Update on International School

A lot has happened at the International School Manosque (ISM)over the last year. To give an overview of these developments, and also to listen to the issues raised by parents, a meeting between Jean-Paul Clément, Head of the International School, and the ITER /ISM parents took place at the Château de Cadarache on 30 March.

The school now has 300 students, 160 of which (53 percent) are ITER children. By the end of the school year, another 25 students will have arrived. Both primary school and kindergarten have integrated the new school buildings, and at the start of the new school year (2010/2011) the remaining sections (Collège and Lycée) will also move into the new premises. The entire International School Manosque will be housed under one roof.

At the beginning of the new school year, a school transport service will also be launched from St Paul-lez-Durance via Cadarache to the International School to enable pupils that do not live in or near Manosque to join the school.

After an introductory speech by the ITER Director-General Kaname Ikeda, in which he summarized the major milestones of the development of the school and what remains to be done, Mr Clément elaborated on the status and future developments of the school.

Victor Udintsev, member of the ITER Staff Committee then presented a list of key issues that had been raised by the parents and asked the school's director for his feedback on each of these concerns. Most of the issues that were brought up evolved around teaching quality, buildings and safety concerns and organizational issues. Whereas many of these questions were answered by the school's director at the meeting, some others will be dealt with at the upcoming International School Steering Committee meeting.