Joining the Avenor Team in the summer of 2014 as their “Scout Girl” allowed me to blend my professional drive with a deep personal purpose. “Scouting and scouting around,” I discovered a community that mirrors my core philosophy: “The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it” (Lord Robert Baden-Powell). 

The practice of non-formal education, both with children and adults, is the one which gives me daily energy and creativity. I discovered this thanks to my scouting experience in 2004. Now, I have over twenty years’ experience working with children from 2 years old and with adults, leaders and other trainers. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, graduating from The National School of Political and Administrative Sciences, and a National Certification as a Trainer of Trainers. My greatest assets from my background are related to autonomy, risk play and relationships. 

In Avenor, I am learning continuously and I nourish all of my talents and experiences in a value-based community which I am thankful for. Here, I have developed myself especially through the teaching activity in the classroom next to the children, but also by being involved in the continuous professional development process, through opportunities such as: Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Teaching Certification, Project Based Learning (PBL) workshop in UK, Differentiation workshop, Effective Class Management, Forest School approach training, Early Years Conferences, Certificate in Advanced English, Making Thinking Visible by Harvard University and many others.

Furthermore, over the years, I have had the freedom and opportunity to initiate and develop projects myself that have had a real impact on the institution, such as: the Avenor Summer School, the Mentoring Programme, the outdoor learning programme for early years education, the development of teacher performance evaluation tools, the Distance Learning Programme (during the pandemic) for nursery, the integrated programme for mothers and children up to the age of 2, and many other “small steps to wide horizons”, as I like to call them.

Now, after 12 years at Avenor, what continues to motivate me within this community is the opportunity to contribute to the co-creation process at every level of the strategic plan: from supporting the progress of each individual child to exploring innovative perspectives for the school’s long-term development and sustainability.