School profile 2016-2017

SCHOOL PROFILE

2016-2017 Director General Sean Power spower@florimont.ch

Director of Teaching and Learning Boris Drahusak bdrahusak@florimont.ch Principal – Primary School & Kindergarten Paul O’Donnell podonnell@florimont.ch Deputy Head / Director of Admissions Alain Joye ajoye@florimont.ch College & Careers Counseling Sebastien Montessuit Switzerland and Europe smontessuit@florimont.ch Duncan Lally USA, Canada, UK dlally@florimont.ch

Towards a better future for all

Overview • Founded in 1905 by the Congregation of Catholic Missionaries of Saint Francois de Sales.

• Under secular management since 1995.

• A private K-12 day school, co-educational, Catholic but open to all religions.

• 1453 students from 50 different nationalities.

• Our three most common nationalities are Swiss (580), French (381) and Italian (51).

• 467 students are in kindergarten and primary, 482 students in middle school and 504 students in upper secondary school.

• We offer a balance between tradition and 21st century learning - technology in the classroom, state-of-the-art science laboratories, sports, arts and cultural facilities.

• We adhere to the core values based on St Francois de Sales’ “Orientations.”

• A moral and spiritual education which “draws inspiration from our Christian heritage, and subscribes to a vision of a church open to diversity of cultures and religions” (Orientations 3.3).

• Guidance for the future: “educating the young with an emphasis on their human and Christian responsibilities” (Orientations 3.3).

• Rooted in the French and Swiss educational systems.

• Three diploma streams are offered: • French Baccalauréat • Swiss Maturité • International Baccalaureat (IB) Diploma Programme.

• A strong combination of language learning and a bilingual curriculum.

• Accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) & Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).

• Founder member of the Geneva Association of Private Schools. A member of the Swiss Federation of Private Schools.

Challenging the Most Able

Swiss Maturité

• In Grades 11 and 12, our most talented mathematicians are selected by the University of Geneva to participate in “Athena”; a university-level Math programme including research and independent study.

• Students are regularly accepted at the most selective summer programmes in the U.S. e.g. Andover Academy, Brown, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme • Launched in 2014 • 1st graduating cohort July 2016 (18 students).

• 15 obtained the diploma • Average result: 34 points • Best IB score: 42 points • 30% scored between 38 and 42 points • 40% of our students scored 34 points or more • 67% obtained 30 points or more • 93% of all the candidates were awarded a bilingual diploma.

Grade allocation over the last three years of high school

• After four years’ of study, students sit the Maturité administered by the canton.

• The Pass mark is 4/6 and last year’s average for Florimont candidates was 4,6/6.

• Two language tracks: francophone and bilingual French/English.

• Switzerland has its own excellent, highly ranked universities with very low fees and the Swiss Maturité automatically allows a student to be admitted into any Swiss university.

• All 26 cantons, as well as the federal government, have different curricula and different exams for their academic maturités.

• An admissions officer from Harvard recently stated that in the past few years, Harvard has admitted a significant number of Maturité students.

Subjects assessed at Maturité level

Method of Assessment

Year 10th Grade Year 11

11th Grade Year 12

12th Grade Year 13

French

X

Mathematics

X End of year examination

German/Italian

X

English

X

Option

X

Art

X

Annual Grade, 10th Grade/Year 11

Chemistry* Physics*

X X

Annual Grade, 11th Grade/Year 12

Biology*

X

History*

X Annual Grade in 12th Grade/Year 13

Geography*

X

Complementary Option

X Combined Grades in 12th Grade/Year 13

Maturité Project

X

Practical Work in Sciences* Economics

Grades are not included in Maturité

Sports * The subjects taught in English for students who select the Bilingual Maturité.

2015 Statistics IB Programme

2016

34 points and above

40%

30 points and above

67%

24 points and above

100%

Pass Rate

84% Florimont (15 out of 18)

Pass rate in the Federal Maturité

81% Worldwide

Language A1 English A Language English A Literature HL & SL French A Literature HL & SL

Individuals & Societies Economics HL & SL* Geography HL & SL History HL & SL*

Language B English B HL & SL* French B HL & SL German B HL & SL* Mandarin ab initio SL* Chinese B SL* Spanish B HL & SL*

Natural Sciences Biology HL & SL Chemistry HL & SL Physics HL & SL*

Mathematics Math HL & SL Math Studies SL * SL (Standard Level), HL (Higher Level)

Arts Visual Arts HL & SL Music SL

September 2015 : 29 candidates

September

# of candidates

final # of candidates

Florimont pass rate

Suisse Romande pass rate

5 or more

4 students

7%

Between 4.5 and 4.9

13 students

45%

2015

34

29

86%

69%

Between 4 and 4.4

12 students

41%

Average for candidates

4.6/6

French Baccalauréat • Florimont prepares students for the Brevet (national exam for 9th graders) Pass Rate 2016 2015 and the French Baccalauréat.

ES 100% 100% • ”S” (Scientific, viewed as the elite option) and “ES” (Economic) streams offered.

S 100% 100% • A bilingual track is possible until 10th grade (History and Geography in English).

Total 100% 100% • Some subjects, in particular Economics and Social Sciences, are offered in Mentions 92% 84% French or English.

• Students may choose to take up to 2 (ES) or 3 (S) options in Grade 12 to achieve the highest level of academic challenge.

• The most ambitious students take all 3 options available. (Among our students, one option is frequent, 2 are occasionally taken, and three options are rare due to the heavy workload involved).

• To pass the French Baccalauréat, you must obtain a minimum overall mark of 10.

• Further distinctions of achievement (Honours) are awarded as follows: • 12/20 “Fair” • 14/20 “Good” • 16/20 “Very Good” • Florimont boasts a 100% pass rate, with 92% of students obtaining honours • 100% Honours within “S” compared to 90% nationally.

• Overall average of 14.5/20 (national average less than 12).

2014 100% 100% 100% 89%

Destinations 2011-2016 Switzerland Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Zurich (EPFZ) Hautes Etudes Commerciales (Lausanne, Genève) Hautes Etudes Commerciales St Gall Université de Genève (UNIGE) Université de Lausanne (UNIL) Europe Bocconi University ECAM (Lyon) Ecole de Médecine France Escola Superior d’Administració i Direcció d’Empreses

(ESAD) Barcelona Inalco (Paris) Integrale (Paris) Institut Catholique (Lyon) Instituto Marangoni – Paris & Milano Lazaristes (Lyon) Leiden University L’ESSEC (Paris) Maastricht University Paris Dauphiné Prépa HEC France Sainte Marie (Lyon) Sainte-Geneviève (Versailles) Sciences Po Paris Sorbonne Stanislas (Paris) Université Libre de Bruxelles USA & Canada Barnard College Boston University Brown University Carleton College Columbia University Emerson College Fordham University Georgetown University Harvard University Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) McGill University Middlebury College

Quinnipiac University Skidmore College University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) University of California Berkeley University of Chicago University of Toronto United Kingdom Cardiff University City University London Durham University Imperial College London Kings College London Lancaster University London School of Economics (LSE) Queen Mary University London Regent’s University London Royal Holloway University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University College London (UCL) University of Bath University of Bristol University of Cambridge University of Exeter University of Manchester University of Oxford University of St Andrews University of the Arts London University of Surrey University of Warwick