Frequently Asked Questions by Parents in Primary

For any student absence, parents are required to fill in the student absence form.

This form will be received by the secretariat and will also be forwarded to the class teacher. Please indicate the class of your child and the duration of the absence. This procedure must be followed daily as long as your child is ill, unless the medical certificate confirms an extended absence.

If no valid excuse is received within three days, the absence is considered to be unjustified. Too many unjustified absences may lead to a procedure in the interests of our students.

On returning to class after three days, the student must provide the class teacher with a medical certificate to excuse the absence. If a medical certificate is not presented, an unjustified absence will be counted.

An unjustified absence from classes exceeding twenty half-days within a single school year will lead to disciplinary measures.

The school is obliged to inform the parents after 30 unexcused hours of absence (lettre d’avertissement). After 40 unexcused absences, the school must inform the relevant authorities.

All information regarding the curriculum and subjects is available here.

You can access all the information here.

To facilitate communication between parents and the teaching team, we request that you contact our team as follows:

In Luxembourg, all children aged 3 to 18 years are required to attend school. This includes regular participation in all classes and school activities. Parents must ensure their child attends school regularly and participates in school activities according to the calendar and timetable.
School hours must be respected. In cases of repeated lateness, accumulated minutes will be recorded as unexcused absences. In cases of abuse, the school will be obliged to contact the school’s social worker.
The school calendar must be strictly observed. Families must organize their vacations and trips during school holidays. Failure to do so will result in unexcused absences.

The school places great importance on the personal development and well-being of its students and recognizes the importance of free time and extracurricular activities in this development. Children have busy school days and should be able to rest and relax at home. The school’s mission is to teach and guide children in learning and developing their skills. The school is not tasked with delegating its teaching role to parents.

Homework has the following objectives:

• To give the student the opportunity to become independent and to develop curiosity through research.
• To allow parents to follow and encourage their child’s progress.
• To enable teachers to promote student autonomy, exercise memory, and develop organizational skills.

In class, the teacher’s mission is to help and guide students to work independently and consolidate their learning. Therefore, a teacher who successfully achieves these learning goals in class may decide not to assign homework or to assign it based on the child’s or class’s needs. The decision to assign homework is left to the discretion of the teachers. As professionals, they determine what homework is appropriate for their students.

Homework can take different forms (research, reading, drawing, writing, cutting and pasting images, reviewing…) and does not need to be graded.
Homework must be based on classroom learning. Instructions must be clear, and all homework assigned must be reviewed.
Teachers must coordinate the amount of homework to avoid overloading students.

In P1 and P2, daily reading practice (10–15 minutes) is essential. No written homework may be assigned to these students.

In P3, students are gradually introduced to small homework tasks to be completed independently.
Daily reading remains essential (10–15 minutes). On average, and depending on the student’s profile, homework should not exceed 30 minutes per day.

In P4 and P5, homework is allowed as long as it does not exceed 45 minutes per day and can be completed independently.

In primary school, assessment is governed by Articles 55 and 56 of the General Regulations of the European Schools. Document 2013-09-D-38-fr-11 provides amendments to the general regulations on assessment and will take effect on September 1, 2024.

Assessment Framework and Tools

The following framework outlines the concept and assessment tools used in primary school:

Description of the concept and tools

The programs

The primary cycle programs follow the European Schools’ guidelines, which define a learning continuum with educational objectives, skills, evaluation criteria, and descriptors of achieved levels (DNA). The evaluation of students is based on these programs.

Continuous evaluation

Evaluation is an ongoing process involving teachers, students, and parents, using various tools to monitor student progress in all aspects of their development.

Assessment tools

• Student entry profile: Filled in by parents at enrollment, it provides information to anticipate the child’s learning process.
• Beginning-of-year assessment: Helps teachers understand students’ learning levels at the start of the school year to better plan their teaching.
• Observation: Teachers continuously observe students’ progress, sometimes in a targeted way for optimal monitoring.
• Assessment as learning: Involves sharing results with students to help them understand and self-evaluate their learning.
• Self-assessment: Encourages students to reflect on their success criteria and plan their future learning.
• Peer assessment: Allows students to learn by cooperating and evaluating their peers’ work.
• Portfolio: A collection of the student’s work used for continuous formative evaluation.
• Meetings and communication: Meetings between teachers and parents, with student participation, are crucial for sharing information on student development. Students can contribute by preparing, being present for part or all of the meeting, and using their portfolio as a basis for discussion.

General criteria

General criteria (Appendix II and III) apply to continuous and semester evaluations to harmonize assessments between subjects, classes, and language sections. A learning continuum from P1 to P5 is necessary for each new program.

The school report card

At the end of the first trimester, each student is evaluated on their social activities and attitudes toward school based on cross-curricular skills. The results of this first assessment are communicated to parents during individual oral meetings.
At the end of each semester in February and July, students are evaluated in all subjects. A class council is held to discuss each student. The results are communicated to parents in writing via the report card.

First semester report card

The first semester report card provides an overview of the child’s academic progress. It highlights strengths and areas for improvement. An individual meeting between the student and the homeroom teacher is scheduled to discuss the portfolio and goals. Teachers also organize meetings with parents for the report card handover.

Second semester report card

The second semester report card summarizes the student’s learning over the entire year. It includes the levels achieved and comments from teachers on the results and progress. Students participate in creating this report by discussing their learning experiences with their teachers. This report helps plan the next steps in the student’s educational journey. The last page indicates the class council’s decision regarding promotion or repetition of the student. The report is handed to parents during a meeting with the teacher.

Grading scale
The evaluation is done using the following five-level grading scale:
+++++ The learning objectives are fully achieved
++++ The learning objectives are almost fully achieved
+++ The learning objectives are partially achieved
++ Few learning objectives are achieved

+ The learning objectives have not yet been achieved

If, during the second semester, there is a risk of repeating the year, the administration is required to inform the student’s legal guardians by the end of April.

Promotion to the next grade

At the end of the school year, the class council decides whether each student is capable of moving to the next grade. For SWALS students who came from another school or who have attended the system for less than two years, the level in L2 will not be taken into account. In exceptional cases, and with a reasoned decision, the class council may decide on repetition.

Exemptions:
Only medical exemptions specifying an inability to participate in physical education will be considered valid and recognized.
Children with a sports exemption must remain at school in a parallel class.

Equipment:
Children must be equipped according to the PE class they are attending.

For PE classes:
Children must arrive in sports attire in the morning. They should also have a sports bag containing a pair of clean sneakers (to access indoor sports facilities). It is highly recommended to pack a spare outfit in this bag so that your child can change after the session or have a backup in case they forget their equipment.

For swimming lessons, children must always have with them:

• • A swimsuit (shorts or boardshorts are not allowed)
  • A swimming cap
  • A towel (we recommend including an extra one for children with long hair)
  • Soap or shower gel
  • Swimming goggles

The bus service used by the school is organized by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and the City of Luxembourg.
The buses will start operating from Tuesday, September 17, 2024.

Bus lines:
Five bus lines serve our primary school:

• Line CE1: Capellen-Bertrange-Cessange
• Line CE2: Fentange-Hesperange-Cessange
• Line EIGT3: Beggen-Cessange
• Line EIGT4: Kirchberg-Cessange
• Line EIGT5: Limpertsberg-Cessange

Buses run in the morning and at the end of the school day.
The schedules are as follows:

Please note that there is no bus service after school daycare.
Only registered children can use this service. Registration is done with Mr. David Baillon at the school’s office: secretariat-pr@eigt.lu.
Registration is on a trimester basis, and no changes can be made during the ongoing period.

Rules:

1.Organization:

Five bus lines are available: CE1, CE2, EIGT3, EIGT4, EIGT5 (see above). The bus schedule is an integral part of this regulation.

2.Beneficiaries:
All students attending the Gaston Thorn International School in Cessange are eligible for free school transportation. The student agrees to comply with the rules of this regulation, which aim to ensure safety, discipline, and good behavior inside the school transport vehicles and at bus stops.

3.Supervision:
The CE1 and CE2 bus routes do not have on-board supervision, while the EIGT3, EIGT4, and EIGT5 buses are supervised.
Students using school transportation are accompanied by staff during the school/bus platform and bus platform/school routes.

4.Conduct rules:
Parents must instruct their children to follow the instructions of the supervision staff and bus drivers.
Students using school transportation must:

1. • Line up while waiting for the bus
   • Board the bus calmly, one after the other
   • Follow the instructions of the supervisory staff and bus driver
   • Buckle their seatbelt and remain seated during the journey
   • Not endanger the safety of other passengers
   • Keep their shoes and clothes clean to avoid soiling the seats
   • Sit in their assigned seat and place their school bag under the seat in front
   • Not press the stop button
   • Remain calm throughout the journey
   • Not intentionally damage or dirty the bus
   • Not eat or drink on the bus (including chewing gum)
   • Speak quietly with their seatmate, no shouting
   • Not push others when boarding or exiting the bus

Any act of vandalism will hold the parents accountable.

5.Consequences for non-compliance:
Sanctions are issued and enforced by the management of the Gaston Thorn International School upon receiving a written report from the bus driver or supervisor.
Depending on the circumstances, the school management reserves the right to adapt the sanction to the severity of the violation (e.g., temporary or permanent exclusion from school transportation).
Exclusion from school transportation does not exempt the student from compulsory education.
Any damage caused by students inside the transportation vehicle will hold the parents liable.
Sanctions are communicated to the legal guardians via registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

6.Bus schedule:
Parents are required to be on time when dropping off and picking up their children.
For morning trips, buses follow a fixed schedule and cannot wait for late arrivals. It is therefore imperative to be punctual.
For return trips, parents must be on time at the bus stop to pick up their child.
In case of a delay at the bus stop, the driver will contact the parents to inform them that the child will need to be picked up at the last stop. If the parents are not present at the last stop, the driver will be obliged to contact the police.

In case of punctuality issues, the school management will take action similar to those outlined in Chapter 5.

It is important to note that schedules are always subject to road traffic conditions. Delays may occur.

School certificates will be sent to parents at the end of September.

Students are covered by school insurance for personal accidents that occur during the school day and on the way to and from school.
Students are also covered by this insurance for damages caused to others during school hours only.
Students are not covered for damages to their personal belongings or clothing in case of loss or theft. They are also not covered for damages incurred when they leave the school without authorization.
The school recommends that students do not bring money or valuable items that are not needed for class.
Any material damages caused by students will be the responsibility of their parents.
In case of an accident, the school will inform the parents as soon as possible. If deemed necessary, the school may call emergency services for medical assistance.
The school will prepare an accident report. Parents are asked to contact the school for administrative steps related to the accident.

Medications
Teachers are not authorized to administer medications. The daycare staff is allowed to do so under certain conditions.
If your child needs medication, please inform the daycare management and the class teacher by email, attaching a waiver (available from the daycare management) and a copy of the prescription. Medications placed in your child’s bag will be handed over by the class teacher to the daycare team, who will administer the medication.

Dangerous products
To ensure everyone’s safety, it is strictly forbidden for children to bring dangerous products to school. These items can pose serious health and safety risks to other students. We ask parents to regularly check their child’s school bag to ensure compliance with this rule.

Valuables
Children are strictly forbidden from bringing valuable items to school. This includes, but is not limited to, jewelry, expensive electronic devices, and cash. In case of loss or theft, the school declines all responsibility.

Connected devices
To guarantee an optimal and secure learning environment, students are strictly forbidden from bringing connected devices to school. This includes, but is not limited to, smartwatches, mobile phones, and other connected electronic devices. These devices can disrupt classroom activities, distract students, and raise privacy concerns. We ask parents to ensure their children respect this rule.

Toys
To promote a focused and orderly learning environment, students are not allowed to bring toys, games, or comfort objects (e.g., stuffed animals) to school. These items can distract children, disrupt classroom activities, and lead to theft, trades, or conflicts among students. We ask parents to ensure their children respect this rule and encourage them to leave personal items at home.

Each child is responsible for their belongings and clothing. Lost items are gathered in a designated lost-and-found box. Students and parents can come before or after school to collect items from this box.
At the end of each semester and the school year, unclaimed items will be donated to charity organizations.
It is the parents’ responsibility to retrieve lost items.

Identity Access Management (IAM)
When a student enrolls in a public school in Luxembourg, they receive an IAM (Identity Access Management) identifier. The IAM is a unique username used to access the educational resources of the national education system. To use their IAM account, it must be activated using an activation code sent by post.
In primary school, parents are responsible for activating their child’s IAM account.

WebUntis
WebUntis is an application used for managing schedules, lesson plans, class books, and agendas in secondary school. With WebUntis, it is possible to view class schedules, course content, and monitor absences. Access to WebUntis is done via the IAM account.
WebUntis is accessible on computers, tablets, and mobile phones through the installation of the WebUntis app.

Office 365
To meet the digital needs of schools within the national education system, the Education IT Management Center (CGIE) has implemented Office 365. This service provides free access to a wide range of collaborative tools for primary and secondary students, such as:

• Outlook email (50 GB for email, shared calendars, and contacts)
• OneDrive for storing and sharing personal documents

When a student enrolls in a public school in Luxembourg, they are assigned an Office 365 email address. Access is through the IAM account. The IAM username is also the email address used within Office 365: IAMuserid@school.lu