At BEPS International School we value well-being - the feeling of physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual balance - in and of itself. When we welcome a student to our school, we commit to supporting their holistic development. We know that leaving us with their diploma, even if it has maximum points, will mean little if they are not independent, confident and resilient people. Without these attributes, they will not find purpose and meaning in their lives or reach their full potential.
Our unique context and resources help us to make this happen. For one, our size allows for real relationships to develop. This goes for the heads of school who can tell you about every young person in their charge - something that is impossible for most heads - as well as the mentors who see their small groups each morning and accompany them on their learning journey at the school. It is a conscious investment in relationships and personalised care.
We are also lucky to be located at the edge of beautiful Bois de la Cambre, where regular activities take place. Sometimes we go as a whole school, like we do on our annual Well-Being Day. This year our theme was forest bathing, where we learned how nature impacts our well-being through our senses - smelling autumn fragrances, listening to noises in the forest, touching the bark of trees, observing golden brown scenery.
At other times you would find small groups of BEPS students enjoying the benefits of the forest. You might encounter our Early Years students on their weekly adventure or our Secondary students from the “Walk in the Park” group, who visit every week and use their photography skills to document the beauty of nature or just discover new parts of the forest with each other, and covering a few kilometres in the process. All of this helps ground us in the real world.
We have a dedicated Well-Being Counsellor, who uses her expertise to proactively organise research-informed, age-appropriate well-being sessions. These might be around predictable topics like dealing with emotions, building positive relationships, conflict resolution or managing stress, or informed by a need our team has identified. Our Counsellor is also there to support parents in their parental journeys, delivering talks about positive parenting and any other topics that are requested. All of this is being shared and developed in a ground-breaking project with the International Baccalaureate (IB), Oxford University and Harvard University, amongst others.
Perhaps most importantly, our school is built with a young person’s psychosocial development in mind. Our focus on play and well-being rituals in the early years allows our youngest to develop healthy social interactions. They carry this through to our primary section where we value and celebrate all forms of success, not just academic. This is essential in developing each child’s sense of self-worth.
When they reach secondary school-age, they enter the turbulent teenage years, which is typically about shaping their individual identity and understanding their place in the world. To facilitate this, we try to maximise choice and flexibility that students have. This goes for their academic programme - they can choose from the IB Middle Years Programme, Diploma Programme and Careers-Related Programme - and subject choices. But it also extends to how they spend their day, with students able to choose an activity to join each afternoon. They might discover a new interest, like the philosophy of music, or share an existing one like creative writing. Or they might pursue a personal project. During our weekly Community Time, they will also deliver workshops to share something they care about, like protecting wild horses, or something important from their culture or family history.
Every individual is unique. But by going with the grain of psycho-social development, we help each of our students to positively shape their present, which projects into their future: a happy, well-balanced and successful one.
We would be happy to continue the discussion about how we support each student’s well-being when they are at BEPS.
Contact us at admissions@beps.com
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