ASSOCIATION A PETITS PAS

Our association A Petits Pas aims : - to manage a service day nursery for young kids from 0 to 6 years old by offering regular, occasional and emergency day care facilities; - to promote activities of awakening for the children by organizing outings and various activities; - to stimulate and encourage their first community based experiences; - to welcome initiatives and offers from outside contributors, making the service an open and creative place; - to involve parents in the future of the association through regular meetings; - to welcome and integrate all families; - to value the parental function; - to manage a parents' space accessible to all while respecting their diversity; - to facilitate a space for meeting and expression; - that this space becomes a crossroads for exchanges between parents and parents/professionals; - to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between parents; - to integrate associations with parental initiatives; - to allow the creation of projects and actions on the territory. The principles of diversity and openness are fundamental to the organisation. The organisation is a local structure, welcoming a public characterized by an important social, economic and cultural mix. It also works to welcome children with disabilities, fully integrated with other children. Indeed the cultural mix inherent to the inhabitants of the city of Pau, given its geographical proximity to Spain, naturally puts our association in a position of openness to diversity. The association is located in the center of Pau, in a social housing building in the Hédas district, a district with a high level of impoverishment among families. The association is based on the principle of equality and collegiality, which is applied within each decision-making group. The A Petits Pas association also cultivates the essential concern for the protection of the environment, which it aims to pass on to the children via the many activities led in the association's garden to awaken them to nature and via home-made dishes made with produces purchased beforehand at the farmers' market. This ecological value is also shared with parents and other members of the association. A second life is given to many objects (toys, clothes for both babies and mothers with a wardrobe for clothes exchange made available), and partnerships with local actors developed in this sense. At the moment, he association welcomes an average of 20 children per half-day, and works with 36 families throughout the year. The A Petits Pas association is governed by the Executive Board and, if necessary, the Bureau. Composed of 9 permanent employees and members who are not employees of the association, elected for a period of one year by a majority of the members of the General Assembly, the Executive Board ensures the responsibility of the association. It is the guarantor of the implementation of the association's project and the pedagogical project elaborated by the employees. It operates as a collegial body and by delegation. This management and decision-making body is in charge of the association's political orientations, the implementation of the social project, and the association's local and social development. For the implementation of the projects, the Executive Board meets regularly to exchange and validate the files already dealt with by the joint committee (employees/parents). The Bureau is composed of at least three people (a president, a treasurer, a secretary), all elected by the Executive Board among its non-employed members. The President represents the Association in all civil acts. The Board has exclusive competence for all matters relating to the management and discipline of the staff in case of malfunction. The hosting of the volunteers within the association A Petits Pas is coordinated by Pistes-Solidaires, which is in charge of the external mentoring of the volunteers and the administrative follow-up.