PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
Pre-School Education
Experience and innovation in a family atmosphere.
Early Childhood Education in Urdaneta is taught in three centres which, as they are located in different locations, make contact with the school more accessible to families:
El Carmen-Urdaneta School
It houses 2-year-old classrooms. At the end, his students join the 3-year-old classrooms of Urdaneta-Loiu.
San José-Urdaneta School
Classrooms for 2, 3, 4 and 5 year olds. The students, at the end, join the 1st year of Primary in Urdaneta-Loiu.
Andrés de Urdaneta School
It educates students aged 2, 3, 4 and 5, who continue later in Primary.
Everything you need to know
Working in a coordinated way in the three centers, we intend to provide our students from their school beginnings with a comprehensive education and balance, so that they can safely face future challenges. In the same way, we emphasize respect for rules and towards people, all of which are fundamental values in their personal development.
Our activity takes place in a family atmosphere and we try to ensure that all our students come to school in high spirits.
Language project
We work in a trilingual environment (Basque, English, Spanish) with a reference teacher for each language and guiding teaching from a communicative approach. The first two languages are used as a vehicle for the acquisition of other learning.
In the teaching of English we use the Jolly Phonics method, which uses the “synthetic phonics” system to teach sounds in a multisensory, fun and attractive way so that children learn to read and write using the sound of the letters. We complement the learning of this language with native Speaking Assistants in the 4 and 5 year old classrooms.
In the case of Spanish, we work on the correction of what is, for the vast majority of our students, their family language and emotional education.
Emotional education
We are aware that generating emotional security in our students and enhancing their self-esteem is essential for their well-being and also for the effective acquisition of learning. For this reason, we dedicate one hour a week to the identification and proper management of these emotions through stories, theaters and simulation of situations.
Learning to read and write
From the moment our students start nursery school, we care about providing them with passive vocabulary in Basque to facilitate the acquisition of reading and writing and increase their competence in this language, not “mother” language.
In the same way, we cater to the different learning styles from the combination of different methods (global, syllabic and phonetic) with extensive visual and gestural support. Always with a playful-dynamic approach and using digital tools as a resource.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics)
The Science and Technology project, implemented throughout the school, has already been in the stage for several years. It is developed at this level through the use of iPads, initiation to programming and the handling of simple robots, early machines, creativity workshops/experiments in the experience classroom and the school garden. Always in a playful and meaningful way, so that children perceive its meaning.
In the Mathematics Workshop we provoke logical-mathematical reasoning (generating and testing hypotheses) and problem-solving habits (trial and error initially, and based on deduction, later) through highly planned visual and manipulative activities.
All Early Childhood Education classrooms have a tactile digital whiteboard, a resource widely used both for presentation (power points, resources on YouTube, etc.) and for the interaction of students with educational games.
Enseñanza por proyectos
Our learning system favours the motivation of students based on their experience and participation in projects related to their areas of interest. Its realization allows us to delve into different areas of knowledge, integrate languages, incorporate ICT resources as information facilitators and work with different methodological approaches.
All the projects conclude with an activity-synthesis, in which the students of each level jointly make a mind map with the help of the teachers. Using images, they share and give meaning to everything they have learned.
Attention to diversity
Our Guidance Department, specific for this level, monitors the evolution and maturity of the students to detect early the difficulties they may present.
We also have split classrooms that make it easier for us to work with a small number of students in order to facilitate more individualized attention and a more dynamic pedagogical work.
We also have reinforcement classrooms, in which students who require support in certain areas are attended to individually or in very small groups by specialized personnel from our department.
Students with special educational needs are attended by Therapeutic Pedagogy teachers and Educational Support Specialists.
Physical activity and sport
We consider the physical development of students from the earliest ages to be essential.
In the psychomotor skills sessions we work following the Aucouturier approach, taking as a starting point the body, play and movement in interaction with the environment. We use this discipline to mature neurological functions and cognitive processes, helping them to manage socio-affective interactions and emotional states from a non-intrusive role of the adult.
Likewise, from the age of 3, our students start swimming by attending the swimming pool every two weeks, where they are attended by specific monitors.
Our Infant students can also sign up for txikirrhythm classes to work on their motor development in a playful way
Life in Infant
The school outings, as part of our projects, are aimed at consolidating the learning generated in the classroom (Road Education Circuit, Astronomy Classroom, El Karpín, Baserri Eskola, etc.).
On the other hand, theatrical performances contracted to external companies and represented in the same school deal with transversal values and are used as support for languages.
We also enjoy festive days that we take advantage of to work on coexistence, language and participation. On these days (Olentzero Eguna, Euskal Eguna, Carnivals, St. Patrick’s Day, etc.) the students make us participants in their illusion and innocence.
Some of the most special days of the school year are the school holidays. Days of games, attractions, rehearsals and the costume parade in which the whole school participates, with emotion.
Extracurricular
Academic education is complemented by extracurricular activities adapted to their age and in different languages, both artistic and cultural as well as sports:
- Languages
- Baking workshop in English
- Dramatic expression
- Musical initiation
- Painting
- Crafts
- Txikirrhythm
Campamentos de verano
During the month of July we organize the SummerCamp, a camp in English specially designed for Early Childhood Education students.
Once classes are over, many families opt for the camp as an ideal solution for their children to continue with a more relaxed routine, given the dates, and aimed at consolidating habits and establishing the language.