Stages
Through the educational stages at Agora Patufet Infant School, which range from 0 to 5 years old, we construct the basis of all intellectual learning, and establish the foundations of later academic and personal success. Though we learn throughout our lives, this is the stage when everything begins to make sense. This is why the work of our teachers, who transmit their passion for learning to the children every day, is so important.
Infant Education is, undoubtedly, the most important stage in the children’s development. This is the stage in which the foundations for the entire educational process are established. Our educational stages enable the children to become active people who are the protagonists of their own development, people who are listened to and whose potential is encouraged so that they can discover their world, always under the watchful eye of the great professionals who ensure their learning, help them to develop their abilities, and provide gestures of care, love, and understanding.
Our educational stages take place at an investigative, active, and creative school where every pupil is the true protagonist of their learning!
First cycle
Without doubt, the first cycle of Infant Education is a stage overflowing with tenderness, curiosity, inquisitiveness, and fantasy. The dedication shown every day by the teachers ensures that the basic needs, care, and comprehensive development of our pupils, aged 0-2 years old, is taken care of. The methodology during the first cycle of Infant Education is based on learning in which the teacher plays a fundamental role accompanying the pupils in outlining their own path, and providing different sensory and stimulating activities so that they can develop their psychosocial and cognitive abilities. Some of the many activities we do at Agora Patufet Infant School are psychomotor development activities, music, English, artistic expression, working with their hands, work with Bits, and the special dedication to working on habits.
At Agora Patufet Infant School we take into account the space of the facilities, and the ratio of pupils to teachers per classroom is extremely important in order to offer the personalised attention that the children need during the first cycle of Infant Education. The size of our infant school enables our pupils to have a comprehensive education, offering them personalised attention based on individual development, as we understand that each pupil learns at his or her own rate.
During the first cycle of Infant Education, the children at Agora Patufet learn to:
- Start to have habits and routines, developing their independence according to their needs..
- Become familiar with the English language, as well as their mother tongue.
- Learn about the environment which surrounds them, understand it, and manage easily in it.
- Facilitate learning through experimentation and working with their hands, coming to their own conclusions.
- Broaden their circle of relationships, and integrate with others.
- Create emotional links between children and adults.
- Help and collaborate with others.
- Gain confidence for their development and independence, dealing with social and emotional wellbeing and establishing personal values to shape themselves as people
- Be autonomous and recognise themselves.
In the first cycle of Infant Education, our role is to stimulate intelligence through their skills and through play. At Agora Patufet Infant School we know that every child is special and unique, and that they don’t all learn in the same way. Each child has his or her own pace, for this reason we respect and encourage their personal development independently.
Second cycle
From the second cycle of Infant Education onwards, at Agora Patufet Infant School we work on English language immersion, which makes up 55% of the school day. This begins our trilingual programme (English, Catalan, and Spanish), and prepares the path to internationalisation. This is a stage in which we continue working and shaping the habits and learning begun in the first cycle, and incorporate others, such as the literacy process, the introduction to Chinese (from the age of 4), the start of swimming, project work, and the development of multiple intelligences.
The second cycle of Infant Education is an educational stage which attends to the needs of children aged 3-5 years old, and whose aim is to contribute to the physical, sensory, intellectual, affective, and social development of children. In the second cycle of Infant Education, the children develop movement and the habit of body control, language, communication, they learn about the guidelines for coexistence and social relationships, literacy… Furthermore, this is the stage in which the pupils experience full language immersion, and are involved in different school activities so that, over the course of the second cycle of Infant Education, they learn.
During the second cycle of Infant Education, the children at Agora Patufet learn to:
- Pay attention and follow structured activities to develop their confidence.
- Use language with clear pronunciation and use complex phrases.
- Begin in the world of literacy: start to read, write, and narrate.
- Use more and more sophisticated strategies to solve problems.
- Understand the world which surrounds them.
- Enjoy social activities, and friends.
- Understand the importance of sharing.
- Be capable of managing self-control techniques.
In the second cycle of Infant Education, the pupils at Agora Patufet Infant School become true explorers of their environment, and begin to establish the bases of learning and an international character, which can be reinforced at Agora Sant Cugat International School.