Our approach

We encourage the students to be confident and inquisitive. We do not simply strive towards examinations, Olympiads and learning under stress at all costs. The teacher monitors the work of every child and encourages every effort and achievement. The students learn to take responsibility and to manage their education themselves.

Every child is unique, and we organise learning in accordance with the abilities and individuality of every student. We watch out for their interests, the ways in which they perceive things, and their capacity for concentration. Thus the children in a class perform tasks with different levels of difficulty and we evaluate their progress in relation to their own individual level. When a student encounters difficulties coping with a given task, the teacher helps until the student masters it and then moves on to the next level. A student that copes easily with an assigned task will be given a new task with a higher degree of complexity. We do not tolerate parallel education with private lessons.

No comparisons are made between students as we believe that this can undermine their dignity. Hence we do not categorise children as bright or poor, popular or ignored. The teachers have no right to demonstrate any preference for some students at the expense of others, or to compare them by pointing to other children as examples.

Our students are allowed to make mistakes. The school is a safe place where children can get something wrong and then learn how to cope with the consequences of their mistake. The children learn that successes and failures alternate and are equally important for their growth as individuals with their own personalities.

Evaluation has an impact on the child’s personality. We do not grade our students at the Denis Diderot School, because grades can have a negative and stressful effect. We monitor the students’ progress in relation to their individual development. We give incentives to the students with feedback aimed at stimulating their development, without using self-serving criticism or punishments.

We integrate children from vulnerable groups and children with special educational needs. A fundamental principle in the policy of the Denis Diderot School is the right of every child to have access to education. Our social policy is to provide equal opportunities to children from ethnic minorities and to children with special educational needs. Our main goal is to ensure that these children have equal chances and additional high-quality educational opportunities to help them achieve their full potential.

Everything we do is guided by concern for people and for the natural world. The Denis Diderot School is an ambassador of the protection of nature and the environment – without plastic litter and with full support for waste separation and recycling. We educate our students to be socially responsible and to be aware that every action or inaction on their part can damage or help the natural world – humans being part of that world.