Cycle 1 – Preschool (TPS, PS, MS, GS)

Originality of the French system, the preschool (Cycle 1) welcomes children before compulsory schooling which starts at 6 years old. It is most often organized in Very Small Section (TPS), Small Section (PS), Medium Section (MS) and Large Section (GS) depending on the age of the children.

At the Arthur Rimbaud French School, the programs taught are French programs.

The purpose of the preschool is to help each child, according to appropriate procedures, to become independent and to acquire knowledge and skills in order to succeed in the preparatory course in basic learning.

At the Arthur Rimbaud French School, to facilitate students’ success, a GS / CP liaison is implemented every year. Beginning in April, CP teachers teach GS students once a week in a half-group. This allows preschool students to discover the class and the teacher who will be their next school and teachers to know the level of their future students even before the start of classes.

The main purpose of the preschool is the acquisition of a rich oral language, organized and understandable by the other.

At preschool, the child establishes relationships with children and with adults. He exercises his motor, sensory, affective, relational and intellectual capacities. He gradually becomes a student and he discovers the world of writing.

The preschool program (Cycle 1: Early Learning Cycle (Small, Medium and Large Preschool) is divided into 6 areas of activity:

• to appropriate the language
• discover the written word
• become a student
• act and express oneself with one’s body
• discover the world
• perceive, feel, imagine, create

Bridging GS-CP