Early Years.
Laying strong foundations.
Concordia School Paris is a bilingual nursery and pre-primary school welcoming children from Nursery (Petite Section) to Reception (Grande Section) on its Grande Armée campus, a stone's throw from the Arc de Triomphe. A space entirely dedicated to our youngest pupils, adapted to their pace, their needs and their first learning steps.
The Early Years are a foundational stage. They establish the first work habits, develop language, curiosity, autonomy and confidence, while giving every child the opportunity to gradually assert their personality.
The Early Years stage is where children discover the joy of learning. Each day nurtures their curiosity through hands-on, joyful experiences: observing insects in the garden, welcoming hens to school, planting and watering flowers, building models, experimenting with water, shapes, and materials, singing in a concert, listening to stories in French and English, painting, dancing, cooking, or presenting a discovery to their classmates.
In Early Years, every child grows at their own pace in a caring and stimulating environment. We support their first steps towards independence, curiosity, and the joy of learning, in both French and English.
Three educational pillars to grow well.
Bilingualism through immersion
Teaching takes place 50% of the time in English. At the ages of 3 and 4, children are particularly receptive to language learning; this is when the ear becomes attuned to sounds and pronunciation. All subjects are taught in both languages by native French- and English-speaking teachers, and meet the objectives of both the French National Education curriculum and the English National Curriculum.
Creativity, at the heart of learning
Through art, music, movement and play, children learn to explore, express themselves, and structure their thinking. These activities nourish imagination, build confidence, and encourage initiative. By valuing experimentation and the pleasure of creating, the school lays the foundations for a positive relationship with learning.
Learning outdoors
In the spirit of the English curriculum, we believe that learning is not confined to the classroom. Playing, observing, handling materials, and exploring outdoors help children develop independence, curiosity, and an understanding of the world around them. Outdoor learning contributes to a child’s wellbeing and development.
A structured pedagogy, adapted to young children.
In Early Years, children learn through a variety of carefully planned approaches, suited to their age, stage of development, and individual needs. The day alternates between short whole-class teaching, circle time, small-group activities, and periods of independent exploration.
Small-group work enables teachers to support learning more closely, particularly in language, phonics, fine motor skills, and table-based activities. Some tasks are led by the teacher, others are supported by the classroom assistant, while children gradually learn to work with increasing independence.
Play is central to learning at this age: it encourages creativity, exploration, language, cooperation, and problem-solving. Teachers and assistants also work regularly with children one-to-one, observing their progress, identifying their needs, and offering targeted support.
Priority given to the richness of language.
The Early Years play a decisive role in language development. At Concordia, we place particular emphasis on building a rich, precise, and varied vocabulary in both French and English. Our aim is for every child to leave Grande Section (Year 1) with a strong lexical foundation to support the transition into reading, writing, and Primary School learning.
Each day includes time for active story reading led by the teacher. In a calm setting designed to spark imagination, children listen, ask questions, reformulate ideas, and discover new words. The teacher explains vocabulary, checks understanding, and encourages our children to use newly acquired words in their own sentences.
The first steps towards writing are also introduced from Petite Section, in a gradual and age-appropriate way. Recognising letters, tracing, copying, linking sounds and words: these early skills prepare children carefully and confidently for reading and writing.
Applied to real-life situations.
From Nursery, mathematics is approached concretely and progressively, drawing in particular on Singapore methods. Children handle, observe, compare and represent before gradually moving to abstraction.
By the end of Reception, children should notably be able to count up to 100, do additions and subtractions, recognise geometric shapes and read simple sequences.
Thinking and acting like scientists and engineers.
"How can we think and behave as scientists and engineers?"
From Early Years, children are introduced to the scientific method as a way of understanding the world, through STEM projects — science, technology, engineering, and maths. Our approach is inspired by recognised Anglo-American methods, with a strong emphasis on practical experimentation.
This approach gives meaning to learning: I observe what is around me, I ask questions, I make hypotheses and I experiment to reach a conclusion.
Children get close to plants and insects, create a small vegetable garden, make compost, build smoking volcanoes or study the resistance of materials by constructing little houses.
Learning to speak in public.
Beyond passing on a rich and varied vocabulary to the child, we encourage them to use it. We familiarise children with public speaking in a relaxed and playful way.
Children sing and speak naturally in front of their classmates. For example, the child comes to speak on a topic prepared in advance — my holidays, my favourite toy…
We also encourage exchange and dialogue with classmates, an essential condition for a fulfilling social life.
A balanced and structured day.
Children may be dropped off from 8.30 am. The standard school day ends at 4.00 pm.
Learning
Reading, writing, arithmetic — academic foundations.
Lunch and nap
Organic meals delivered by a caterer. Nap time for Petite Section (Nursery) children only.
Sports and workshops
Physical, artistic and creative activities.
In addition to the standard weekly four school days, two optional additional programmes are on offer to families.
English programme — half-day or full day, from Nursery.
Enriching evening activities, offered optionally to interested families.
Everything you need to know.
Lunch
Pupils have lunch together at school every day (except Wednesday).
Canteen · a caterer delivers organic meals every day.
Lunch box · children can also bring their packed lunch to school.
The uniform
The uniform is compulsory. It helps create a sense of belonging and erases social differences.
It consists of a cardigan, polo shirt, skirt and trousers. No specific uniform for sports activities.
The calendar
We follow the national school holiday calendar of the French Ministry of Education (zone C — Paris).
The exact holiday dates are communicated to families at the start of the school year.
Register your child in Early Years.
Our Admissions team will guide you to discover the Grande Armée campus and present the educational project of the Early Years.