PUPILS

SCHOOL CALENDAR 2002/2003

The teaching work done depends specifically on the Academic Director, whose task is to direct and coordinate education activities in accordance with legislation in force.

The Academic director is assisted by the Head of Studies, who, in cooperation with the Coordinators for each Education Stage, coordinates the performance of teachers and students’ academic, guidance and complementary activities in line with the School’s Education Project, Syllabus Projects, Annual General Programme, Training Plan and Tutorial Action Plan.

The Coordinators for each Education stage handle the coordination both of staff and of academic activities for the stages in their care, their role being to facilitate execution and harmonise both purely academic activities and the aspects of any other kind of school life, assuming responsibility for all those involved in their stage.

The Tutors for each year are the persons immediately responsible for the group and for each student entrusted to them, coordinating the education work done by the group’s teachers and information about the students.

The Teachers give their subject and also provide specific academic guidance about their subject to pupils and parents.

The Teachers also carry out the role of Private Tutors of the pupils in the Stages and Cycles that they give. They are in charge of ensuring in-depth individualisation of the training work. The Private Tutor is the teacher assigned by the School to establish smooth relations with parents and pupils, having constant tutorship meetings with both.

All the teachers at the school are members of the different Departments, according to their speciality, with the aim of coordinating the didactics of their respective subjects, making this appropriate for the different ages. This allows them to carry out research work and constant promotion in their specialities. In charge of each Department there is a Head of Department who is the teacher directing and coordinating the programming and teaching of the relevant areas for their department.

Our teaching staff’s Teaching Refresher Work is one of the tasks entrusted to the Formation Department, which has the task of providing specific continuous training in studies for teaching professionals. Its areas of advice extend to training and recycling of teachers, parents and pupils, including the coordination of the Pastoral Mission.

Teaching organisation is implemented through the Education Departments. The Head of Department is the teacher who directs and coordinates programming and teaching in the areas involving his or her department.

There are the following Departments:

Guidance Department.
Education Departments of:
- Languages (subjects: French, English and Valencian). Head of Dep’t. Ms Pilar Carbonell.
- Spanish Language and Literature (subjects: Spanish Language and Literature). Head of Dep’t. Ms. Pilar Roux.
- Plastic Arts (Technology and Plastic and Visual Education.). Head of Dep’t. Ms. Natividad Gómez.
- Sciences (subjects: Mathematics. Natural Sciences, Biology, Geology, Physics and Chemistry). Head of Dep’t. Ms. Amparo Montaña.
- Humanities (subjects: Social Sciences and Geography and History, Classical Culture and Music)
- Religion (subjects: Ethics and Religion).
Formation Department.

EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS

The education departments are the basic bodies entrusted with organising and developing the teaching work proper to the relevant areas or subjects, and the activities proper to these, in the sphere of their own competences, which are:

To make proposals, to the management and the staff meeting, about the preparation of the School’s education project, the annual general programming and the regulations for internal practice.
To make proposals to the pedagogical coordination commission about the preparation and modification of the education stage syllabus projects, as well as for fostering the use of Valencian as a vehicle language in the corresponding areas.
To prepare, before starting the academic year, the education programming of the teaching of the areas and subjects involved in their department, under the coordination and management of its head and in accordance with the general directives established by the pedagogical coordination commission.
To promote education research and to propose activities for improving its members, required for methodology and educational practice.
To cooperate with the guidance department in preventing and detecting learning problems, programming and applying syllabus adaptations for pupils who require this, in cooperation with the guidance department, and determining the basic syllabus content for preparing individual programmes for syllabus diversification.
To organise and carry out complementary activities in cooperation with the head of studies.
To organise and carry out the tests required for Bachillerato pupils with subjects previously failed, as well as other tests for obtaining qualifications.
To settle first of all any objections stemming from the assessment process that the pupils bring to the department and to give the relevant reports.
To prepare, at the end of the course, a report evaluating the development of the education programming and the results obtained, according to what is laid down in current legislation.

PEDAGOGICAL COORDINATION COMMISSION

There is a pedagogical coordination commission which will be made up of the director, who is its president, the head of studies and the heads of department.

The pedagogical coordination commission has the following competences:

To analyse the School’s cultural and socio-linguistic context from the educational standpoint, in order to propose the linguistic normalisation plan and the particular design of the bilingual education programme or programmes applied by the school to the management team, for this to be included in the School’s education project.
To establish the general guidelines for preparation and review of the syllabus projects for the education stage, after the staff meeting has heard these.
To coordinate the preparation and take responsibility for drawing up the syllabus projects for the stage and their possible modifications.
To analyse and inform the staff meeting about consistency between the School’s education project, the education stage syllabus projects and their possible modifications, the annual general programming and the set of programmes for allowing diversity established by the school.
To set the general guidelines for the preparation of the education programmes of the departments, the education psychopaedagogical and professional guidance plan, and the plan for tutorial action, included in the stage curriculum project.
To propose the syllabus projects as well as the plan for assessment of these to the staff meeting for its approval.
To coordinate the development of stage syllabus projects in the Centre’s teaching practice.
To promote and cooperate with the Head of Studies and the Formation Department, in the coordination of schemes for developing teaching staff.
To propose to the staff meeting the general planning for assessment sessions, in accordance with the decisions included in stage syllabus projects and the calendar for exams or extraordinary tests.

CHARACTER FORMATION/TRAINING DEPARTMENT
(Head of Dep’t. Ms. Rosario Carvajal) formación@granasociacion.org

The following are the competences of this Department:

The doctrinal, moral, human, intellectual and social formation of our pupils outside the classroom.
The Parents’ School.
The continuous training of our teaching staff.

EDUCATING IN VALUES

The Character Formation/Training Department prepares a programme which acts as a means of passing on ethical and moral values in the framework of the present education system. Passing on these values, which has been reinforced by the education reform itself, should be carried out as the most important and significant task of the educator, who has to seek full development of the pupil’s personality.

From three years of age we have structured a Formation Department as part of the school whose purpose is to provide students with an education in these values.

Without intending to make an exhaustive analysis, some of the subjects handled are stated below:

Personal values:
- Freedom, responsibility
- Work, strength, willpower
- Meaning of life, sexuality
- Guidance in reading. Critical sense when given information.
- Use of free time
- Sincerity, natural quality
Family values:
- Values of coexistence: order, good manners, human tone, politeness.
- Value of the family: mutual respect, trust, relations with parents.
Social values:
- Solidarity, justice, generosity
- Friendship and companionship
- Influence of the environment
- Society’s present problems: drugs, AIDS, sects, etc.

A number of activities meant for pupils and coordinated by the tutor are studied leading to a reflection on these values and a better assimilation of these.

These are weekly sessions given in the tutoring hours and with activities and subjects appropriate for the pupils’ ages. The tutor leads the sessions with a view to making the students think about the matter, attempting to stress positive attitudes.

To do this the students are given a notebook, which varies depending on the education stages. Having an already printed notebook enormously helps the teacher’s task, gives the activity greater formality, allows pupils to reply in writing and the private tutor to talk matters over with the pupil and if desired the pupil’s work can even be assessed with a mark, with points, etc..

It is important to try to get the pupil’s active participation in the colloquium brought up on the matter. The purpose of these sessions in the long term is manifold:

To form the pupils’ criterion and provide them with clear concepts on matters of special interest
for them.
To get them to reflect on matters that have a clear education dimension (social and personal).
To train them to analyse, go deeper into and argue about these important and current affairs.
To foster the consistent development of these values in pupils.

Apart from these sessions purely academic questions are dealt with in the classroom: teaching of study techniques appropriate for each subject, professional guidance over the later years, criteria for good presentation of written exercises, etc.. The Programme thus lies within the dynamics of the course itself, giving tutorship the guidance facet that this should always have.

The School has always understood that the person’s comprehensive training is the aim of education work and for this reason it has worked for several years with a Plan for Development in Values that proves to be an aspect of vital importance to ensure such integral education.
The formation in values that is given in the Gran Asociación-Colegio has four basic characteristics:

Adaptation to the pupil’s period of evolution
Unity between parents and teachers
Individualisation
Christian meaning

Adaptation
Gran Asociación has established an order of acquisition of values which takes advantage of the optimum time to inculcate specific habits and values. This also gives a different treatment for the same habit depending on the age and specific case of each pupil. The values and specific habits that are dealt with are as follows:

Punctuality
Order
Work
Generosity
Sincerity
Obedience
Companionship
Fortitude

Unity

The child needs clear models to guide his or her behaviour of use to learn and correct his or her conduct.

The School is aware of this need and wants parents to participate in the Project for Educating in Values. This is the way to guarantee that the child is going to encounter consistency and unity in the transmission of rules and values that we wish for.

To do this, apart from the activities organised by the Parents’ School, the Guide for each pupil gets together at least once every three months with the parents to ensure the required unity of the education project and comment on the specific aspects that they can develop most effectively.

Individualisation

Educating in values necessarily requires talking with each pupil in a climate of trust to explain, demand and guide them in the process of assuming new values.

The Private Tutor often talks with the pupil to help them to specify and set targets for the aims of Guidance.

Christian Sense

Gran Asociación-Colegio, always respecting the freedom of pupils and that of their families, inculcates Christian values and offers a characteristic way of living habits and virtues required for coexistence.

The School’s Chaplaincy has the purpose of providing Christian formation and spiritual attention for all the members of the community who freely wish to have this.

To carry out this task, the Chaplaincy organises the religious ceremonies held at the School, personally attending all the pupils who so wish and promoting courses, confessions, conversations, doctrinal talks and other training activities. The chaplain is also happy to deal with the enquiries of parents and teachers who request advice and guidance for the development of their personal life, both in their human and spiritual aspects.

The School Chaplain is Mr. Vicente Plá Martínez. Two catechists cooperate with him for each Sacrament prepared at the centre, forming the Pastoral Department as a whole.

DEPARTMENTS
Teaching organisation is implemented through the Education Departments. The Head of Department is the teacher who directs and coordinates programming and teaching in the areas involving his or her department. There are the following Departments: Guidance Department. Education Departments of: Languages (subjects: French, English and Valencian). Head of Dep’t. Ms Pilar Carbonell. Spanish Language and Literature (subjects: Spanish Language and Literature). Head of Dep’t. Ms. Pilar Roux. Plastic Arts (Technology and Plastic and Visual Education.). Head of Dep’t. Ms. Natividad Gómez. Sciences (subjects: Mathematics. Natural Sciences, Biology, Geology, Physics and Chemistry). Head of Dep’t. Ms. Amparo Montaña. Humanities (subjects: Social Sciences and Geography and History, Classical Culture and Music) Religion (subjects: Ethics and Religion). Formation Department.

		GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT (Head of Dep’t. Ms. Inmaculada Roca) The following are competence of the Guidance Department: Drawing up the department’s activity plan and ensuring its compliance and the end of year report. Directing and coordinating the activities of the department. Coordinating the support activities and syllabus adaptations required for pupils with special education needs. Preparing and making known to pupils information about the department’s activities. Promoting the assessment of their department’s teaching practice and that of its different projects and activities. Cooperating in the assessments promoted by its governing bodies or education administration about the operation and activities of the School. Coordinating the organisation of spaces and facilities and the purchase and maintenance of material and specific equipment assigned to the department, in order to make the greatest use of the resources allotted.

	EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS The education departments are the basic bodies entrusted with organising and developing the teaching work proper to the relevant areas or subjects, and the activities proper to these, in the sphere of their own competences, which are: To make proposals, to the management and the staff meeting, about the preparation of the School’s education project, the annual general programming and the regulations for internal practice. To make proposals to the pedagogical coordination commission about the preparation and modification of the education stage syllabus projects, as well as for fostering the use of Valencian as a vehicle language in the corresponding areas. To prepare, before starting the academic year, the education programming of the teaching of the areas and subjects involved in their department, under the coordination and management of its head and in accordance with the general directives established by the pedagogical coordination commission. To promote education research and to propose activities for improving its members, required for methodology and educational practice. To cooperate with the guidance department in preventing and detecting learning problems, programming and applying syllabus adaptations for pupils who require this, in cooperation with the guidance department, and determining the basic syllabus content for preparing individual programmes for syllabus diversification. To organise and carry out complementary activities in cooperation with the head of studies. To organise and carry out the tests required for Bachillerato pupils with subjects previously failed, as well as other tests for obtaining qualifications. To settle first of all any objections stemming from the assessment process that the pupils bring to the department and to give the relevant reports. To prepare, at the end of the course, a report evaluating the development of the education programming and the results obtained, according to what is laid down in current legislation.

	PEDAGOGICAL COORDINATION COMMISSION There is a pedagogical coordination commission which will be made up of the director, who is its president, the head of studies and the heads of department. The pedagogical coordination commission has the following competences: To analyse the School’s cultural and socio-linguistic context from the educational standpoint, in order to propose the linguistic normalisation plan and the particular design of the bilingual education programme or programmes applied by the school to the management team, for this to be included in the School’s education project. To establish the general guidelines for preparation and review of the syllabus projects for the education stage, after the staff meeting has heard these. To coordinate the preparation and take responsibility for drawing up the syllabus projects for the stage and their possible modifications. To analyse and inform the staff meeting about consistency between the School’s education project, the education stage syllabus projects and their possible modifications, the annual general programming and the set of programmes for allowing diversity established by the school. To set the general guidelines for the preparation of the education programmes of the departments, the education psychopaedagogical and professional guidance plan, and the plan for tutorial action, included in the stage curriculum project. To propose the syllabus projects as well as the plan for assessment of these to the staff meeting for its approval. To coordinate the development of stage syllabus projects in the Centre’s teaching practice. To promote and cooperate with the Head of Studies and the Formation Department, in the coordination of schemes for developing teaching staff. To propose to the staff meeting the general planning for assessment sessions, in accordance with the decisions included in stage syllabus projects and the calendar for exams or extraordinary tests.

	CHARACTER FORMATION/TRAINING DEPARTMENT (Head of Dep’t. Ms. Rosario Carvajal) formación@granasociacion.org The following are the competences of this Department: The doctrinal, moral, human, intellectual and social formation of our pupils outside the classroom. The Parents’ School. The continuous training of our teaching staff.

UNIFORMS
Wearing a daily and sports uniform is obligatory on all levels, except in post-obligatory secondary education where only the sports uniform is required. The uniform consists of the following items:
DAILY UNIFORM
	Any black shoe. (For younger pupils: buckle to be Velcro or similar). Never sports shoes or trainers. Maroon socks. Tartan skirt or grey trousers. White long-sleeved shirt in winter. In June and September white polo shirt. Maroon “V” necked sweater. Striped pinafore according to model (suitable from 2 years of age to primary year 5) Navy blue polyester school anorak.
SPORTS UNIFORM
	Any black footwear. (For younger pupils: buckle to be Velcro or similar) White cotton socks. Navy blue shorts and white tee shirt with the school coat of arms printed in green. School model track suit with printed coat of arms.
OTHERS
	First Communion: there is a single criterion chosen by the centre (sailor suit for boys, organdie for girls). Confirmations: school uniform for Obligatory Secondary Education pupils. Graduation ceremony, Reception of exchange Schools etc: grey trousers and navy blue jacket (boys) and dark ceremonial suit for girls.

OCTOBER

APRIL

TEACHING WORK
	The teaching work done depends specifically on the Academic Director, whose task is to direct and coordinate education activities in accordance with legislation in force. The Academic director is assisted by the Head of Studies, who, in cooperation with the Coordinators for each Education Stage, coordinates the performance of teachers and students’ academic, guidance and complementary activities in line with the School’s Education Project, Syllabus Projects, Annual General Programme, Training Plan and Tutorial Action Plan. The Coordinators for each Education stage handle the coordination both of staff and of academic activities for the stages in their care, their role being to facilitate execution and harmonise both purely academic activities and the aspects of any other kind of school life, assuming responsibility for all those involved in their stage. The Tutors for each year are the persons immediately responsible for the group and for each student entrusted to them, coordinating the education work done by the group’s teachers and information about the students. The Teachers give their subject and also provide specific academic guidance about their subject to pupils and parents. The Teachers also carry out the role of Private Tutors of the pupils in the Stages and Cycles that they give. They are in charge of ensuring in-depth individualisation of the training work. The Private Tutor is the teacher assigned by the School to establish smooth relations with parents and pupils, having constant tutorship meetings with both. All the teachers at the school are members of the different Departments, according to their speciality, with the aim of coordinating the didactics of their respective subjects, making this appropriate for the different ages. This allows them to carry out research work and constant promotion in their specialities. In charge of each Department there is a Head of Department who is the teacher directing and coordinating the programming and teaching of the relevant areas for their department. Our teaching staff’s Teaching Refresher Work is one of the tasks entrusted to the Formation Department, which has the task of providing specific continuous training in studies for teaching professionals. Its areas of advice extend to training and recycling of teachers, parents and pupils, including the coordination of the Pastoral Mission.

LA CHAPLAINCY

	The School’s Chaplaincy has the purpose of providing Christian formation and spiritual attention for all the members of the community who freely wish to have this.

	To carry out this task, the Chaplaincy organises the religious ceremonies held at the School, personally attending all the pupils who so wish and promoting courses, confessions, conversations, doctrinal talks and other training activities. The chaplain is also happy to deal with the enquiries of parents and teachers who request advice and guidance for the development of their personal life, both in their human and spiritual aspects.

	The School Chaplain is Mr. Vicente Plá Martínez. Two catechists cooperate with him for each Sacrament prepared at the centre, forming the Pastoral Department as a whole.