Learning in the countryside: reflections on a rural training centre

Expert

A remarkable site

The site of Maltot Castle comprises a wooded park covering several hectares, at the heart of which stands a remarkable 18th-century building. Historically a seigneurial and agricultural estate, it has been owned by the Ghaisne de Bourmont family since the 19th century, who grant the MFR the right to use the property. Although badly damaged in 1944, it is well known and recognised in the Caen area, so much so that many organisations and individuals hire its communal spaces for various events. The interior of the château resembles a fairly traditional school, with classrooms, a pupils’ common room, a staff room and meeting rooms for staff meetings, for example. And, given its remote location, the school has a boarding house.

A rural location makes sense for our educational community

Students joining the MFR are therefore well aware that the distance from Caen and the lack of public transport are a constraint, even though people living in the countryside are fully aware of the central role played by the car. Here, people get their driving licence at a very young age! The strategy for siting training centres in France follows traditional patterns of establishment, with accessibility as a key criterion and, ideally, proximity to an urban centre. The budgetary constraints faced by many training centres often make it impossible to target the very heart of a city. The grandes écoles in the Paris region are a good example of this! The map of MFR locations in France – nearly 500 establishments, after all – offers a quick overview of the sites that reflect the network’s raison d’être: to serve rural areas first and foremost, though without exclusion. The students who join us are part of this strategy to promote rural life by spending their school years in a rural setting too, even though, in the case of Maltot, this is a peri-urban rural area as we are located just 8 kilometres from Caen city centre.

The benefits of the site

Whilst our students have previously attended school in very sterile environments—often characterised by standardised, uninspiring buildings and tarmac playgrounds—here they discover a living and working environment that is entirely new to them, one that, in truth, bears more resemblance to a summer camp than a school. Indeed, summer camps are held on the site during the summer holidays. The windows of the classrooms all offer a view of the park, where deer are frequently seen crossing. The changing of the seasons is particularly noticeable through the cyclical changes in the vegetation. Lunch breaks are spent in the park, where students are free to roam, including in areas where a stream flows below. When families come to visit the MFR, particularly during open days, a ‘wow’ factor is frequently evident. For young people who have sometimes had somewhat turbulent school careers, the site’s rural, green and soothing setting is a key factor. The benefits of biophilia are well established, and the site is particularly well-suited in this regard.

Towards an experiential approach

Let us not be naive, however: whilst the young people we welcome certainly appreciate the natural surroundings, they also require services, as they are on site from morning to night, in a sort of self-contained environment. That is why we are committed to improving their experience of their training centre. The basement areas of the château, for example, have been redesigned and refurbished to create a pleasant communal space. The high number of visitors suggests it has become a real hub. We are at an advanced stage of planning for the creation of an innovative classroom, where learning environments will be varied. Beyond an attractive overall design and a modernised image for our institution, the aim is to enable younger generations to learn in new ways. Events take place throughout the year, whether it’s the Halloween party (in a real castle – the students love it), the Christmas market, or even the organisation of an electronic music festival in the park and the gymnasium. In his reflections, the urban philosopher Thierry Paquot acknowledges that the rural no longer exists in France because our lifestyles are linked, directly or indirectly, to the urban environment. It is precisely this balance that we aim to achieve at the MFR, by preserving our inherent rural identity whilst welcoming students from urban areas. The appeal of our location alone is not enough; we must bring it to life through a balance between tradition—which our educational community values—and modernity, which is essential to our appeal.

Release date: June 2026