Education France Project #38766

Partnering to emancipate tomorrow's citizens

by Solidarite Formation Mediation / Clichy La Garenne

Project Report | Jun 3, 2020
"Partnering"... during the COVID-19 crisis

By Mireille Grizzo | Project leader

The COVID-19 pandemic has guided our work since March16^th. During the first week, we had to take in the shock: overnight, work as we knew it, stopped. Lockdown was initiated, and everyone went home taking the phone numbers of our trainees and visitors as well as the files necessary for the continued running of operations. Work to organize remote activities started in the next few days, with the following objectives:

- keep contact with our trainees and frequent visitors,

- offer support and help to fight melancholy,

- compensate for any reduction in subsidies.

This was basically the content of the first message that the Board sent to the employees with a note of comfort: some beauty for the ears and the heart ... from Ella and Louis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnXLVTi_m_M

Thus, in coordination with the management team, the employees and volunteers spontaneously re-engaged remotely in some of their activities with the means available to the families and trainees. We provided psychological support when necessary. At the beginning of April, we opened a hotline from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and started communicating all useful information on our website and our FB. All activities / contacts were and are recorded day after day.

When contacted, the families told us that they were mostly fine, even if though they did not go out at all. They were grateful that we kept in touch. At the beginning, the main topics were exchange of news, advice on compensation "offered" by the State according to the parents' situations, resumption of educational support and games.

This allowed us to identify families who did not have the tools necessary to work remotely, so we launched an apeal to our network (companies and friends) and were provided with 16 laptops that we redistributed. It was quite a surprise to discover the extent of solidarity towards our public.

One-to-one workshops were time and energy consuming, and as families began to get used to the technology and process of remote training, we progressively developed remote group workshops: French language training, parenting support groups and workshops, educational support workshops for children, employment workshops...

The families and trainees were most grateful and relieved to be in contact with us.

We also kept in touch with housing requesters (DALO). Then in April, we decided to launch a phoning campaign towards our most regular senior visitors to offer counselling, inquiring on their material needs, the state of their morale and instruct them on the availability and use of masks.

During the whole of the lockdown period, the management team were hard at work: closing the 2019 fiscal year, applying to call to projects, and dealing with human resources. Soon they also had to think of preparing for the reopening: taking care of sanitary questions and prevention. It was necessary to comply with the sanitary rules required by the national authorities as well as the Occupational Medicine, establishing protocols in order to resume activities at Drop-in daycare and at our main venue. Once they were validated, the protocols were to be shared with the team, and from today with the visitors.

The board remained in contact with the team throughout, encouraging, supporting, and overseeing operations. Here is the message the board sent to the volunteers mid-May:

“Dear all,

In continuation of our last email, I wanted with the Board, to inform you in more detail of the measures that will be implemented for the resumption of activities at SFM.

Initially we will only resume activities involving one-to-one interaction: Public writers, intermediaries, including Dalo and reopen the daycare center. Probably June 2. All other activities will continue in the same mode as that adopted during lockdown, ie remote.

The main recommendations concerning the risks have been provided by Occupational Medicine and protocols drafted <…>

I hope you will want to come back to SFM, within this framework. We are looking forward to seeing you there !

Mireille”

I must say, the continued support of the GlobalGiving community was also of great help. We were so excited for what happened... In March the campaign Little by little was a success, then unexpectedly, SFM was selected by Riot Games (and GlobalGiving) to participate to their League of Legend competition which closed in April ! THANK YOU TO ALL !

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Feb 3, 2020
Looking back on 2019

By Mireille GRIZZO | President

Happy New Year from the schoolchildren of SFM Clic

The team at SFM Clichy team has entrusted the children who attend our "Schooling support activities" with our best wishes for 2020 !

To all of you who have been with us throughout the year, we hope 2020 brings you the best. May the planned and unforeseen transformations benefit you... like what you bring to SFM. Thank your continued support.

Since the beginning of the school year in September, young and older children have reinvested in the premises of SFM Clichy. In each sector of activity, the SFM team has welcomed the newcomers: trainees in the Socio-linguistic Workshops (ASL), new families at the daycare center, first graders who have taken over from the older school children who have gone on to high school..

Highlights of these past few months :

"Schooling support activity"

• In September, a back-to-school meeting welcomed children and parents to launch the Schooling Support activity. A moment of complicity for returning families and discovery for all, since the team (partly renewed) shared with them the objectives of the year to come.

• The children can now enjoy a new refurbished library corner, more comfortable and friendlier… much appreciated!

• During the mid-term holidays, they were taken on an outing to the National History of Immigration Museum.

"French socio-linguistics workshops"

• ASL at the forefront of neuroscience research have introduced small gymnastics sessions at the beginning of each course to improve cognitive skills

• Trainees on an outing to the Museum of Romantic Life

Another novelty this fall was the opening with the support of the Orange Foundation and CAF 92 of two introductory workshops on the use of computers and digital devices

• one on monday afternoons, as part of ASL curriculum, a course to learn how to take control of tools and use them in everyday life

• another one friday mornings, open to the general public, to become familiar with data search on internet, digital technology and to be supported and gain some autonomy for one’s online procedures.

Parent / Children meeting

The new library corner

At the Museum

Gym sessions...

At the Museum of Romantic Life (Paris)

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Nov 7, 2019
Parenting, a challenge in a foreign environment

By Christine | Director

The SFM team welcomes parents and children

Here at SFM Clichy, we are very much aware of the parenting difficulties facing famililes when confronted with a new culture, a new environment. Ensuring that everything goes smoothly, makes for a successful integration of the children in their new school and for a peaceful and constructive parent / children / school relationship.

At the beginning of the schoolyear, we invited all children and their parents to take part in a workshop, and we explained to them how we would be working together during the months to come. The SFM team introduced themselves and presented the exciting upcoming workshops and activities !

- Reading, Writing, Art, Art history, Philosophy but also Maths and Coding...

Children were then encouraged to engage into playful activities while bringing the parents together for a Q/A session. The event was concluded by a visit to the exhibition of the works from last year's art groups : Models of Van Gogh's bedroom, self portraits on the theme "My dreams", a study of the garden flowers inspired by Matisse...

A time of inspiration and sharing for all, and pride for some of last year's students ! Bravo to all of them !

Parents were invited to attend on a regular basis our weekly parenting meetings. Our work with the families is aimed at pacifying children / parents relationships and allowing parents a better understanding of the school expectations and allowing them to gain confidence in their relations with the various educational authorities: schools, medical authorities, social and cultural institutions. Our educational cooperation activities take into account the specific contexts of the families, often fragile and facing difficulties both at family, social and economic levels.

Many thanks to our donors who make all this possible.

A parent / child time for dialog

Happy to reunite after the summer holiday break

Concentrating on the workshop activities

Van Gogh's room in Auvers/Oise

Self prortraits

My vision, my dreams as seen through sunglasses...

A sunflower inspired by Matisse

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