South-East region
“Music in the Service of a
Collaborative, Joyful, and Open School”:
Cooperation, Trust, and Creativity
Throughout the 2024–2025 school year, the Notre-Dame de Lourdes School of Apprentis d’Auteuil in Civrieux-d’Azergues (69) made music a central theme for all of its students. All students received weekly music instruction, and those who volunteered joined a choir. A total of 197 students, from preschool through fifth grade, participated in this project under the guidance of Florent Deboeuf, a schoolteacher, and Marina Paglieri, a music instructor.
Project supported by the Fondation Foujita.
Harmony and Inclusion: A pupils-centered project
At Notre-Dame de Lourdes School, students have a wide range of cognitive profiles, including many children with special educational needs: autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, learning disabilities, giftedness, and more. The project aims to strengthen cooperation, cognitive functions, self-confidence, and well–being for everyone, in order to support the success of all students, particularly the most vulnerable ones.
Music and choral singing workshops are powerful tools for this purpose. By fostering self-expression, active listening, and emotional regulation, they help reduce stress and anxiety, while helping students reconnect with school and rediscover the joy of learning.
These workshops are particularly relevant to the school’s commitment to the ECHO* educational innovation program, which aims to prevent the most disadvantaged students from failing at school.
Putting young people first
All the pupils – 3 preschool classes and 5 elementary school classes – participated each week in music workshops led by Marina Paglieri. These sessions, which were part of the regular schedule, provided a regular opportunity for the children to come together, lasting 45 minutes for the preschoolers and 1 hour for the elementary school students.
Over the course of the sessions, the children discovered a wide variety of instruments—from the violin to percussion to the piano—played “real” instruments, experimented with rhythmic and physical play, and also learned to coordinate their movements and voices.
Each cycle culminated in the creation of an original performance combining songs, texts, rhythmic games, choreography, and collective storytelling. These performances took place at the school and in the village community hall, under professional conditions, notably with sound provided by Radio Val d’Azergues and enhanced musical accompaniment thanks to the presence of a pianist and the support of the Ensemble de Joux association.
“Another very rewarding year spent with these students. I draw inspiration from them and strive to create performances that reflect who they are. The students have an extraordinary ability to master all kinds of skills, and they’ve truly grasped the spirit of solidarity that music embodies. Meeting a shy student—whether they face social challenges or have a learning disability—and seeing the smile on their face and the pride in their eyes when I find a role that suits them and they take it on during a performance in front of an audience is one of the greatest joys I experience as a teacher.”
With Florent Deboeuf, the children also worked on building self-confidence through choral singing: by learning to project their voices, they gained confidence and became more aware of their abilities.
This year, the program centered on the theme of dreams. After several weeks of rehearsals held on Mondays during lunch break, the 20 volunteer students from CE2, CM1, and CM2 gave a concert at the village community hall, accompanied on guitar by their teacher.
The various public performances held at the school and in the village community center throughout the school year provided an opportunity to showcase the children and their work to a wide audience.
These group music and singing workshops allowed the children to:
- Develop their memory, attention, and inhibitory control through rhythmic activities, active listening, and coordination between voice and movement
- Enhance their creativity by coming up with stories, choreography, and staging for the performances
- Build their self-confidence by speaking in front of others, singing solo or in a group, and performing in front of an audience
- Focus on cooperation, active listening, and coordination, particularly during the collaborative creation of performances and choral work
- Learn to manage their stress and emotions through music and the supportive atmosphere of the sessions
Flip through the booklet to see photos of the project!
