May 9, 2016
For several years, the faculty of St. Paul’s School in Sao Paulo, Brazil have been incorporating the principles and practices of SRI critical friendship within their professional development. Beginning with support from SRI facilitator Margaret MacLean, and continuing under the direction of SRI facilitator and Head of Pre-Preparatory, Anne Taffin d’Heursel Baldiesseri, the school has worked diligently to incorporate collaboration and reflection in all aspects of their work.
About the School – From Anne
St. Paul’s, The British School, was founded in 1926 and was the first British School in São Paulo. Fully coeducational, with some 1,100 pupils, aged from 3 to 18, it is a school with history and tradition, but which embraces innovation, contemporary values and technological developments. We offer a British curriculum, including the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and courses up to IGCSE and the International Baccalaureate Diploma. At IB the following subjects are taught in the Sixth Form (and offered as standard and higher levels): English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, mathematics, mathematical studies, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, geography, history, economics, business management, theatre, visual arts, music and film studies.
The school prides itself on an excellent enrichment programme ranging from MUN to Duke of Edinburgh, from knitting classes to a robotics programme, from mathematical olympiads to outstanding drama and music. Field trips also form an integral part of the curriculum with every year group from the age of 8 years old going on residential visits throughout Brazil.
We prepare our pupils within a bilingual and bicultural Anglo Brazilian community for a global future. We offer a broad and balanced but rigorous curriculum where the individual pupil is at the heart of the teaching and learning. It is our aim to discover the passion and talents of every pupil, and create the right environment to develop these. Pupils leave us confident, assured and well prepared for an exciting life, and a multitude of opportunities.
We are a world-class school; a member of HMC and COBIS and the first officially British government accredited British School Overseas in South America. We are proud of our local, national and international reputation and we constantly strive to improve the opportunities for our pupils and staff.
The school has undertaken an almost continuous programme of building works over the past 20 years as it has gradually grown; this includes extensive refurbishment and extension of the original school building, the creation of a sixth form centre and a multimillion dollar underground sports centre. In February 2016 we were proud to open our brand new academic centre, including a state of the art learning resources suite.
Building a Culture of Collaboration and Reflection
Not only does the school regularly incorporate the principles and practices of SRI critical friendship within their PLC and professional development work, they do a great job sharing their work with their wider school community and parents.
In their weekly bulletin, Dr. Anne Taffin d’Heursel Baldiesseri shares the work the school is doing, explaining why it is important and how students benefit from this work. Click here to read Bulletin #290 that describes some recent PLC work using protocols.
You can see another example here, from November 2014, where the school is sharing the work they are doing, outlining their PLC process, and talking about why it is important for teachers and for student learning.
To learn more about the school, and the amazing work they are doing, please reach out to Anne (annebaldisseri@gmail.com).
Special thanks to Anne and her staff for the great work they are doing in service of students, and for sharing it with us so we can share with our SRI worldwide community!
Have a story to share about how your school is incorporating SRI principles and practices? Email Chris, chris@schoolreforminitiative.org, so we can share with the SRI community!
Thank you,
Kari Thierer and Anne Taffin d’Heursel Baldiesseri
on behalf of School Reform Initiative
