Gros bourg without shops or resources located on the borders of Berry and Nivernais, Le Chautay (Cher, 270 inhabitants) has been able to keep a republican emblem which prevents it from falling into the feeling of abandonment widespread in the countryside: a school. And not just any school! Sixteen children attend his unique class. The youngest, Zaelie, is 2 and 1/2 years old; the oldest, Tom and Sam, recently discovered that they were born on the same day, ten years ago. Nine kindergarten students (small and middle section), one from CP, one from CE2, three from CM1 and two from CM2 make up this areopagus with a large age gap, placed under the benevolence of a single teacher: Montaine Durand, 27 year. A month after the start of the school year, it has found its “cruising speed”essential for the smooth running of the learning days.
“A child peeing in his panties or a mum talking at the gate, and it’s five minutes late that will shift everything”
The one-room school in Chautay is the first post “permanently” attributed to this history graduate. Montaine Durand has not forgotten the emotion that overwhelmed her a year ago when she discovered her assignment: “Great apprehension. How was I going to do? »confides the one who had even considered resigning, rather than going to the puzzle. “I thought it would be silly not to try for at least a year, she delighted. I always wanted to be a school teacher, I wasn’t going to give up so soon. »
Chance of demographic variations and installations in rural areas: three additional pupils came in September to expand the staff of this school comprising two classrooms, separated by a wall – kindergartens on one side, elementary other. The teacher navigates from one to the other, according to a precise program leaving little room for improvisation. “It requires a great deal of preparation in advance because everything has to follow one another, she describes. A child peeing in his panties or a mother talking at the gate, and it’s five minutes late that will shift everything. » A word often comes to mind: “to juggle”. Two adults accompany him on a daily basis: an Atsem (territorial agent specialized in nursery schools) and a volunteer in civic service, so that “Children are never alone”.
Dictations on tape recorder
Often decried (by parents in particular), single classes are nevertheless based on a very fashionable concept: autonomy. In his oasis of Chautay, Montaine Durand has deployed a whole system of instructions and tools so that the child “do” without her. On the blackboard, labels refer to exercise books; classified by theme (conjugation, grammar, geometry, etc.), plastic boxes offer lessons to re-read; plugged into headphones, tape recorders offer dictations; installed in the corners (where dunces were once sent), plastic arts or reading workshops are available to those who have finished their exercise.
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