Here, we come because we are curious, creative, and want to learn to think differently.
À Saint Gerald of Aurillac, the start of the school year is much more than just a return to the classroom. It is the beginning of a year made of new encounters, experiences, projects, and openness.
Because our training programs are focused on creation, innovation, culture, and the professions of tomorrow, we wanted these first few weeks to immediately set the tone: stepping outside the box, discovering one's environment, building connections, experimenting, and opening up to new horizons.
High school students, university students, and apprentices thus experienced various integration activities, each in their own way, but with the same shared desire: Start the year right, together.
Take the time to meet each other
For our students in the vocational high school, The back-to-school season kicked off in the great outdoors. The entire vocational high school set off on foot for a day around Aurillac. After a morning of walking, students and teachers gathered in Saint-Jean-de-Dône for a large group picnic. Conversations, smiles, and a few jokes along the way: a simple, warm day to get to know each other differently.
On the side of technical high school, the team spirit was also present with a orienteering at Hélitas Park. Observe, orient oneself, cooperate: another way to find one's bearings and start the year collectively.
Students are finding their bearings… in Saint Géraud and Aurillac
Students in BTS Communicationand DNMADe also enjoyed some orientation time. Heading to Rénac for a shared group picnic, chatting with the teachers, and getting to know the other students. These moments help newcomers find their place more quickly and allow the different class years to start building connections.
Joining Saint Géraud also means arriving in a student city. For students from DNMADe, the start of the academic year thus continued with an introduction to the services that can support them throughout the year: practical information, useful contacts, living spaces, and the discovery of the library, which can become both a workspace and a place to take a breather for a few moments, particularly in the comic book section.
With more than 1,650 students, Aurillac has a genuine student life, and the Agglomeration wished to welcome young people and joyfully plunge them into the heart of their new city with the Student meeting. On Tuesday, time for fun and sports challenges, with a lot of energy and imagination. Special mention to our students from Saint Géraud who won the best costume prize kudos to them!
The next day, a change of atmosphere: giant truffade, DJ and street theater show.
Beyond the festive moment, these gatherings allow new students to discover what also makes Aurillac so rich: a human-scale yet open, cultural, and lively city where one can study, create, meet, and experiment. This cultural openness fully echoes what we wish to develop at Saint Géraud: educating young people who are curious about the world around them and capable of feeding their creativity through diverse encounters and experiences.
Work-study students discover their professional environment
For our students in Bachelor Responsible Communication and Master's degree Artistic Director for visual communication projects in alternation, the back-to-school season opened directly into the corporate world.
They were welcomed by Osmosis , communication agency and integrated printing shop in Aurillac, to discover its new facilities and their work environment.
A particularly symbolic first immersion for students who, throughout their training, will navigate between coursework, projects, and corporate experience. The day then continued in a more convivial setting, around a shared meal to take the time to get to know each other.
A start to the school year that sets the tone
These days are ultimately just a first glimpse of what will bring Saint Géraud to life throughout the year.
Projects, meetings with professionals, culture, experiments, new practices, innovation, openings locally and internationally… so many opportunities to observe, question, create and learn differently.
Our ambition remains the same: to support each young person in their journey, help them develop their creativity and autonomy, and prepare them to thrive in today's professions as well as those that will emerge tomorrow.
So welcome to our new pupils, students and work-study trainees, and a great year to all!