Kindergarten and pre School

St Mary of the Hills School is a co-ed bilingual Catholic school aiming at full development of the talents of each child. We encourage our students to seek excellence and display their own potential in all areas, discovering their own interests and developing their virtues.

Our philosophy is to offer a wide range of opportunities at each learning level, stimulating their self esteem and confidence. We carry out a flexible and coherent curriculum, which includes creative plans, study programmes and individualized methodologies.

Our bilingual kindergarten is integrated to the Institutional Educational Project. In a playful atmosphere, children from 2 to 5, are helped to to develop their capacities respecting their different intelligences and learning styles.

Learning at this level happens through ludic experiences. Playing and learning come and go all the time. Through playing reality is installed and it awakens curiosity for knowledge. It is playing that abilities are developed; children learn to share space, time, objects and feelings. Children learn to solve difficulties, to deal with unexpected situations that demand flexibility and to take others into account and respect their interests.

The start of school life is an important step and is a social experience: the richer it is the more it will help the child in his immersion in further groups. At this growing stage, ways of relationship, ways of expression, of feelings and recreation of contents, come together.

Hand in hand with school objectives, it is from kindergarten that we offer a child centred bilingual project, based on formation of common values and feelings of tolerance, solidarity and respect. All this, as a personal construction of what children of this age do every day, which leads them to enjoy simple things, reflect, share, find solutions and believe in themselves.

The main purpose is to create adequate atmospheres to build bonds and from there organize learning situations and find favourable possibilities which will allow respect each child´s process. Also to discover them, looking at them in their eyes, finding the gestures and words to reach each one and educate and guide them with passion and joy.

The use of the cutting edge Jolly phonics system for the teaching of English is based on synthetic phonetics and allows the use of easy resources which are fun and new for all students to learn the language naturally. Through a variety of different methods for all senses, children learn how to build, pronounce and write the words more easily and, above all, they adopt an active enthusiastic and committed attitude; they feel curiosity and challenge when faced with each teaching proposal.

Children are stimulated through games and motivating activities where everyone teaches and everyone learns.

Our children are watched, motivated and accompanied so they may display their abilities in a playful atmosphere in which a whole education is fostered as the basis of future learning.