Early Years

Effective learning and English immersion

This stage runs from the third year of age until the age of five and is divided into two grades: Nursery (3 to 4 years) and Reception (4 to 5 years). These courses correspond to 1st and 2nd Ed. Children in Spain.

Until they enter the Nursery classes at the age of three, our youngest pupils are taught entirely in English. To ensure progressive and individualised learning, the curriculum is divided into core areas and specific areas. Our youngest pupils initially focus on the core areas: physical development, personal, social and emotional development, communication and language. A solid foundation in these leads to successful learning in the specific areas of literacy, mathematics, world understanding, expressive arts and design.

Our curriculum also focuses on the three “characteristics of effective learning”, which form the foundation of our students’ learning process:

Play and exploration
Active learning
Creative and critical thinking

THE BASIS FOR LEARNING

Continous learning

Children learn best through play. Our pupils’ acquisition of English is supported and accelerated by the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach, in which they become active storytellers and learn an increasing range of vocabulary associated with key actions and movements. In addition, we follow a literacy scheme called ‘Read Write Inc’, which introduces children to the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, and harnesses their enthusiasm to become emergent readers and writers.

Open environments

Environment plays a key role in children’s development. Our classrooms are spacious, bright and welcoming, with ready access to toilet facilities and the outdoors. The classrooms are deliberately arranged to encompass different areas that stimulate and maximise children’s learning.

Emotional well-being

The emotional well-being of our pupils is of vital importance and we pay particular attention to the children who start their school career with us. We do all we can to ensure they enjoy their childhood and adolescence in a secure environment, so learning can take place naturally.

Areas of learning

The development of strong social skills is at the core of our Early Years curriculum. In this way, we put in place the foundation for children to become socially responsible citizens, capable of achieving success throughout their lives. At ESA we prioritise emotional intelligence by guiding our youngest pupils to manage their feelings, helping them to learn resilience and the ability to amicably resolve their differences.

To achieve our educational goals, the children enjoy a wide variety of trips to the theatre, museums, farms and many other places that allow them to broaden their knowledge of the world around them.

In Early Years, learning areas are organised into topics to achieve an optimal cross-curricular approach. Learning areas include: CORE AREAS

ÁREAS PRINCIPALES