School Ethos and Team

Located in Gondomar (Galicia), northwest Spain, Gándara International School encompasses a Pre-School (3-6 years old) and an Elementary School (6-12 years old). It is authorized as an International School by Galicia’s regional Government – the Xunta de Galicia.

The school’s methodology is based on active, hands-on learning, and is firmly rooted in the Montessori method, but at the same time it remains open to other methodologies.

Our mission is to offer a school where children are able to:

• Acquire knowledge and discover the world through meaningful, active experiences, as well as through critical thinking, based on their observations and experimentation.
• Thrive and learn in a relaxed environment, driven by their interests: from intrinsic to extrinsic motivation.
• Acquire the minimum standards required by the official curriculum through an enjoyable learning process that should be as hands-on and active as possible.
• Develop the skills that will allow them to strengthen their self-esteem, adapt to life in our society and choose the path that best suits their interests.
• Discover their strong points and work on their weaknesses.
• Develop their social and emotional intelligence in order to better deal with conflict and emotions.
• Develop critical thinking in an environment that values mutual respect, differences of opinion and freedom of expression.
• Be part of the decisions related to their presence in Gándara, whether with regard to coexistence, space or learning process.

In addition, we also want our school to contribute to a change in society and the establishment of a new social-educational paradigm. In order to achieve this, we foster respect for each individual and for clear rules applied with empathy, and nurture interpersonal relationships based on mutual respect.

The school ethics are firmly based on the practice of tolerance, non-violent communication and non-manipulative relationships, taking into account the needs of all the members of the school community.