At this time of year there are many families who are immersed in the search for a school for their children for the next academic year. It's time to rate all possible options, to participate in the open days held by the centers and to attend informative or personal meetings.
Whether your child will start school for the first time, or if you are looking for a new center to change, or you have to make the leap to the institute, this search stage is lived with a huge responsibility. You may have many doubts, or you may not really know where to start looking. We give you some keys to keep in mind to carry out your search.
Public, private, concerted or alternative
The first thing we have to know before choosing school for our children is if we want a public, private, concerted or free education. In this way we can refine the search and focus only on the centers of the type of education chosen.
Public centers They are managed by the Administration so we guarantee the free services. Each Autonomous Community sets its own criteria for admission of students and depending on the places offered it can be more or less easy to enter.
The concerted schools they are private centers that enjoy public subsidies for the education of the second cycle of Pre-school Education, Primary Education and ESO, being the rest of stages of a private nature.
In case of choosing this option, it is important that the family be clear about the extra costs derived from non-teaching services that must be paid, taking into account, in addition, that the Law establishes the voluntary nature of this fee.
In private schools The funding depends entirely on the families and the center is free to establish its own rules for student admission.
And finally, we also have the option of enrolling our children in a free or alternative education school, such as Waldorf or Montessori schools, for example. These types of schools have a specific way of working and their own educational model.
Educational project
Once the type of teaching we want for our children is centered, the next thing we should keep in mind is the educational project that follows the center, and although it is something that usually comes on the web of all schools and the first thing they explain in general meetings, there are certain aspects that I recommend asking if you do not report it. For example:
- Do you work with chips?
- Is cooperative work done?
- Do you work by corners or projects?
- What is the main teaching method and what other alternative methods support it?
- Are the rhythms of the students respected?
- Is it taught with or without books?
- How are the evaluations and how often are they made?
- What role do new technologies have in teaching students?
- How are the classrooms organized? How are students available in classrooms?
- What kind of excursions does the center do and how often do they take place? (They are cultural, recreational, activities outside or inside the center, educational talks ...) ...
On the other hand, it is also convenient to know if the same line is followed when teaching in Early Childhood Education and in the first Primary Education courses, since sometimes the change is too abrupt for the students and some children have a hard time adapting.
Other aspects that we should consider is whether the school has strong points in which it stands out. For example, there are centers that are characterized by the importance they give to sports and the training of their students in various sports practices. Others stand out for their involvement in projects related to music, public speaking, literature, the arts ...
And last but not least, it's good know the center's policy regarding duties. Do you owe yes or no? How many and how? Maybe if our son is three years old and is going to start school for the first time, it is not a topic that a priori interests us, but time passes and when we want to realize it, he will have already started a new academic cycle and the subject of "homework "will acquire special relevance.
Education in values
The center's ideology is important and logically it must be even with our way of feeling, living and educating our children. There are several aspects related to this point that we must take into account when choosing a school:
- We want a lay or religious school? And if you choose a religious school: how important is religion and how is it taught? (Well, not all centers are the same)
- How are students taught, both in theory and in practice, values such as equality, tolerance, respect or freedom, for example?
- What are the rules of coexistence of the school, or its Rules of Procedure?
- What importance is given to the emotional intelligence and how is it taught?
- Center disciplinary regime: Are punishments and sanctions used or are there other ways to correct certain behaviors? In case of resorting to punishments: how do they apply ?, how are they managed ?, are there group punishments?…
- What treatment is done of bullying? Are there prevention methods or protocols? Is he school really aware and involved with this sad reality?
- What kind of festivities are held at the school? Is Christmas celebrated or not?
Teaching of other languages
Another important factor to consider is if we want the school to be bilingual or notAnd, if so, how is the teaching of that second language carried out: do native teachers teach it? Are there "conversation classes"? Is there a possibility to study a third language? What kind of activities are Do they perform to practice languages? (cultural activities, reading workshops, celebration of foreign festivities ...) ...
Academic level of the center
For some families, another important aspect to consider is the result that the school obtains in the external tests of selectivity or any other evaluation of knowledge carried out to measure the academic level of the students, as well as their score in the rankings made by the different autonomous communities.
Teachers and support staff
It's fundamental know details about the teaching team who will attend our children in the different courses they go through:
- Your experience, involvement and trajectory
- Is it a consolidated team?
- What percentage of fixed staff does the center have?
- If you have chosen a bilingual center, it is convenient to know if the subjects in another language are taught by native teachers and if these are addressed to students always and exclusively in their language
- What method do teachers use to motivate their students?
- How does the center proceed when a teacher is missing?
Involvement of families
Another important aspect to consider is the degree of involvement of families in the education of students, as well as the way to communicate with the center to request tutorials or to inform any aspect of our child that we consider that their teachers should know.
As for the involvement of families it is good to know in advance what role is expected of parents, because there are schools where they play a more passive role and others in which the implication is fundamental, and it translates in the form of days of living with children in the classrooms, performing crafts or joint work, decorating the school in days indicated, parental participation in reading workshops or educational activities ...
Number of students per class
It is also essential know the number of students per class that the center has in the different courses (including, of course, Early Childhood Education), since the higher the ratio the quality of the personalized attention of the students will also go down.
In addition, another fact to consider is the center line, that is the number of classes you have for each academic level and if it grows or decreases as the courses progress. For example, a school with line 2 in the Second Cycle of Early Childhood Education will mean that there are two classes for each Infant course, but at the beginning of Primary Education the line may change to 3 or 4.
Individuality of each student
Knowing the operation of the school in a group way is fundamental, but we must also know in advance how the center treats the characteristics of each studentWell, although a priori we may not think that problems may arise during the academic stage, it is worth having this type of information. For example:
- Is there an adaptation period for Infant students? How do you proceed? It is flexible?
- Are children allowed to wear diapers? Is there a nap for the little ones?
- Can twins / twins go to class together?
- How do you proceed with the schooling of premature children?
- How much support staff does the center have?
- Do you have a TEA classroom?
- What resources are available for students with special educational needs?
- How do you proceed with the teaching of students with high capacities?
- How does the center proceed in case of emergency or illness of any student?
- Are students of all classes mixed at each cycle change?
School canteen
If we go to let our son eat at schoolWe must know how the school canteen works, what kind of menus they offer and what treatment they give to students with specific needs (in case of food allergies or diseases, for example).
Our children will make an important meal there, or even two in the cases in which we should also let them have breakfast or snack, so it is essential to know details such as the quality of the food and the attention of the staff in charge:
- Does the school have its own kitchen or does a catering company take care of it?
- Who makes the menus?
- Is a healthy and balanced diet carried out?
- How do you proceed with the organization of the students? Do they all eat together or in turns?
And although it is not specifically related to the dining room, it is related to nutrition, so it is worth knowing if certain festivities are celebrated with food (such as students' birthdays, end of the year, Christmas, regional holidays ...) or if there are guided menus to prepare the lunches of the little ones (for example, Monday, Fruit Day, Tuesday, Dairy Day ...).
Type of extracurriculars offered
Whether we need to leave our children out of school due to incompatibility with our work schedule, as if we decided to enroll them voluntarily it is important to know what kind of activities the school offers, both in number and quality.
In this regard, more and more schools are beginning to incorporate activities with great benefits such as chess, interpretation or robotics into their extracurricular schedules, to name just a few examples. And the greater the educational offer we can count on after school, the greater the advantages for our children.
Installations
The type of facilities as well as their quality It will be the first thing that enters our eyes when we go to visit the schools. And although in my opinion, aesthetics should not be the most decisive point when choosing a center, it should be valued because our children will spend there many hours a day, enjoying and using their facilities.
- Are they modern or old facilities? How often do you usually renew?
- Are the facilities maintained and clean?
- How are the yards? Are there separate spaces for young and old? Are there green and natural areas? What kind of swings or recreational facilities do the little ones have? How are the sports areas?
- Are the classrooms spacious and bright?
- How are common spaces, such as sports, auditorium, library, laboratories ...?
- Are there specific classrooms for computer education, music ...?
- How are the new technologies used?
Distance from school to home
Although this may be the least important point to keep in mind, we should not lose sight of it, since it is not the same to have the school a few minutes walking from home, to depend on the car or school transport.
Logically, each family will give more or less importance to each of these points, although the final decision should be taken by valuing all aspects as a whole.IStock photos
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