The Responsible Education programme

On 25 July the Botín Foundation published the list of schools in the Community of Madrid that have been selected to participate in the Responsible Education programme, which is open to schools located in the Madrid region.

Responsible Education is an educational programme that involves a commitment to the physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of its participants, promoting and improving communication and cooperation between schools and working closely with teachers, students and families.

The programme has been running successfully in Cantabria for many years in collaboration with the Department of Education and aims to help children and young people become confident and independent, to understand others, recognise and express emotions and ideas, develop self-discipline, learn how to make responsible decisions, value and care for their health and improve their social skills. In short, we believe that the programme is fully compatible with Agora International Madrid’s educational philosophy and overall vision and will provide added value by offering ongoing training and, more importantly feedback and communication of ideas and best practice between the participating schools. The excellent educational practice incorporated into the Cantabrian schools involved in the programme since its inception, provides a clear indicator of the success of the programme’s educational vision, teaching and learning support and methodological value.

The Responsible Education programme offers training, monitoring, feedback, assessment and resources for teaching and learning, which enable participating schools to develop and improve quality in various areas of the curriculum, in particular, creative and arts-related activities.

Participation in the programme involves a serious commitment to the development of multiple intelligences and helps our students cultivate a range of key skills including problem-solving, social skills and emotional intelligence, keeping the school at the forefront of educational innovation.

The success of the programme led to the creation in 2011/2012 of the Network of Responsible Education Centers, bringing together 16 schools and colleges throughout Cantabria. In the 2012/2013 academic year, 17 schools from the Madrid area joined the network, and following two years of working to incorporate various new ideas and resources into their daily practice, the programme continues to thrive and flourish, attracting further applicants from all over the Madrid and Cantabria regions. The current cohort, which includes Agora International School Madrid, was selected by the adjudicating panel for implementation in September as part of the 2013/14 academic programme, in conjunction with the 16 other centers located within the Community of Madrid.

A file was presented to the panel outlining the school’s educational philosophy, our curriculum, external examination results, our annual improvement plan, a video explaining our educational vision and additional documentation in support of our application.

The management team at Agora International School Madrid would like to extend our warmest thanks and congratulations to the whole school community; parents, teachers, students and non-teaching staff. The success of our application provides external recognition of the excellent work that we do and reflects well on all who form part of the Agora Madrid family.