IB: A model for the future

Agora Portals International School's methodology is an investigative and active approach in which each pupil, guided by their teachers, is the true protagonist of their own learning. Pupils actively participate in classes, analyse their surroundings, engage in dialogue based on respect and tolerance with their classmates, work in an experimental, multidisciplinary and collaborative way, and value the culture of effort. The teacher's task is to motivate and guide educational development so that students find their own solutions to the problems posed, acquiring essential skills such as communication and teamwork and building their own knowledge to help them cope in the real world.

Motivation and Challenge

It is a fact that students learn more and better when their work is stimulating and appropriately challenging, which is why our students are provided with motivating, interactive and experiential methods: the basis of our learning to learn concept. Thus, laboratories become places to cultivate the scientific method and critical thinking, while cultural excursions and sports outings help them avoid routine and contribute to their overall education.

Personalised Teaching Methods

We firmly believe that our teachers must do a coaching job, combining all available resources to get the best out of each student. That is why our work with students begins with a study of their abilities, aptitudes and preferences in order to personalise methodologies, putting a wide range of teaching techniques at the service of each student's development: project work, inverted classes, Problem Based Learning or Challenge Based Learning, among others.

Collaborative Learning

The basis of collaborative learning is team work, meaning that social and communicative interaction, two key elements for the development of their communicative skills, form part of the students' daily life. In this type of learning, all the members of the team are involved, participate actively and equally, and are responsible for the work to achieve a shared goal.

Critical Thinking

At Agora Portals International School our aim is to get our pupils to "learn how to learn" and therefore attain intellectual self-sufficiency. The key to fostering critical thought lies in working on certain skills from a young age, at the Infant School stage. Throughout their school life, the pupils develop their critical thought which helps them to research, analyze, evaluate and create.

Evaluation and feedback for learning

Student evaluation is constantly evolving and improving at our school. Part of this process of evaluation relies upon a formative assessment based on a variety of sources and inputs (for example, marks obtained, classroom observation, chats with pupils, best work portfolios). By giving regular and incisive feedback our teachers are able to identify the next steps to be taken in the learning process of each pupil and review the process overall. Sharing categorised information and success criteria make for greater academic success.

Agora Portals uses information and communication technologies within the instrumental methodology of a curriculum based on constant development and innovation. New technologies are used as an integrated tool in the teaching-learning process, which means a great change in the quality of teaching and training of pupils. We understand that every advance must be used to collect, retain, manipulate or share knowledge, and technology is an inexhaustible source of techniques as an educational tool: coding, for example, offers possibilities for problem solving and develops students' ability to "learn to learn", providing them with intellectual and pedagogical resources, as well as a solid basis for accessing future careers.

Gavea Project

Agora Portals International School was a pioneer in the implementation of the GAVEA Project (Virtual Classroom Management for Academic Excellence), present in all Globeducate schools, in which tablets, digital whiteboards and interactive materials provide an added motivational component to school activities as a source of teaching resources, always under supervision and with limited daily use. Thanks to this project, new technological tools enhance learning, promote the development of cognitive skills and encourage cooperative activities, as well as enabling students to acquire basic digital competences.

Computer Science

Globeducate centres are pioneers in Spain in introducing the subject of Computer Science as part of the educational programme from 5 to 16 years of age: our pupils learn to code and discover how software and applications that we use in all areas of life are created. With this innovative method, the pupils benefit from the pedagogical possibilities of the programming language, which opens their minds to new solutions and gives them professional opportunities in the future. They also participate in activities such as the European "Code Week" or "The Hour of Code", an international collaborative event sponsored by the world's leading technology companies.

Creative Technology

Creativity is one of the differential values of our educational approach, which is why at Agora Portals International School we offer different activities to develop it using technology as a vehicle. In the extracurricular Robotics workshop, for example, pupils learn to programme robots to carry out different real-life tasks, combining different scientific disciplines and encouraging creative problem-solving, organisational and decision-making skills, as well as nurturing their entrepreneurial attitude. This type of solution makes it possible to introduce curricular content in a cross-cutting manner and encourages teamwork and experiential learning.

In order to ensure continual and on-going improvement, Globeducate has implemented a quality control framework for all the schools that form part of the group entitled The Globeducate Platinum Standard. The purpose of this scheme is to facilitate a process of continual improvement in the performance of each school and to ensure Educational Excellence. The NACE Platinum Standard helps schools to assess and evaluate the quality of the education that they offer and to ensure that their educational strategy and practice is in line with the best educational systems world-wide. The Globeducate Platinum Standard is a structured and comprehensive programme that provides a set of quality indicators by which current practice can be evaluated, and improvement plans in areas such as Effective Leadership, Quality of Teaching and Learning, and Student Progress and Welfare can be established.

further information about Globeducate Platinum Standard