FAQS
GENERAL
As passionate education professionals, our goal is to provide a loving and respectful learning space where the child grows and develops in all his/her dimensions in a happy way.
Yes, with the code 07015689. For us it is important to be part of the approved schools that offer pedagogical innovation plans.
-Second cycle of Infantile Education (3-6 years old)
-Primary school (6-12 years)
-ESO (12-16 years old). At the moment we have up to 2nd grade and we will grow by calendar years. Next year we will have 3rd grade and in 2023-2024 4th grade.
-High School and Formative Cycles (16-18 years old). As we complete ESO, we will develop different formative cycles and baccalaureate.
TEACHERS / ACCOMPANYING TEACHERS
An Arimunani teacher is a person passionate about the care and accompaniment of each of their students, oriented to make each one see their potential, knowing them from all aspects. They are concerned about learning, teamwork, personal growth and open to change. In Arimunani we call them “companions”.
They have a bachelor’s degree, usually in teaching and active non-directive pedagogies, and respectful education. They are people with an attitude of commitment and dedication to the children. They are of great human quality, vocational, eager to grow, learn and train constantly. Every Tuesday we have continuous training in the school.
LEARNING
In an active school, the students are the protagonists of their own learning. They decide, together with their teachers who guide them, the way and the moment to approach the content of the curriculum.
A respectful school prioritizes the learning pace of each child, attending to his or her real needs, not his or her wishes. At the same time, the development of the students is achieved through understanding and negotiation, avoiding punishment, rewards, threats and other dynamics that generate distance and distrust in the learning bond.
The maximum ratio is 12.5 students of the same age per teaching companion.
In order to respect the rhythm of each child, we need time from the caregivers so that they can attend to them and observe them in particular. This time arises from empowering the autonomy of the students themselves.
In an experiential way. From experience. Students become the protagonists of their own learning through what we call “assemblies”, “workshops”, “environments” and “projects”.
It is a common space formed by students of the same school year where they organize the day and choose the workshops, environments or projects they wish to attend and participate in. There are two assemblies each day. One early in the morning (duration 30-45 min), and the other at the end of the day (duration 15 min).
It is also a space where they can express their opinions and respect those of others. It encourages democratic decision-making and conflict management.
It is a space to talk about current events, to encourage critical thinking, to promote empathy, tolerance and belonging to the group.
A workshop is an activity led by a facilitator to show and work on content. It is given in the language of the companion regardless of which one it is (English, Spanish or Catalan). Workshops are given in curricular areas (Mathematics, English, Geography…), as well as in non-curricular areas (Theatre carpentery, Mindfulness, etc.).
Students choose from a daily programme of workshops. In Infants, they can choose 1 workshop per day. In Primary and Secondary, they can choose between 2 and 4 daily workshops.
An environment is a work space. An environment is inside a physical classroom and, in it, there are many materials grouped by areas. The student can see the materials at all times and choose what he/she wants to work on. The companions are there to help him/her if necessary. In addition to all the materials to work with, provocations and presentations are created to motivate certain learning, thus creating a living space for growth and learning.
A project is a learning initiative of the children themselves. Sometimes they are proposed by the accompanying children. The initiative can be any topic that interests them. With this initiative, they have to elaborate a temporary planning and a final or collective presentation. Together with the companions, they work so that the chosen theme goes through different points of the academic curriculum.
All the academic content has a correlation with an environment material, a workshop, a project or other dynamics. The companion can use any of them to guide him/her.
In addition, we have created software to be able to record in real time any learning or significant change in the child’s development, so that any progress is known by everyone immediately. This makes it easier to propose one dynamic or another.
Emotions, as well as physical or academic needs, are part of the school at all times. The teachers are trained to help the children to manage them according to their needs.
In addition, at certain times, such as assemblies and some workshops, we teach and work on different ways of dealing with them.
Since we are a trilingual school, we work so that there is immersion in the three languages. Each assembly consists of two companions. One is always the referent for English while the other is the referent for Catalan or Spanish.
The language that does not have a referent, we work on through workshops or, if the companion is proficient in both, we divide the school year so that there is immersion in both.
In addition to working on the languages academically, everything that each referent does (assemblies, workshops, environments, etc.) is done in his/her referent language, which allows the children to be continuously handling the three languages.
We don´t use textbooks as such, as we help the children to build the information they need, through multiple means, whether written, technological or experimental.
No, we have always thought that the school day should be the academic work day. Just as any adult needs to clear his or her mind and rest after a professional day, so do children. Our goal is to make the time they spend at school as efficient as possible.
Only in some specific cases and in secondary school, we propose to the families to work at home on some particular aspects.
Children have their own learning rhythms and periods of interest in certain areas. We accompany these interests while observing from the teacher’s perspective what the child is acquiring.
When interest is at its peak, we encourage it without losing sight of the fact that the other areas will have to be worked on at other times.
First of all, we must keep in mind that, naturally, the child has an innate curiosity and interest in learning. When this is not happening, we have to find out why. So, while adapting the schedule to each need, we work with the whole team and the family to see the causes and possible solutions.
In our opinion, much more.
At an academic level, we work with the same contents as any approved school, as it is the requirement of the Conselleria d’Educació. However, in addition to that, we think that children should not only learn contents or competences. We think that we must prepare them for life. And preparing them for life means, for us, to strengthen their self-esteem, their own self-knowledge, the management of their emotions, autonomy, responsibility, cooperative work, empathy, respect for the environment and for those around them, among many other things.
Without a doubt. We would say that they are very prepared. We work so that the child who want to, can.
From an early age we work on autonomy, self-knowledge and responsibility (among many other things). The objective is that, first of all, they know what they want to do. When a child knows what he/she wants to do and has worked on responsibility, it will be easier for him/her to work towards it.
EVALUATION
More than evaluating, what we do is to make sure that they have acquired the academic content.
In this way, “our grades” on a content go from “not acquired”, through “in the process of acquisition”, to “acquired”. On a quarterly basis, they are reflected in a progress report that is given to the families.
There are two types depending on the quarter. One is written by the companions and the other is an academic record.
In the first case, all the adults who work with the child write about the child’s development in each of the areas. It is an extensive and very personalized report.
In the second case, all the academic contents of the cycle (x courses) in which the child is in are detailed.
SAFETY AND CARE
A conflict is any situation in which two or more members of the educational community enter into any kind of discord.
Conflicts are part of life. They are just another learning process. When they occur, we try to give tools to manage them with a healing purpose for both parties.
The way we deal with them is respectful. In this way, each one can see how the other has felt and can express the need he/she has at that moment. In this way, we approach them in a peaceful and regenerative way that strengthens bonds and coexistence.
FAMILIES
Our way of understanding a school is based on trust, understanding and joint work between three participants: the family, the child and the school.
The school exists because families trust it to bring their children. And the school exists to satisfy a need of families and society. In this way, it is necessary that between all the parts there is a real trust, communication and work.
With this, the children learn about a healthy and coherent system, which facilitates the integration of norms, learning, etc.
We propose three tutorials with the companions throughout the course, one per trimester. In this way, we try to ensure that there is a real contact and joint work in the development of the child in all dimensions. In addition to the tutorials, families can communicate via e-mail with the caregivers.
We always say that our door is open to come and express any concern. We are not perfect and we understand that we can improve on many things. We listen, reflect, dialogue and give answers to all questions.
In doing so, we try to avoid gossip, gossip, etc., which is so harmful to schools, when what is really important is to solve problems.
We maintain a fluid communication via e-mail with all the aspects that are taking place in the school.
In addition, every month, we hold a family forum (in person or via videoconference) where the school management presents topics of general interest and families participate.
Once a month, we hold workshops on family upbringing so that families can learn more about respectful education in detail and resolve doubts about their own processes.
In the same way, in secondary school, we hold workshops on affective-sexual education to be able to accompany the children’s process.
