Spain - Colegio Balmes, S.L.

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Col·legi Balmes is a private and secular institution coordinated by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. It is a small school with 357 students and 25 teachers. It covers compulsory education from 3 to 16 years old. Most of our students come from Spanish families, although there are a few students of other nationalities. It is located in the centre of Rubí, a city situated 15 km from Barcelona, in Catalonia. Most of Rubí’s population works in the services sector, mainly in minor commerce. Our school pedagogical model goes further than the mandatory curricular aims. It allows us to teach and develop specific areas in an engaging and motivating way, giving our students the skills, knowledge, competencies and attitudes they need to become aware of their own potential to contribute to making a better world. It seeks a holistic education of our students, thanks to the teachers’ commitment and a close and collaborative relationship with students’ families. The school pedagogical model follows well defined strategic paths based on Psychology, Neuroscience, our own experience and our educational team. 
The school and its team are very keen on implementing new teaching methodologies that help the students accomplish their goals in different ways, for instance through Culture of Thinking. Thanks to cross-curricular learning, the students can develop their ability to be more independent, to think critically, to come up with original ideas and to be more confident when solving day-to-day problems. Our school is also very interested in teaching human values. To do so, we became a Green School and we have been working on different steps to reduce, reuse and recycle materials in our school.
By participating in this Erasmus + project, the students will have the incredible opportunity to get out of their comfort zone, expand their horizons and become aware of the similarities and the differences between countries and cultures. Therefore, they will better understand other cultures, and they will be more respectful to each other regardless of origin, culture or religion. Simultaneously, they will have the chance to work as a team in a project involving IT and technological resources, which in turn will help them develop their digital and teamwork competencies.