Curriculum
Although the curriculum of International Secondary School Peniscola, meet the contents required by the Conselleria d’Educació, stands for their improvement and complementation.
It should be pointed out that there are some distinguishing aspects that accompany the students during the first stage of the Secondary school (ESO):
- Multilingualism: apart from Valencian and Spanish, the students of International Secondary School Peniscola use English as their working language. Each course, the students have four subjects in English, apart from the subject of English itself. At the end of this stage, our students will have acquired the knowledge and skills needed to pass the B1 level Cambridge exam.
- Art education: inside this aspect we include several subjects.
- Music: the students of International Secondary School Peniscola receive classes with the same difficulty level as a student that studies the elementary music lessons in the school of music. In International School Peniscola we believe that an education aimed at practicality is essential, that is why we bet on raising the exigeance levels of music, favouring continuity. Among the objectives of this subject, these ones are outlined:
- Encouraging the knowledge and appreciation of music as an artistic phenomenon.
- Introducing our students the musical language as a means of personal communication.
- Fostering the active and conscious listening of musical pieces.
- Arts & Crafts: it includes the subjects of Technology and Arts, which are taught in English. Both teaching programmes are aimed to the development of the interspecific and intraspecific competences. These skills are obtained by the cooperative and manipulative work.
- Music: the students of International Secondary School Peniscola receive classes with the same difficulty level as a student that studies the elementary music lessons in the school of music. In International School Peniscola we believe that an education aimed at practicality is essential, that is why we bet on raising the exigeance levels of music, favouring continuity. Among the objectives of this subject, these ones are outlined:
- Information Technology 2.0: after revising the contents used in the ISP Primaria stage about office IT, the students of International School Peniscola Secundaria learn to use free programming and cross-platform programmes, standards of the digital era. These tools let them learn how to edit videos, audios and images. We also provide them with tools with which they can design websites or 3D figures. Some of the programmes used throughout the stage are: Audacity to edit audio, Filmora to edit video, Gimp to edit images, Inkscape to edit vector images, Sublime Text to design websites or Sketchup to design 3D figures.
- A single plan: the model plan established for the students of ISP Secundaria offers the opportunity to learn not only about the subjects related to the social bachillerato, but also about the ones related to the science bachillerato, so they can choose the branch of knowledge a year later. This way, we ensure that they can take this decision the next course with responsibility.
For the teaching team it is very important to guarantee the personal development of each student, taking into account the existing diversity and their interests, as well as their needs. This way, we put into practice personalised plans in order to improve and strengthen the different areas, and we follow up the evolution of the students every day.
Our education system prepares excellent students but most of all prepares excellent people, which is the most important thing. For that, on the one hand it is essential to develop a system of values based on respect and tolerance. On the other hand, it is fundamental that we count on the collaboration with the families and the creation of a demanding school environment where effort and responsibility is encouraged.
Cambridge Official Exams
According to the Bologna Process regarding university studies, it is required to have a level B1 (PET) certificate before completing any degree, and in some cases it is necessary to achieve a B2 (FCE). That is why we think that all students that have reached these levels ought to set an exam in ISP and to obtain the official certificates of Cambridge in the center. Cambridge certificates are the most recognised ones in the international level when it comes to the recognition of linguistic requirements, admission of students and credit convalidation.
Taking the exams in the center has lots of advantages, among which we can outline the absence of nerves, the familiarity of the environment and doing the exam as if it were another one of the curriculum.
The students of Secondary school, who have studied the previous stages in ISP, can sit for the following Cambridge exams:
- 2nd ESO: PET (B1)
- 4th ESO: FCE (B2)
The English teachers are who recommend which students can sit for the exam in order to ensure successful results.
