·         IES Cantabria de Santander (http://iescantabria.com/)

·         IES Foramontanos de Cabezón de la Sal (http://www.iesforamontanos.es/foramontanos/)

·         IES Marismas de Santoña (http://www.iesmarismas.com/inicio.asp)

·         IES Marqués de Manzanedo de Santoña (http://centros5.pntic.mec.es/ies.marques.de.manzanedo/)

·         IES Miguel Herrero de Torrelavega

·         IES Lope de Vega de Santa Mª de Cayón 

·         IES Ría del Carmen de Muriedas (Camargo)

·         IES Valle de Camargo (Camargo)

·         IES Valle del Saja de Cabezón de la Sal (http://www.cabezondelasal.net/pag/valledelsaja.shtml)

·         IES Villajunco de Santander

1. IES Cantabria – Santander

(Since 09-10 academic year)

IES Cantabria is a large secondary school located in Santander, the capital city of Cantabria. It is a state school with a wide choice of studies available for a range of students coming to our school from other parts of our region and even from surrounding communities.

Our bilingual program is the only one in Cantabria supported by both the Regional Government and the Spanish Ministry of Education. This means that the curriculum taught to our students is an integrated one which unifies the skills and contents of both Spanish and British educational systems. We are also an associated centre for the  Cambridge International Examinations. As a result, our students in 4th ESO have the choice to take the IGCSE exams on several subjects to receive internationally accepted degress.

At the moment we have 80 students following bilingual education in all levels of ESO and Bachiller, as we have been developing the program for about six years now.

Apart from the classes, we are also very enthusiastic about the possibilities of bilingual education outside the classroom, that is why the school takes part in several activities as a part of their training program:

Every year our 3rd ESO students stay in London for a week so that they can get a closer approach to what they are learning.

Our school has developed an exchange program with Ringwood Secondary School in England and Licée Hermitage in France so that our students can meet their students in a different country every year.

Our school is also taking part in a program with three other bilingual schools in Spain to create and share educational material in the web. As a part of this collaboration, our students in 2nd ESO will also travel to an English immersion camp at the end of this school year along with students involved in the bilingual programs from the other schools.

Taking into consideration all these previous experiences, we are happy to say that our students, specially the ones in ESO, are very enthusiastic and eager to participate in any new proposal that they are offered. They enjoy talking in English, sharing ideas, meeting people from other countries and taking part in new projects. That is why we think that the Global Classroom Program will be a challenge for them as they need to put into practise all the strategies developed during classes as well as their abilities and all the new things that they are going to be given the opportunity to learn. They are eager to know everything about The United Nations and its policy, and to do the research they need to face the task with confidence and enthusiasm.

Participants in the Global Classrooms Program 2009-2010

(Since 09-10 academic year)

Foramontanos High School is located in Cabezón de la Sal, the capital of the county, next to the Saja River at the foot of La Sierra del Escudo, which is one of the most beautiful regions in western Cantabria.

There are 562 students in our school. They are enrolled in studies of ESO, bachillerato, and vocational training in Agricultural Activities, Management and Maintenance, and Production Services. We also have 88 teachers who highly prioritize active, reflective, and intellectual pedagogical processes that are linked to nature and socio-cultural life.

We are currently involved in different programmes to improve the learning process and our students’ academic results: the Reading Plan, the School Assessment Plan, the Library in Action Plan, the Technology Plan for the use of technological resources in class, the Programme Agenda 21 Escolar, the Attention to Diversity Plan, the Programme for a Better Transition from Primary to Secondary Education, the Intercultural Plan, Cultural Week, the School Self-Protection Plan, the On-Line Company “Cantabria Exquisita,” and the Ecological Programme of  School Orchards and Gardens.

Since the 2005-2006 academic year, a Programme of Bilingual English-Spanish Teaching is also being developed in the school. This programme is based on the AICLE Programmes, which emphasize foreign language study by using it as a means to learn other subjects in the curriculum. As a result, the students in this programme not only study the English language as a subject, but also increase their English proficiency by employing English to learn other subjects. During this academic year, the Programme of Bilingual English-Spanish Teaching will be operating in the four levels of ESO as well as the first year of Bachillerato.

The students and teachers of IES Foramontanos are very excited to join the Global Classroom Programme. We have agreed to emphasize the project theme not only for students in the second year of ESO, but also for all the students at school. In this manner, with the cooperation of all the teaching departments and different programmes, we will be able to explore the theme in depth. We would like this project to foster our main goal: to make education contribute to the formation of citizens who participate in the political and social institutions of their community in a free and responsible way.

Participants in the Global Classrooms Program 2009-2010

3.- IES Marismas – Santoña (Cantabria)

(Since 09-10 academic year)

MARISMAS High School is a state educational centre located in the town of Santoña, which is on the Eastern Coast of Cantabria, about 48 km. from its capital and with a population of around 12,000 inhabitants.

Marismas High School, which has over 300 students in the 2009-2010 school year, offers a wide variety of educational programs, including ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education), Bachilleratos on Human Studies and Science and Technology, Advanced and Intermediate Vocational Training courses in Electronics and Electricity, and a Remedial Vocational Training program.

The school offers two bilingual programs, in French (since 2003-2004) and English (since 2006-2007), in which 11 professors from the English, French, Music, Biology and Geology, Social Sciences, and Mathematics departments participate, and 54 students take part.

The 12 second year students in the English bilingual program will take part in the Global Classrooms program based in the Model United Nations program. In order to prepare for the project, in addition to the standard three weekly class periods, we count on an extra session on Monday afternoons and on student involvement in the Disciplina No Lingüística (Natural Sciences) course.

Participants in the Global Classrooms Program 2009-2010 

4. IES Marqués de Manzanedo – Santoña (Cantabria)

(Since 09-10 academic year)

IES Marqués de Manzanedo is located in Santoña, a coastal town of 11,000 inhabitants in the eastern zone of the community of Cantabria. Its geographical location, surrounded by ocean and marshland except for two narrow isthmuses, complicates its communication with the rest of the community and gives it, to a certain extent, the character of a small island. Its principal economic activities are fishing (and its subsidiary industries), livestock farming, and tourism.

Marqués de Manzanedo counts itself among the secondary schools in Cantabria with the greatest number of years dedicated to education. Its origins date back to 1861, when Juan Manuel Manzanedo, the Marquis of Manzanedo and Duke of Santoña, began work on the school with the altruistic end of providing Santoña’s youth with the education that he himself had lacked, and for which he’d had to leave his hometown for the Americas. The school opened in 1871 under the name of the “Colegio de San Juan Bautista,” and up until 1950 it was occupied by various religious groups; it subsequently became dependent on the state as an “Instituto Laboral.” Today, Marqués de Manzanedo offers compulsory secondary education (ESO) and sixth form (bachillerato) in the areas of science, mathematics, technology, humanities, and social sciences.

Marqués de Manzanedo is fortunate to include within its ranks a number of dedicated teachers who transmit their own enthusiasm to their students, as is reflected in the quantity and diversity of projects currently underway. A few of these include:

1. the English-Spanish bilingual program, in which math, science, and physical education classes are given in English.  This program has been in effect for the past four years and currently extends to the fourth year of ESO.
   
2. the Library Program
   
3. Sustainability
   
4. the Gender Equality Project
   
5. Interculturality, and
   
6. Educational Support

In recent years, Marqués de Manzanedo has earned recognition through such prestigious awards as the National Prize for School Libraries, First Prize for Equality 2008, the Congressional Astronomy prize (2007)…

Among its main objectives, Marqués de Manzanedo seeks for its students, as individuals, to acquire a global education, not merely in terms of academic knowledge, but also in terms of the democratic values of respect and tolerance of others, so that they might one day contribute to a more just and equitable society.

We at IES Marqués de Manzanedo know that our participation in the Global Classrooms project, poromoted by the Fundación Marcelino Botín, will be an important step towards achieving our educational goals. We are certain that it will be a unique and enriching experience for our educational community, and both the students and teachers have taken it on with great interest and enthusiasm.

Participants in the Global Classrooms Program 2009-2010

Global Classrooms: Cantabria