Family atmosphere and creative attitude to learning:
Everyone, from permanent staff to part-time assistants want to guide you in learning, and to help you succeed in the classroom. This is true regarding students, as well as people who are new to teaching like myself. I don’t have a great deal of teaching experience under my belt and being given the small freedom to invent a small warm-up game for Physical Education was a great opportunity for me; not only to introduce myself, but to begin to try out some teaching techniques. It gave me a sense of belonging that, despite only being an assistant, I am valued and that I can express myself also. Not only that but the freedom to express oneself is encouraged, with the ultimate goal of improvement, even if only a minor.
One of my favourite small touches that the school has is the bell! The bell is changed weekly and is usually a combination of two songs. It is one of the best small details about the school because I believe it helps to start off the day positively, with an upbeat atmosphere and makes the students feel like school is a fun place for activities and learning. I often see the students dancing their way into morning registration full of energy and good vibes; a stark contrast to when I was in school! During my school years the bell was the same old chime of dread. Every day for 7 years… It was more of a gloomy reminder that it was time to queue up and get to lesson, feeling tired, disinterested and frustrated that break-time or lunch-time had just ended! 😂
Maybe that’s just me, but you can see my point, right?
The students!
All the children all have their own individuality and beautiful personalities. You will find them displaying their individuality and confidence through many different means in school. You will see their academic flare in the classroom (funnily enough I was corrected by a 2nd grade student in Maths class. Haha! This boy is 7; he and all his classmates knew the answer too! I am 21 and the students are already greater Mathematicians than I could ever be! Outside of the classroom is a great way to interact with the students too, on my first day I was greeted by a dance-routine extravaganza by the 5th graders, it was a marvel of creativity and real show of athleticism too! In Physical Education class, I have been taught by some students the basic rules of first aid and have been subjected to the students’ sporting and competitive nature; during a game of Pitxi, it isn’t uncommon to hear chants of “eliminado!”/“elimanada” if you find yourself being caught out during a heated game. Believe me, if you are out of your zone by a millimetre, or you do something that’s even slightly outside the rules of the game, you will be told! The students have their own version of VAR at play sometimes, their eyes are everywhere! 😋You’d best come prepared with your game face on!
An academic viewpoint… The abundance of languages!
There is a premium selection of beautiful languages spoken every minute of the day inside of our staffroom. There are assistants [like me] from all over Europe who come to help in Enric Farreny. From a linguistics standpoint, this is a great way to start to learn new languages! Or at least some cool new phrases in languages which you maybe haven’t had the opportunity to familiarize yourself with before. While everyone speaks English, as it is the targeted language for students, Spanish and Catalan are used completely interchangeable in the classroom also. I have mentioned in my previous article that I aspire to have fluency in both Catalan and Spanish, along with my native English. Working in an environment like this, where Catalan and Spanish are used almost parallel to one another, is an invaluable opportunity to realise that aspiration. While this is a personal reason for me to have come to the school, I am sure there are many others who would like to have at least one of, or both languages under their belt also. Enric Farreny will certainly be a means of improving both languages due to the interchangeable and immersive nature of the teaching and conversations that the students have amongst each other.
A cultural opportunity!
On our current team we have the nationalities of Catalan, Spanish, English, Greek, Slovakian, Croatian and Andorran. There are probably a few nationalities that I have missed out on, apologies if so! A great takeaway from the vast backgrounds of the teaching department is to show the children [and some staff members] cultural differences between themselves and others. I believe this aids in teaching the children to understand the differences between nations, religions and cultures of the world, and enables them to become more acceptant. Humanity is a vast hotbed of all cultures from all parts of the world, and the more we get to know and learn about others, the best we can be as people ourselves! I believe this is a valuable lesson and one that is certainly echoed within the walls of this brilliant school, that is filled with equally brilliant people.
If you ever have the option to come to Escola Enrich Farreny, it is one in which you must take up. You will certainly not regret it!
Article by:
Luke Gill.
The “slightly less new” lad.
