Special Education Needs at Ecolint

The Ecole Internationale de Genève strives to help all students realize their full potential and provides an inclusive education for students who have a wide range of abilities across the learning spectrum - whether learning difficulties or stretch requirements for Gifted and Talented learners.

Ecolint welcomes all learners and meets their educational and social-emotional needs through developing autonomy, agency and self-advocacy via clearly defined programmes and support structures.

1. Learning Support (LS)

Learning Support is an inclusive service available to all students who require support in any academic aspect of their school life, provided we have sufficient resources available. Ecolint passionately believes that each student is an individual and looks to provide learning pathways based on need and cognitive profile.

Effective learning support systems are necessarily based on open, honest communication among all involved: students, their families, classroom teachers, pastoral care teams, learning support, and outside specialists as appropriate (e.g. occupational or speech and language therapists, school counsellors and psychologists). We take seriously our professional obligation as educators to be informed about student needs; we are equally mindful of respecting confidentiality, child protection and legal requirements when dealing with sensitive information. 

There is Learning Support provision in all eight schools across our three campuses.

2.  Extended Support Programme (ESP)

The Extended Support Programme is designed for children with moderate to pronounced learning difficulties.    

A place in ESP will be offered to up to 2% of students in each school who are not able to make progress in the classroom without a significantly higher level of individual teaching and specialist support than that usually provided by our mainstream learning support staff.

Each ESP student has a place in the regular mainstream classroom but may spend significant amounts of time in the extended support structure being taught individually or as a member of a very small group. With a high staff:student ratio of 1:2, the programme offers an individually tailored timetable designed specifically to meet the personal learning needs of these students who are selected, taking into account their personal profile and the composition/profile of others currently enrolled in the programme.

The post-16 unit at Campus des Nations (Saconnex site) enables students to work towards the accredited ASDAN Awards Scheme, with an emphasis on ‘life and vocational skills’, as well as where possible, enable students to access a range of International Baccalaureate certificates.  

The Extended Support Programme at La Grande Boissière offers bilingual instruction in all its three schools. Students in the ESP may also benefit from additional social and emotional supports such as Art Therapy, Adapted Sport, Movement and Dance to mention a few. As each student’s developmental pathway is unique so is their educational pathway. In addition to following Individualised Education Plans, the ASDAN programme is offered in the secondary school at La Grande Boissière, as well as on-site campus work-experience under the supervision of the ESP Team. Students may also access the International Baccalaureate or IB Certificates and High School Diploma curriculum.

At La Châtaigneraie, students can work towards the ASDAN certifications which focus on preparation for independent living and employment. Where possible students can also work towards the IGCSEs and IBDP certificates or the Swiss maturité with support from our staff. Support is individualised to a student's particular needs and is given in English and/or French.

Availability of ESP on our campuses:

Campus des Nations

  • Early Years Centre students (Pregny site, ages 3-7)
  • Primary School students (Saconnex site, ages 7-11)
  • Secondary School students (saconnex site, ages 11-16);
  • Post-16 (Saconnex site, ages 16-20)

La Grande Boissière

  • Primary School students (ages 5-9)
  • Middle School students (ages 9 to 13)
  • Secondary School students (ages 13-19)

La Châtaigneraie

  • Primary School students (ages 5-11)
  • Secondary School students (ages 11-18)