According to the Brussels-Mobility there are more than 4800 electric scooters in the streets of Brussels. The presence of these shared-scooters has created complications for the traffic in the city in general. But it has also raised some safety issues.

The municipality of Uccle has taken measures to regulate the operation of these services. They have even sent a notice to Lime company.

If scooters are found parked covering the signs for the visually impaired on the streets,  the company will receive administrative penalties.

The post Uccle to impose sanctions on electric-scooters’ users and operators appeared first on Brussels Express.

In a multicultural city like Brussels, the need for an international and wide-angle view on education has become fundamental. In a globalized and ever-changing world, what are the methodologies that are being used to challenge and stimulate a child’s mind? This month Brussels Express visited BEPS International School to speak about the educational trends and methods with Mrs. Pascale Hertay, the school’s director.

“We want to prepare our students for the challenges of today, but also for the ones of tomorrow’s world,” Mrs. Hertay said. “We seek to respond to the major findings on how the brain works. We want to constantly stimulate our students’ minds. In our school teachers act as facilitators. Their role has become that of helping the students find the right tools, creating the proper environment to learn.”

“The students are the F1 drivers,” said Tim Gill, Assistant Principal Secondary School. “They are the ones behind the steering wheel. We are giving them advice all the time, yes, but they are the ones who take action. That’s I think a good metaphor.”

In the past, the focus was on the delivery of knowledge. A teacher would stand in front of the class and lecture, write on the board, then lecture some more. Students took notes. They had to memorize facts and figures, anatomical names and functions, formulas and coefficients, the knowledge of which would be later tested. But did the students understand how to use such knowledge?

“Here we want them to learn how to think,” said Mrs. Hertay. “We give a lot of importance to the act of reflection. Students need to ask themselves, ‘How am I learning this? What is the purpose? What is my next step?’”

An effective teacher or mentor will not give a student the answer, but the ability to ask the right question.

“They become confident learners,” said Andrew Mitchell, Curriculum Coordinator Secondary School. “No matter what the context is, what the problem is, they will find a way to solve it. That’s what we call, taking ownership of your own learning.”

BEPS International school is located in a quiet neighborhood, not far from the Bois de La Cambre. BEPS has recently expanded from Early Years and Primary levels, and now has a Secondary school as well.

“It all came from the parents of our primary school students,” said Mrs. Hertay. “Many of them would say, ’We’re having trouble finding a secondary school that combines a rigorous learning approach with BEPS’ family atmosphere.”

BEPS is a candidate for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and intends to complete authorisation as an IB World School next academic year. The IB programmes provide an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education and is recognized by many universities worldwide.

“In our secondary program, each student is accompanied in their learning by a mentor,” continued Mrs. Hertay. “They provide counsel to the students, help them to plan and organise. They provide emotional support where appropriate, as well. We understand these adolescent years are crucial for them.”

When asked about what made BEPS’ teachers different, Mr. Gill said: “The teachers work hard, planning to make learning relevant, encouraging individual students to explore both how they learn and what they learn. Enthusiasm and good rapport build bridges for creativity, positive action and solid achievements, valuing the cultural differences that enrich the atmosphere of the school.”

To learn more about BEPS International School either visit their website or contact them at info@beps.com. For more information about the MYP and the International Baccalaureate please visit.

The post Educational methods in Brussels – An interview with BEPS International School’s director and Secondary team appeared first on Brussels Express.

Sunken lanes or hollow ways exist all over the world: in the bocage of western France, the weald of southern England and the West Country, as well as in Germany, Spain, Syria and the USA. Some are the result of erosion by weather, water and frequent use. Others were dug, it’s believed, to separate estates or corral animals.

Where these paths are paved, there is usually not much further hollowing. Still, the Crabbegat needs looking after. Uccle Communal Council allocated €870,000 in early 2018 for works on the path’s guttering, embankments and walls, but the project has so far stalled. Contractors, required to operate without heavy machinery and protect trees and planting, have been unable to put in a suitable bid for the work and local groups disagree on the right approach.

There’s a special relationship between the Belgians and sunken lanes. In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo recounted Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo where the little corporal failed to see ‘a hollow way, sometimes a dozen feet in depth, and whose banks, being too steep, crumbled away here and there, particularly in winter, under driving rains’. He supposedly sent his poor troops and horses plunging into it, as depicted in Stanley Berkeley’s painting The Sunken Road of Ohain, below. Wellington, on the other hand, had done his homework about the terrain a year earlier.

But back to Uccle. In the shadows of beeches, le Chemin du Crabbegat/Crabbegatweg (Crabhole Lane) boasts an unusual variety of wildlife thanks to low light and rich soil. One rumour says the name crabhole refers to the oceanic fossils once found there. For 200 metres, banks rise at your sides, surrounding you with gnarled roots, ivy and leaves, and you can make believe you’re a scullery maid on an errand, about to encounter one of the local gentry on his steed. If you like.

Extend the walk as desired, perhaps first taking in Bois de Cambre, and the observatory. Notice also, on the corner of Crabbegat and Fre, the Vieux Cornet building and its 16th century tower. One of Uccle’s oldest edifices, a hunting horn on its façade hints at its history: once where hunting infractions were judged, it became a guingette, a gallery space and now a private residence.

The post Brussels Hidden Gems: Visit the Crabbegat While You Can appeared first on Brussels Express.

Thanks to SB Espoir, every Saturday and Sunday, unaccompanied minors and young refugees living in the centres can meet and interact with SB Volunteers, who come from a variety of different backgrounds, some being students, others being from the EU institutions and others working in the corporate world. This allows them to exchange their experiences and be exposed to different lifestyles.

Thanks to the partnerships developed, SB OverSeas has been able to offer as part of this project a variety of interesting and unique workshops,  such as chocolate-making , bicycle repairing and a photography workshop given by a professional photographer on the surroundings of the city. Throughout these experiences in the hosting community, young people learn not only about their new home, but they also have the opportunity to discover their interests and passions. All of which is an essential part of their ownself-development.

Since 2016, this project has shown positive results with regard to the relationships between the youth and SB Volunteers. Sometimes the youngsters living in the centres do not know each other, do not know their names or nationalities, their stories. In this way, the activities of SB Espoir is crucial as it encourages participation amongst the youth ultimately boosting the sense of solidarity and community. Every weekend, SB OverSeas aims to not only foster integration and self-confidence, but also to provide a feeling of  ‘home’ to those young people  who may feel alone and remind them that they are not!

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