By Begoña Vilar, Head of Support Centre
Different roots, different experiences, different nationalities, different cultures… but all children and young people. From the department of the Support Center of St Peter’s School we aim to get to know the child, from our point of view, to be able to accompany them through the teaching and non-teaching team. Knowing their characteristics and knowing the person, is for us a basic element for an optimal educational response.
The school path is a balance between curricular and personal learning. The challenge for educators, teachers, professors and all non-teaching personnel is to understand the what, why, when and how. The essence of childhood and adolescence is a challenge that we are passionate about.
The SC team begins the course by making exhaustive observations in each of the stages, in the different educational spaces within the school. You can find us in the classroom, in the dining room, patios or in the corridors. Any space is ideal to observe how children develop with their peers, with adults and even with space itself.
Our gaze is free of prejudices and of labels. We must understand the stage of development of the children or group of children we are observing; we must listen and understand their behaviours. Crouch at their height, listen to what they are trying to tell us. We enter into their world to understand what happens and how we can accompany them in the construction of their learning, in the mapping and building of their paths.
The Support Center team does not function without the teaching and non-teaching team. Fluid and constant communication is our strongest working tool after observations. To understand them we must understand each other. Unite observations, experiences, criteria; in short: share to build.
Of course, we cannot forget about families; a fundamental and vital element in the growth of children and young people. Talking with them and sharing helps us to better understand our students.
However, the great protagonist in this process is the child; for us the centre of our attention. The educational practices that are carried out, the social relationships in which they intervene, the situations they live; these all constitute the engine that moves us. Physical and emotional well-being let learning and personal growth flow.
