Hosting local school and community in Le Sample's garden
Every Tuesday for the past few months, a CM class from Bagnolet has been going outside to the Sample garden for a class. A practice still rare enough in third places to be noticed.
On this Tuesday morning in January, some twenty CM1 children from Bagnolet are having a snowball fight in the Sample garden. It was a joyful and somewhat noisy morning at school, which will surely be remembered for a long time to come.
For once, these young people from Bagnolet were in a privileged position compared to other children from the Paris region, who regretted not having the right to touch the snow in their playground. That's because, since last autumn, Yacine Bouazni, the teacher of a CM1-CM2 class at the Langevin public school, has launched an “outdoor classroom”. For half a day a week, he teaches in an outdoor space close to his school, in this case the 2,000m2 outdoor space of this cultural third-place set up in Bagnolet in 2021, a stone's throw from the ring road.
Le Sample is a third-space with a cultural vocation, born on the site of the former Publison workshops in Bagnolet, made available by SOPIC. Le Sample is home to more than 70 residents from the cultural and creative fields, as well as around 15 associations that use the space for a variety of activities (brass band, yoga, dance, theatre rehearsals, meetings, training courses, etc.) and offers a wide range of artistic and cultural programming.
The association La Fabrique des communs pédagogiques - Fabpeda helped facilitate this project, in support of Le Sample. The story begins in late 2021. Benjamin Gentils is invited to talk about third places and citizenship at the PAM Festival. The man who co-founded the Fabpeda association calls attention to the fact that, in his view, “a wasteland that provides artists with cheap premises is all well and good, but it's not enough, especially if you set up in the 93. Third-party venues also have a responsibility to work with local residents, especially children. So that the host neighborhood can also benefit from their presence".
Desire and patience: the story of a convergence of different actors
Gigi Bartoli, soon to be hired by Le Sample to work on the integration of the “tiers-lieux” into the local area and on educational issues, began meeting with local education players, in liaison with Fabpeda: REP coordinators, school principals, educational advisors, social centers... Le Sample then put out a call to its residents, to see who would like to work with children. Fifteen or so came to the first meeting: the subject made a lot of sense. At the same time, as the months went by, the “Classe dehors” program launched in 2021 developed. The idea of offering lE Sample's spaces to host outdoor classes was germinating.
But how could a concert venue also be considered a suitable space for children during the week? What's more, although the outdoor space is vast, it doesn't resemble a lush garden but rather a wasteland, sometimes relatively muddy despite the wood shavings on the ground.
It took a good year and a half for the first class to move in. First of all, we had to gain the trust of the French education authorities and get them on board with the idea of this experiment, so that the project could finally take root in a calm and stable manner. In May 2023, after the Sample hosted a seminar for the Seine Saint-Denis sustainable development education advisors, REP coordinator Chloé Besson put out a call for volunteers from Bagnolet teachers who would like to take their class outside. Yacine responds.
Why take your pupils to Sample? Parc des Guilands is much larger, greener and equidistant from the school. However, even though the teacher already went there with his class for sports sessions, he never ventured into the wooded area, not imagining how to teach there. It's not enough to have a natural environment close to the school. You have to feel safe there.
The construction of an outdoor amphitheater (see video below), designed by two residents and created during a participative worksite, also helped. The wooden structure has since become a visual landmark for children, where they can gather, put down their belongings, or settle down comfortably to do math outside. Third places can play a key role in supporting the growth of this practice, by providing a safe framework for the first steps. This is particularly important in urban areas and in the REP, where nature is often less abundant.
The aim is to enable children in these neighborhoods to reconnect with nature, and benefit from all the proven beneficial effects of regular outdoor time, notably for their physical development, mental well-being and academic success. In mid-January, Yacine's class went on a snow trip, equipped with air pollution measurement kits. They will use them in the mountains and on their return to Bagnolet, every week. This will not only help develop their environmental awareness, but also their critical thinking skills and, why not, their participation in the development of their city.
A video about the construction of the Amphitheater in Le Sample's Garden
