European Activities

The Grand Association has without doubt a clear European and international outlook. Our challenge is to offer to all our students an education which prepares them to develop their potential to the maximum in an atmosphere of innovation, creativity and active citizenship. In this way, the Grand Association College is ahead in distinct international actions such as the Valencia Managers Conference and the Association of European Colleges which is more that 150 years old.

At the Grand Association College we strive to educate our students to high standards of excellence. For this reason, our students may opt to combine their studies with the prestigious American High School Diploma. At the same time, our interchange programs and international language immersion schemes are a growth area within our educational project for the College. These programs not only help our students perfect their foreign language skills but are also a great motivating factor providing our students with a rich linguistic and cultural experience.

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Association of European Colleges
(founded 150 years ago)

Over the centuries, education has been for the most part in the hands of religious orders. Gradually, education in religious institutions gained prestige.

Many of these schools were established in historical buildings which remain in superb condition thanks to these schools’ efforts and work. Religious schools share common characteristics as well as specific challenges.

For all these reasons, the Grand Association founded together with other colleges the European Association of Colleges more than 150 years ago as a way to publicize the indisputable asset of its history and also to face together all the challenges of schools of this nature. The main objectives for the Association of European Colleges are the following:

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Form bonds of coexistence, camaraderie and friendship between students from different colleges through the participation in social and cultural activities.

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Promote exchanges with teachers, students and parents in order to gain mutual knowledge between different European countries and colleges.

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Promote training programs on a European level suitable for the team of directors and teaching staff through a common application fund of different countries.

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Establish agreements with universities, colleges and public and private institutions of collaboration and of setting objectives.

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Achieve special treatment for the concession from different sectors of society concerning awards, rewards, prizes and academic grants of interest to these colleges.

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Make a common policy concerning architectural and restoration problems for schools occupying old parts of cities and which are under official protection for their historical value.

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Seek public recognition for the work of the Association over the last 150 years.

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Transmit the pride generations of students have felt for having been educated in these remarkable schools which adhere to the principles which have inspired them from the beginning.

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Exchanges and linguistic immersion

With the objective of completing the language education of our students, the College has been organising European exchanges and language immersion weeks with European schools from different nationalities.

These exchanges, besides helping perfect students’ language skills, lead to an interchange of cultures between countries including traditions, education, life styles and allowing for bonds of friendship to form between young people in Europe all of which is enriching for the lives of our students. The program combines attendance in classes with social, cultural and sports activities which leads to a complete immersion in the language and traditions of the country. Our students are hosted by a European college who then in their turn become the hosts for their friends in the second part of the exchange. Opening our College to other countries is instructive, not only for the students which take part but also for the educational community. Apart from being an experience of great benefit, the exchanges become an important part of
the academic curriculum.

The languages for the exchanges are always English or French whatever the country of the exchange school.

Our most recent exchanges have been with the following colleges and countries:

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Exchanges in Sweden

Fria Gymnasieskolanin Häninge in the city of Stockholm in Sweden. (1998-2003; 2005-2006).
www.friagymnasieskolan.se

Katedralskolan in the city of Uppsala in Sweden (2008-2009).
www.katedral.se

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Exchanges in Belgium

Lyceum Leper in the city of Leper in Belgium (1999-2000).
www.lyceumieper.be

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Exchanges in Italy

Instituto Magistrale Statale Giovanni Pascoli in the city of Florencia in Italy (2000-2004).
nuke.liceopascoli.it

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Exchanges in Switzerland

Kantonsschule Trogen de Trogen in Switzerland (2003-2004).
www.kst.ch

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Exchanges in Russia

Colegio Cervantes in the city of San Petersburg in Russia (2007-2008).
www.cervantes.ru

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Exchanges in Germany

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gymnasium in Wiehl (Colonia) in Germany (2009-2010).
www.dbgwiehl.de

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Exchanges in Malta

G.F. Abela Junior College in Msida (Malta) (2010-11).
www.jc.um.edu.mt

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Trip to Ireland

In Carlow (2012-14).

Application form for participating in a language Exchange Program, coming soon.

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European Projects

Lifelong Learning Programs

The Grand Association College has participated for many years in European educational projects funded by Comenius of the European Commission.

Each program has particular main objectives at the completion of each project. No Child Left Behind (2007-3445/001-001) was the first project our College took part in. Its prime objective consists of promoting the importance of extracurricular learning as a highly effective instrument for reinforcing the learning of our students in a motivating way. The development of the project was carried out with the collaboration of different European institutions from the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Spain. No Child Left Behind, has obtained the approval of a British agency specialized in extracurricular activities due to the excellence of the program of activities which ensure the educational progress of the students and help fight against school failure.

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The participation of the Grand Association College in Lifelong Learning Programmes has given us the opportunity to discover near learning and teaching techniques and to establish new links with Europe. It has also given rise to continuous invitations from European centres to take part in the creation of new educational programs in Europe.

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A view to the future

(Coaching/Training/Building your future)

The Grand Association guarantees a strong commitment of all its teaching staff and team of directors in the guidance of students for their futures at university and for their professional careers.

The Guidance team and form teachers participate in the monitoring of the students and are responsible for knowing their interests, capabilities and motivations with the aim of facilitating the process of decision-making. It is about knowing the key skills of each student, in order to make the right choices in education and careers according to their talents and interests. Our students have at their disposition Educational Coaching, which helps them to make effective and realistic decisions when it comes to choosing their individual paths in education.

Our students have at their disposition Educational Coaching, which helps them to make effective and realistic decisions when it comes to choosing their individual paths in education. Guidance is complemented by the collaboration of other institutions via visits, talks and agreements which offer information about educational, academic and careers itineraries. Furthermore, since 2011 our College has formed a part of the network of multi-lingual educational centres of the Valencian Community. Its commitment to the knowledge and learning of languages is seen in the development of many types of project which foster the acquisition of a level of knowledge concurrent with the expectations of the educational community. This commitment leads us to offer the possibility of gaining official certificates (Cambridge exams and DELF – Diplome d´Etude en Langue Française) before our students finish their studies at the College.

Having the option of developing their communicative skills in the subject of Communication Strategies and the possibility of achieving the double high school diplomas – the Spanish Bachiller and the American High School Diploma – have caused an increase in demand for places at the College with its clear vision of the future.

The Grand Association College has been certified by the University of Cambridge as an official examination centre.

This is due to the efforts of our team and especially the Department of Languages over many years. This is also indicative of the excellent levels of linguistic competence achieved by our students and of the increasing level of English at our College. The College offers the possibility to our students of sitting the Cambridge ESOL examinations with the objective of stimulating learning and to certify the advancement of knowledge in this language. The Cambridge ESOL examinations guarantee an international standard in English and establish the level of competence which should be achieved at each level of learning.

The College examines the following levels:

Preliminary English Test (PET) Level B1

Examination in which candidates must be able to handle everyday communicative situations and to be able to express themselves in a basic and coherent manner.

First Certificate in English (FCE) Level B2

This is an upper-intermediate level examination which assesses the ability to interact in a spontaneous way on various themes with clarity and fluency.

Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Française (DELF)

Learning another language is an enriching experience and opens personal and professional horizons. In our current world, students who are able to speak several languages multiply their opportunities in the jobs market, not only in their own country but also at an international level. More than 200 million people speak French over five continents and so being able to speak French is a definite advantage when it comes to presenting CVs.

As with English, the College offers French as a second foreign language from the first year of secondary school (1º ESO) until the second and final year of high school (2º Bachiller) and offers the students the opportunity to sit the DELF (Diplôme d´Etudes en Langue Française) examination which is recognised by the European Framework of Reference for Languages. The diplomas, awarded by the Alianza Francesa and accredited by the French Ministry of Education certify levels of competence and dominance of the French language by foreigners.

Students special classes dedicated to preparing for these examinations.

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The College offers students the opportunity to obtain the Spanish Bachiller and the American High School Diploma simultaneously by joining the Dual Program.

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The Dual Program is organized by the Florida Department of Education and accredited by the the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

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In this program students attend 6 subjects which are taught by highly qualified American teachers entirely online with the support of a teacher from our College. Students begin the Dual Program in 3º ESO and study six subjects over a time period of four years.

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Students need to dedicate between three to five hours a week in order to stay up to date with their tasks.

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The Dual Program portal is personalised and monitors the progress of students in real time. In a very short time period, students new to the Program become competent online English students gaining digital skills which will prove very useful to them in the future.

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Once the Dual Program is completed, students receive their High School Diploma which is valid throughout the United States which allows them to apply for entrance to all American universities.

Currently, opportunities for success depend on good development at school, specializing in languages and training in social and communication skills.

For this reason, the Grand Association College includes Strategies for Communication as a subject at high school in order to meet students’ need once they leave the College. In this subject, the students gain practical knowledge vital for the careers development. They receive instruction in techniques for public speaking, they prepare their own CVs and learn how to fill in job application forms. Also, they do economic interpretation exercises, presentations of different models of writing and they gain a better insight into the reality of the business world.

Thanks to the agreement signed with the Marketing and Business School ESIC and with the business school EDEM, the subject is complemented with conferences by university lecturers, renowned business figures and important people from Valencian society and institutions.

This subject helps students appreciate the link between their academic achievements in our College and their future careers.