The Primary School Program (PEP), evolution in Infant Education and Primary

The International Baccalaureate is a non-profit foundation that for decades offers what is considered the best learning system and the most effective methodology for the training of students. For five years, the center has been an IB World School following the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, which has given excellent results. Now, the School wants to implement this methodology at all levels, starting this year with the PEP in Ed. Infantil and Ed. Primaria, and launching the next course the Intermediate Years Program (PAI) in ESO courses. It is a new model that represents an evolution in the way of teaching, going from thematic to conceptual contents, and in which the student becomes the protagonist of his education, said Javier Martínez. In order to teach these programs, our teachers have undergone an exhaustive training process and obtained the mandatory accreditations, thus guaranteeing the correct monitoring of this new methodology.

The PYP coordinator explained the differences between this program and traditional teaching, based on master classes and memorization. In the PYP, it is the student who builds their own learning, which guarantees a greater understanding of the subject and increases the depth of knowledge reached by the students. Likewise, this methodology facilitates working on the attributes of the Student Profile of the School, allowing to train young inquirers, informed and educated, thinkers, good communicators, whole, open-minded, supportive, bold, balanced and reflective.

The PEP follows a transdisciplinary model, in which the same subject (unit of inquiry) is approached from different points of view in different subjects, diluting the barriers between them. The teacher organizes the dynamics of the classroom and guides the students in their search for knowledge. Each course consists of six units of inquiry that last between five and six weeks.

In subjects that do not give rise to this transdisciplinary work, such as Mathematics, the School has been working for years with a method that follows this same educational line: EntusiasMat. Through games and materials that students can manipulate, EntusiasMat turns an abstract subject such as Mathematics into something concrete, to which children see a usefulness, explained the head of studies of Educational Innovation, Monica Rodríguez Corominas. The results, which we are already seeing, are spectacular.

The meeting also addressed the evolution promoted in the Bilingual Program, of which the School is a pioneer in the region since 2008. Since the methodology changes, this program also has to do it to guarantee its perfect adaptation to the training of the students. The teaching load in English is still very important, occupying a high percentage of the hours in Children's Ed, 34% of 1º to 3º of Ed. Primaria, 40% in 4º and 37% in 5º and 6º.

Finally, our academic director explained to the families their fundamental role within this new methodological framework, since they are the ones that must consolidate the skills acquired in the classroom outside the School. Among other aspects, he encouraged parents to talk with children about any topic, encouraging their curiosity and the desire to find answers to their own questions. In addition, she stressed the importance of letting children do the tasks their teachers ask them to do and, as a last request, Carmen Bueno urged parents to encourage their children to read, without being satisfied with a "I do not like" .

Precisely in this 'not satisfied' is the key to this change of model, because in the College San Fernando We do not settle for the search for the best education for our students, just as they do not have to settle for the achievement of their own knowledge.