Our modern kindergarten curriculum weaves four real-world concepts, namely culture, conflict, communication and conservation, into imaginative themes to nurture student curiosity and creativity.
By encouraging children to explore, experiment and persevere, we help them build resilience, embrace challenges and develop essential skills that will shape their academic and personal futures.
Each day with Haut-Lac’s early years team is a magical mix of learning and laughter.
Discover the engaging activities, bilingual explorations, and hands-on experiences that fuel curiosity, inspire creativity, and build the foundation for lifelong learning.
The Praz-Dagoud campus opens early to welcome children who need to be dropped off at school before the start of the working day at 8:00.
The Breakfast Club is a complimentary service included in the school fees.
The children hang up their coats, change their shoes and head into class to get ready for a day of learning.
The teachers welcome them and share the day’s learning plan with them.
Some classes then head straight to the sports hall for a PE lesson.
The children develop their knowledge and skills in literacy, maths, phonetics, theme or sport during 30-minute periods.
The children enjoy a balanced school meal or a homemade picnic lunch in the infant section canteen before heading out to play in the infant playground.
Unless it’s a Wednesday when lessons finish at 11:50 and children either go home or register for afternoon supervision.
The teachers usually organise lighter lessons in the afternoon, such as music, sport or theme work.
Theme work introduces the children to science, history, geography or ICT-themed activities.
** E1 children have a period of calm play, reading or sleep before starting their planned afternoon activities.
The children return home with their parents, catch the school bus or attend a supervised after-school activity.
Children take part in age-appropriate indoor and outdoor activities with the out-of-hours supervision team until 18:00.
Our young Swiss and international learners develop more than just their literacy, science and numeracy skills.
They work together to develop essential life skills for success in and out of the classroom through:
Our kindergarten bilingual programme nurtures confident, young English and French speakers. They enjoy balanced exposure to both languages as they explore their surroundings, learn to express themselves, and develop their own bilingual identity in a fun, meaningful way.
Haut-Lac’s early years teachers take our youngest students out of the classroom to learn more about the signs of autumn at the park, become doctors at the Teddy Bear Hospital, discover animals in their habitats at the zoo, and more.
The children build body awareness, coordination and stage presence, as they act out stories, explore rhythm and learn to perform with others. They take to the stage twice a year to share their progress with parents in a fun, confidence-building show.
Our youngest students enjoy a calm, caring routine from morning to evening.
With Breakfast Club from 7:15, lunchtime supervision and after-school activities until 18:00, they play, create and make friends in English and French even when not in class.
As a recognised Child Safeguarding School, our priority is to create a nurturing environment where every child feels happy and secure. By cultivating emotional well-being through self-exploration and discovery, we empower children to express their feelings, forge meaningful relationships, and develop resilience so they can take learning risks with confidence.
Daily mindfulness sessions are just one way we help our little ones pause, breathe and feel calm. These quiet moments gently guide them as they learn to manage emotions and settle into the school day.
Our current bilingual kindergarten international and Swiss parents have come together to share their families’ experiences at Haut-Lac with you.
We think our son had a wonderful time during his stay at school. He made a lot of friends, learnt how to speak English, and gained a lot of skills and knowledge.
We are very happy for the development of our daughter at Haut-Lac on all aspects: her knowledge development, skills in math, music, sports, languages, as well as social development.
My children mentioned that Haut Lac is the best school and they really enjoyed the education and the time there.
We appreciate so much the huge MOTIVATION our daughter has to go to school every day. THANK YOU for this! Because to a large extent this happens thanks to the inviting atmosphere, the learning experience she has each day, the diversity of activities and the pleasant moments at school.
We’re very happy our daughter loved going to school at Haut-Lac.
It was an amazing learning and development experience for the three of them. We are sure they will remember this forever.
Why start school at 3 years old?
Discover how we set our youngest learners up for a successful school journey on the Haut-Lac blog.
Students in the bilingual section attend lessons in English and French on alternate days to get a good understanding of all subjects in both languages. Wednesdays are taught half in French and half in English with the children rotating between different activities in both languages.
Students in the English section study everything in English every day along with daily French as a foreign language lessons.
No, families in our English-stream are both local and international. Any family may choose to enrol their child in the English section if it suits their family’s needs better.
Yes, all children in the Haut-Lac preschool are surrounded by English and French on a daily basis.
Children in both the bilingual and English sections have lessons in English and French every day, go on school trips to local places together, and enjoy break times, lunchtimes and extra-curricular activities with peers in one or both of the languages.
Yes, children begin learning to read and write in kindergarten, but it’s a gradual process that happens through play and age-appropriate activities.
They start by exploring the sounds of language and learning to recognise and form letters. As they progress, they begin connecting sounds with letters to build the foundation for reading.
Alongside this, they develop their fine motor skills through drawing and early writing activities like learning to hold a pencil, copy shapes and form letters.
Haut-Lac’s preschool teachers communicate with parents in person at drop-off and pick-up, via e-mail or via SeeSaw (a private online platform for sharing classroom activities and information).
We also hold parent-teacher meetings twice a year to discuss the children’s progress.
Yes, children must be toilet-trained before joining the E1 class (3 years old) at Haut-Lac.
The learning objectives in kindergarten at Haut-Lac are:
Encourage curiosity, independence and active learning
Students are encouraged to “have a go,” make mistakes, persevere, consolidate learning, and apply it to real life.
Foster bilingualism / language development
Instruction alternates between French and English in the bilingual pathway so children get balanced exposure to both languages. Students in the English pathway also have daily French lessons so that they get exposure to both languages.
Promote social, emotional and intercultural development
Students learn to work collaboratively, communicate effectively, recognise and respect differences and similarities, and appreciate nature and global issues.
Mathematics
Children develop their mathematical understanding through engaging, age-appropriate activities that build number sense, counting, basic operations, pattern recognition, shape and space (geometry), and early concepts of measurement and data exploration.
Phonics / Literacy
Phonics forms a foundational component of the early years literacy programme. Children are introduced to phonemic awareness (sounds, blending, segmenting) before progressing to grapheme–phoneme correspondences. At Haut-Lac, phonics instruction is adjusted to support both languages (depending on the child’s pathway).
Lessons run from 8:30 to 15:20 (11:50 on Wednesdays) in kindergarten at Haut-Lac.
Children can, however, be dropped off at Breakfast Club from 7:15 and registered for after-school supervision until 18:00.
Mornings are spent learning phonics, mathematics and writing in a fun, playful way to keep the children engaged.
Afternoons are dedicated to exploring the world around us through art, drama and science. Children explore themes such as animals, the seasons and emotions.
They also enjoy outdoor playtime every morning and afternoon, which is essential for their personal development.
Infant section children attend two sports lessons and one music lesson per week with specialist teachers. This holistic approach aims to develop the whole child by addressing their intellectual, emotional, physical and social skills and needs.
They also take part in weekly library sessions and enjoy reading books in English and French to further enrich their learning experience.
At Haut-Lac, only the children aged 3-4 in the E1 year group have a nap after lunch so that they have the energy to make the most of the afternoon activities.
In E2 and E3, children have a 15- to 30-minute relaxation or mindfulness session at the beginning of the afternoon.
