide students’ scholarity highlighting their progression and lead to correct and individual follow-up. Information Science studies and complementary subjects are undebatable advantages in an opening towards a higher level of general knowledge.

Each class nourrishes, in a pleasurable manner, the year with cultural projects in phase with the programme. Students gain competencies in autonomy and initiative in respect to humanistic culture on the path towards excellence hand in hand with our teachers.