Student Welfare

Our school cares about the emotional well-being of our students and the development of their self-esteem. To ensure this, each level of the school has a Pastoral team. This team is led by a coordinator and is composed of the Educational Psychology Department, the Department of Student Welfare and the Department of Student Support Services. In the case of Junior, it also includes the Heads of Grade and the tutors.

Values Education is an integral part of the whole curriculum, with emphasis being placed on respect and responsibility. Each pupil is encouraged to develop self-esteem alongside respect for others.

In the Junior School we pay particular attention to children’s personal development, and they are encouraged to consider their wider responsibility for the community and the global environment. This is often closely linked to part of a curriculum area such as Geography or Science, and emphasis is put on environmental awareness and sustainable development within the school community. Respect for other people, cultures and beliefs is fostered through shared experiences of celebrations and traditions during special events and school assemblies.

The community values and attitudes we consider to be fundamental are:

Respect, responsibility, fair play, team work, honesty and punctuality.

These are developed in conjunction with values such as loyalty, generosity, solidarity and the courage to act in accordance with our principles.

St. George’s College promotes the concept of community codes of behaviour (School Behaviour Code) which we consider acceptable in our community. The School Behaviour Code is adopted by the students in each classroom. In addition, each classroom must produce its own Golden Rules. The codes are based on the overall concept of the 3R´s which are the paradigms on which all behaviour is judged as being acceptable or unacceptable. This is based also on Respect as the Golden Rule for the school, which leads us to define the behavioural golden rules which the community considers acceptable, and Golden Time which represents recognition of behaviour that demonstrates respect and responsibility.

In Junior School we work closely with tutors in order to establish adequate work and study habits in our children, together with eating, hygiene and safety habits. We set up daily routines and there is a representative appointed in each class. We also work on strategies for the resolution of conflicts and reflect frequently on our values. All this within the framework of our 3 R’s.

The 3R´s

• Respect
• Responsibility
• Rights

“Golden Rules”

With this system we hope students with behavioural problems will feel less inclined to break rules. It is assumed that if they risk losing a privilege, they will modify their behaviour and comply with their agreements.

Our school’s Golden Rules are:

• Show respect
• Be considerate
• Be kind and helpful
• Work hard
• Protect and respect property
• Listen to people
• Be honest
• Do not hurt anybody
• Do not hurt people’s feelings
• Do not waste other people’s time
• Do not waste or damage things
• Do not interrupt
• Do not cover up the truth

Golden Time

“Golden Time” has been included in the weekly curriculum of each class as part of our school’s positive reinforcement policy, and it consists of a period of activities suggested and agreed on by the children. With “Golden Time” children are rewarded for behaving well. “Golden Time” ensures that the majority of children who behave well are rewarded.

Before implementing “Golden Time”, each class is introduced to a set of “Golden Rules” which is a short well-defined list of positive behaviour statements agreed on by both students and teachers.

Students who are in danger of breaking one or more rules in class or elsewhere in the school, are given verbal warnings. If the child continues to ignore the warnings, he misses a period of “Golden Time” – usually a 5 minute period. Children are given the opportunity to “earn back” their time before the next “Golden Time”.

In this way, the message we are giving the children is that if they are respectful and kind and handle their work with responsibility, they will be consistently rewarded for their effort. We are sure that this kind of reward is not easily forgotten.

Personal Social and Health Education – PSHE

Personal Social and Health Education – PSHE – is integrated across the curriculum. Topics relating to health and to personal and social development are used as themes for group meetings. In grades 6 and 7, when pupils are experiencing the transition into adolescence, PSHE is coordinated and designed to prepare them for the changes and challenges they are facing.

A programme of PSHE is also presented within the tutoring periods of all Senior School students.

The Values and the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) curriculum in Senior School have a significant role to play in trying to achieve a moral framework where respect, responsibility, personal and social relationships develop and flourish. These values are an integral part of Senior School and are delivered through academic studies, sports and every aspect of everyday life in our school community.

As students move through school, themes are developed so that the material presented is appropriate for their level of maturity and reinforces areas being covered in the mainstream curriculum.

This Department is responsible for monitoring students’ progress, addressing any difficulties related to their behaviour and encouraging compliance with the rules of the classroom and the school. It promotes positive discipline in the classroom and the social integration of all students.

Student Support Education (Junior)

Teaching and learning

St. George´s College tries to be a learning environment where the training and preparation of the student is of paramount importance. To this end, the school focusses not only on the acquisition of knowledge, but also the development of skills and attitudes that will help the student in the process of learning, together with the development of his self-esteem.

Although some teaching takes place through traditional and specialised subjects, there are holistic cross-curricular aspects which help students to make connections among the different thematic areas.

We actively promote the student’s personal organisation and responsibility and use a varied teaching methodology, which promotes individual research, small groups work and teamwork.

Above all, our teaching attempts to connect the experience the student brings into the classroom. Differentiated instruction and assessment for learning are important aspects of the teaching and learning strategy at the school. The most effective way to motivate a student is through his relationship with the teacher, which is not only to impart knowledge but also to be a guide, facilitator, model and mentor.

Tests helps us to measure the students’ progress and not only to classify them. Students learn in order to have a more satisfying and happy life, as a means to improve  their examinations results.

Critical and analytical thinking is the key to effective learning. Before, during and after teaching students any content area, emphasis is placed on their critical thinking skills. Students who acquire facts and figures but do not know how to apply that information to new experiences, have done little more than memorizing without giving any significance to what they have learned. A student’s connection to previous knowledge is also crucial. Real learning occurs when a student links new information to previous knowledge or experiences. Acquiring a new concept is simply a detached fact in which a person memorises concepts for a test which is connected to a previously learned notion.

Individual needs

Our school’s philosophy is to do everything possible to cater for the individual needs of every student. In order to achieve this, the school uses the differentiated instruction methodology, which allows us to identify the strong and weak points in each student. Students are monitored on a daily and weekly basis.

Language Support Department

This department supports students in English and Spanish. On entry to  the school, a student may receive support individually or in small groups outside the class, but this may be substituted by the Language Support teacher accompanying the student in some of his lessons.

Educational Psychology Department

This department offers support to students and teachers in the areas of learning, social and emotional development. It follows up on students’ performance, and gives advice to teachers and parents.