Balder and allies build a warm school
Together with a broad network of Brussels-based, municipal, and neighbourhood partners from welfare, care, and leisure sectors, we aim to transform Balder elementary school in Sint-Gillis (Brussels) into a warm school that can offer optimal learning and life opportunities to children and their families.
The school is located in a complex arrival neighbourhood with high poverty rates and limited access to welfare and leisure services. From within the warm school, we work towards building a warm neighbourhood where greater connection and mutual support can emerge.
Odisee supports and coaches the local alliance and conducts action-research into the organisation of an ‘extended learning day’.
Warm school and warm neighborhood
Together with a broad network of Brussels-based, municipal, and neighbourhood partners from the fields of welfare, care, and leisure, Balder and Odisee aim to transform Primary School Balder in Sint-Gillis into a ‘warm school’ that can offer all learning and life opportunities to children and their families.
The warm school will serve as the foundation for a warm neighbourhood, where increasing connection and mutual support can take root.
A school that feels like home, from ages 0 to 12
Children up to the age of 12 go through major transitions: from early childhood care to preschool and then to primary education. Each step requires significant adaptation, often in a completely new environment. With this project, we aim to closely connect the three socialising environments of children: FAMILY – NEIGHBOURHOOD – SCHOOL. The goal is to make these transitions warm and gentle for children and their families. Families will find a school environment that can be a familiar place for their children from ages 0 to 12.
School and non-school: all is learning and living
We also aim to break down the barriers between education, leisure, and welfare, bringing together several life domains. We want to eliminate the distinction between school and ‘non-school’, integrate formal and non-formal learning to reinforce each other, and use informal learning to support formal learning.
Staying longer at school can be enjoyable too!
To help realise the potential of all children, meet the expectations of parents, and reduce time pressure, we are exploring the possibility of extending the school day by one to two hours. We are also considering offering additional learning time on Wednesday afternoons.
This extended learning time is a new concept for everyone involved—children, teachers, families, the neighbourhood, and policymakers. An action-research approach will support its design and implementation.
We focus on parent participation, sense of belonging, and strengthening neighbourhood-based networks. Professional development and sustainability are also key objectives of the project.
Making school is also making space for the children of Balder and the neighborhood! Together with the school's staff, we temporarily occupied the area next to the school building. In the metropolitan context of the South Station and Hallepoort, every little green space is pure profit for the students; it also gives extra oxygen to the neighborhood and all the residents. Balder already held a school party there, put up planters and now there is even real grass... That should take root now, together with all our other plans!
