Day to Day and School Organization
What is the children’s day-to-day routine like?
At Lumiar Morumbi, we organize the students’ routine in a way that provides the predictability necessary for them to feel safe, but adopting a certain flexibility to accommodate the needs of the day to day. The days are organized considering the interests and needs of each cycle, contemplating all of our pedagogical practices: projects, workshops, World Readings, reading moments, free time, playing, resting, and eating. In addition, there are also tutorial moments, when the tutors invite the students to reflect on events, evaluate their time management, and the progress of the tasks carried out in the projects.
How many students are in each group?
Ciclo I1 – approximately 12 students per group
Ciclo I2 – approximately 15 students per group
Ciclo I3 – approximately 18 students per group
Ciclos F1 – approximately 20 students per group
What is the ratio between the number of adults and children in a group?
For the students’ well-being, we work with two adults in each group – a tutor and an assistant.
Does the school have an infirmary?
Due to the maximum capacity of students at Lumiar Morumbi, an infirmary is not required. However, as guided by Lucas Law (No. 13.722), all school employees receive first aid training.
How is the adaptation for students coming from other schools?
At the beginning of the year, before the start of school activities, families and students attend an individual meeting with the group tutor so that they can get to know each other and talk about talents, passions, challenges, well-developed skills, and those with which the student still needs more support – essential information for the educator to help them go through the adaptation process as smoothly as possible. Throughout the routine, there is also the possibility for the student to receive individual support and/or participate in support groups, which will provide help in certain areas that need attention.
In the case of Early Childhood Education, the adaptation is done carefully, with the staff always observing the child and understanding the process in a personalized way. The dialog and partnership with the families are important to help the student feel increasingly safe and for us to understand the contexts and needs of all involved, so that, little by little, this child can be in the school environment without the need for a guardian to be present.
As Lumiar has multigrade groups, there is always a great movement of new students coming from other cycles. Therefore, everyone is very used to the process of arrival and departure of colleagues, and there is a legitimate desire to welcome and integrate new members, with the tutor always being attentive to any challenges that may arise.
Does Lumiar Morumbi adopt any kind of uniform or specific clothing?
Not currently. We believe in clothing as a valuable form of expression and in the importance of respecting the individuality and tastes of each one.
Literacy
How does literacy take place?
The invitation and encouragement to read and write are fundamental in our practices, and are based on real contexts: writing notes inviting families to school events, recording minutes of the round table, making posters with information and rules of use for environments and collective materials, among others.
The interest and the work with reading and writing, therefore, may arise at any time, from Kindergarten on. But it is from the F1 on (6, 7, and 8-year-old children) that the systematization takes place with more intentionality and daily writing and reading practices are introduced.
This contact with the formal aspects of the writing system in everyday life favors expression, as well as the recording of perceptions, individual ideas, and, also, the experiences in the developed projects. All this is part of the so-called “literacy”, a movement that happens at the same time as literacy and gives meaning to the social function of reading and writing.
Starting from F1, then, we began to consider a systematized look at literacy in our activities. The tutor aims to probe the children’s writing hypotheses in a contextualized way, observing their interests and including them in the proposals, in order to help the students advance in their hypotheses up to an orthographic alphabetic writing.
Bilingualism
Are all educators at the school fluent in English?
At Lumiar, we believe that all educators contribute and are part of the formation of a bilingual culture at the school. This happens from living with bilingual tutors or in training, with teachers specialized in English and with those who work in this language, presenting their repertoire in English.
Does Lumiar accept students who are not fluent in English? How do they keep up?
Yes, everyone is welcome! In the projects, we work with groupings by English communication skills. Therefore, at Lumiar there are students at the most varied levels, and each one receives challenges appropriate to their knowledge of the language.
How is the division between the use of English and Portuguese in practice?
We understand English as a lingua franca in the world. Therefore, developing skills and knowledge related to the language enables students to expand their interactions and broaden their learning possibilities.
Through projects in English, which allow its use in a contextualized way, and through the work with subjects such as travel, study of different cultures, music, art, etc., themes in which the use of the language makes sense, we allow students to understand the need and desire to learn the language. Furthermore, based on everyday communication in English, we create concrete situations for the expansion of its use in a more spontaneous and creative way.
With the combination of targeted proposals and the insertion of English into the routine, therefore, the bilingual culture becomes more and more perceptible. Thus, gradually, students become more confident to expand the use of the language in other moments and environments of their lives.
After School
Does the school offer extracurricular activities?
Yes, we offer activities such as musicalization, yoga, break dancing, English and arts. Every trimester, we review the students’ interests to offer proposals that make sense to them.
Food
Does the school offer food for the students?
Yes. For the snacks, which are consumed in the morning, afternoon and before extracurricular activities, guardians have two options: hire the service of the partner food company or send these meals from home. For lunch, however, it is mandatory to contract the food served at school.
We point out that the compulsory consumption of a certain meal depends on the period of time the child is at school.
How is the contracting and payment of the food services offered at school done?
For full-time students, adhering to the daily lunch served at school is mandatory. The value of this service is charged on the same bill as the monthly/curricular fee. For Extended Routine children (an option available to those enrolled in part-time afternoon classes), lunch on days when extracurricular activities take place is mandatory. This is charged in the same way as for full-time students.
In both cases, the adhesion to the lunch service is done together with the enrollment. However, to contract snacks (morning and/or afternoon), families must contact the catering company directly. Hiring meals for students who do not fit into any of the above-mentioned cases must be done directly with the company in charge.
Communication
How does the communication between families and Lumiar Morumbi take place?
The daily school communication happens through the application “Diário Escola”, in which families, educators, management, administrative staff and other school agents have their profiles and can exchange messages. For urgent issues, contact is made by phone and e-mail. In addition, it is always possible to schedule meetings with educators and the management team.
Relationships and Diversity
How does the school teach students about values and sense of community?
At Lumiar, besides incorporating elements of participatory management in learning, by means of the construction of projects that meet their interests and needs, the students participate in group meetings and school assemblies so that, collectively, they deliberate on the school rules and agreements. Participatory management, one of our pillars, encourages children and young people to understand their role and that of other people in a community, thus enabling the development of important skills for life in society.
How is diversity promoted at school?
Promoting and valuing diversity is a pillar of Lumiar. Each student is seen in his/her individuality and respected within his/her particularities, therefore the coexistence with people from different origins, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and disabilities is of fundamental importance to us. The work with teachers also enhances the promotion of diversity, because we often have the opportunity to receive in our community new people, with different skills, personalities and worldviews, increasing the students’ repertoire.
How does Lumiar Morumbi deal with inclusion?
Our methodology is based on a personalized look at each student, understanding that everyone has talents and challenges. Therefore, people with disabilities and students with learning difficulties are also welcomed in their needs. Before enrolling at Lumiar, the child or youngster and his or her family participate in a conversation with the school’s Educational Guidance Office so that it is possible to understand the context. This professional closely follows each student with disabilities and/or learning difficulties and draws up the IEP – Individualized Educational Plan, to be developed together with tutors and teachers. In this way, we consider what adaptations can be made to enable the full development of this student.