Our raison d'être

Les Amis du Verseau was established with a single purpose – to enhance and enrich the educational experience of students at Ecole Internationale Le Verseau.

These children are our leaders of tomorrow and it is through them and by working together with our members, that we are building brighter futures.

Contribute

Our projects

Enhanced English Curriculum

Supplementary Staff

Swimming Pool

Technology Facilitation

Libraries and Media Resources / Research Centres

Pedagogical Equipment

Entrepreneurship

Model United Nations (MUN) & Model European Parliament (MEP)

University Applications Coaching

Duke of Edinburgh International Award Programme

Career Orientation Coaching

Enhanced Dutch & German Curriculum

Green Campus Environment

To find out more about our projects and activities

About us

Testimonials

“Thanks to our involvement with Les Amis du Verseau, our children benefit from additional resources enriching activities and unique opportunities that contribute to their development. The teachers and staff work tirelessly to enable our two children to succeed and flourish in a positive and encouraging environment.”
Séverine and Yvan Lisochub - Parents, Primary and Kindergarten
“I have supported Les Amis since my children joined kindergarten in 2014. Le Verseau is a unique school, the difference is clear - the focus is not just about what the children will learn academically but as much, if not more, about who they will become.”
Peter Bell - parent, Secondary school

Benefactors and partners

Founders

van der Straten family

The founding story of the van der Straten family

Everything that we see in and around the Ecole Internationale Le Verseau has been founded through the vision of Suzanne van der Straten who was originally influenced by the concept of holistic education and the philosophies of Jiddu Krishnamurti.

 

Suzanne wanted to create an inclusive, multicultural and multi-lingual environment where children could learn to live and grow in harmony with one another in readiness to become conscientious and contributory ‘Global Citizens’.

 

With unerring support of her business-minded husband Hugues, they personally acquired the land and financed the construction of the buildings which were used to host the school when it opened its doors to 150 pupils in 1969.

 

Shortly after opening, to facilitate the growth of the school and to be able to enhance the educational experience of the children, Suzanne and Hugues created Les Amis du Verseau, a foundation to which they endowed the land and the buildings in order to ensure the continuity of their project beyond their own lifetimes.

 

It transpired that, through this foundation, additional funding would enable smaller class sizes, specialised teaching, including English with native speakers and many other enriching activities and facilities.

 

Over time, and thanks to significant additional donations made by the van der Straten family to Les Amis du Verseau, extensive campus infrastructure has been constructed to facilitate the school’s development – now supporting a community close to 1000 students with a teaching staff of over 150.

 

The enhanced curriculum and the green campus development, designed to bring the children closer to nature, were all part of Suzanne’s original vision.

 

The van der Straten family continues to make a considerable contribution to the school with Everard van der Straten and his wife Chantal Malou committing a great deal of time and energy in their roles as active Governors of the school and volunteers in continual fund raising.

 

Suzanne van der Straten died in 2021 a few years after Hugues passed in 2016. A link to a commemorative article can be found here.

Sponsors

900
Children supported
each year
10,000+
Children supported
since 1969
55
Years of building
brighter futures