Corporate Social Responsibility Statement
Our commitment
At French in Normandy the satisfaction, the well-being and the safety of our students are our priorities and are at the heart of our CSR policy. Our CSR policy is the reflection of our approach as a company aware of its wider role. We have decided to do the utmost to minimise our environmental impact and to actively support our local community.
Our policies
Our CSR strategy is therefore built around
- External and internal customer satisfaction (ie students, staff, partners, suppliers and the wider community)
- Environmental performance and best practice
- Sustainable development
78% of students coming to French in Normandy tell us they will use our service again and will recommend French in Normandy to colleagues and friends. Their satisfaction and well-being is an important indicator of our success. We believe that by keeping our customers happy we retain the loyalty of current partners and win over new customers. Our reputation, demonstrated by consistently being shortlisted or winner in the Study Travel Magazine industry awards, combined with our active promotion of our school around the world, has seen the company continue to grow. French in Normandy has a proven commitment to quality: we are active members of IALC and our government accreditation (Qualité FLE) was renewed in 2012 with the maximum 3 stars in all categories audited: welcome and well-being, premises and facilities, teachers, courses and teaching standards, overall management.
Our role is to give our students the best possible experience, an exemplary language-learning course and a safe and rewarding stay in our city. Our staff are an essential part of this and they are renowned for their professionalism and client-centred approach. French in Normandy is an equal opportunity employer and our team reflects the multicultural nature of today’s France. We value the diversity our workforce in terms of ethnicity, gender and age.
The company respects French labour law, including our sector’s specific requirements (convention collective), and in particular practices equality of treatment regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. French in Normandy goes beyond legal imperatives, striving to achieve best practice in human resources, and was awarded the maximum of 3 stars for its management in our last government quality audit.
We offer ongoing pedagogical training and personal development programmes designed to ensure our staff are equipped to deal with any situation that may affect the satisfaction and well-being of our customers. (Our permanent staff are all qualified first aiders.) Employees are also made aware of the legislative requirements that govern student safety and are involved in our eco-policies. We were awarded the maximum of 3 stars in the category ‘teachers’ in the last quality audit.
Our investment in our staff recognises their importance to the success of our company. They are key to our customer satisfaction and we empower them with the tools needed to offer the best in overall service. We have put in place a three-dimensional relationship so that our corporate goals, customer appreciation and employee satisfaction are all combined.
Environmental performance
Our objectives:
- Reduce waste
- Increase the percentage of contract waste that is recycled to 90% by 2015
- Achieve ongoing reductions in total waste produced
- Reduce energy use in our school by 2015
New procedures such as online bookings will continue to reduce the need for paper in the future, further reducing wastage. We have worked closely with the owner of our premises to reduce wastage by installing improved insulation, double flush toilets, automatic taps and environmentally friendly lighting. A staff-led ‘green team’ looks at every area of our operation to help reduce energy use, waste and to promote environmentally-friendly solutions. Initiatives put in place to date include: use of recycled paper, equipping drinks machines with recycled/recyclable goblets, promotional materials minimising the use of paper and avoiding plastic and non-recyclable matter and choosing our school’s new location to ensure ease of access from all parts of the city using both the metro, bus and collective taxi network and the city’s ‘eco-bike’ scheme.
A longer-term initiative currently being investigated is the generation of solar energy to make our school self-efficient. To further reduce our carbon footprint, our marketing team is developing alternative communication strategies to reduce the impact of world travel. In addition to doing everything it can operationally, French in Normandy is also an advocate of longer-term solutions and has partnered with leaders in the sustainability community to find new and better ways to improve our environmental efforts. The CREA (Rouen Area Community Council) will be supporting our initiatives and from September 2012 will be coming into the school to guide students and staff alike in active ways and eco-gestures to reduce our energy footprint.
Sustainable development
French in Normandy is a key element in the economic success of the local community.
Our school provides direct business and employment for:
- Local shops and other businesses
- Host families, hotels and residences
- Transport companies and other suppliers
We also contribute via our students to the overall tourism spend in the city of Rouen and the region more widely. French in Normandy also promotes the city and the region as a prime destination for language learning, thus contributing directly and indirectly to their tourism appeal generally. We are an integral part of the city’s educational and tourism infrastructure.
We have multiple partnerships with local educational establishments, offering pathways for our students to degrees and vocational courses, and as an active member of Rouen City Tourist Office work together with local authorities to make Rouen one of the most commercial and dynamic tourist centres in the world.
