Finding Inner Peace at LCIS

by Alison Piguet, Head of Primary

This year, students and teachers took the opportunity to focus on what 'peace' means to them and, in particular, to understand what it means for each of us to experience 'inner peace'. We received a personal message from Mark Milton, founder of Education 4 Peace, who asked us to think about and ask ourselves, 'What does peace mean to me?'.

At the same time, Mark notes that to understand and support others, we must start by building our inner peace.

This concept is at the heart of what La Côte International School Aubonnne strives to do. We support this journey of recognising and developing inner peace through our Pastoral Care programme, where we encourage our students to become increasingly attuned to their bodies and feelings. The 'Zones of Regulation', which we refer to daily, provide a framework through which we can acknowledge our feelings and emotions in real-time - in the moment, which allows us to understand them better and learn to be curious about them.

At LCIS, our Mindfulness programme, the yoga clubs, the GratiTuesday initiative and 5-finger breathing activities all support this work. Our 'Respect Rules!' code of conduct places compassion, empathy and thoughtfulness at the forefront of our collective and individual consciousness. As Mark Milton acknowledges, 'It's our life's journey – it's not something that we learn once, and it's finished.'