What it means for a living school to be officially recognised (and what changes for the family)

When a family visits us, the question “Are you an officially recognised school?” tends to come up. The answer is yes, and it is worth explaining what that means, because it is common for many self-managed educational projects with an unconventional pedagogy not to have the recognition of the education authorities.

What official recognition covers

Official recognition (homologació) is the official acknowledgement by the Catalan Department of Education and Vocational Training that a school meets the requirements to teach a stage of education. In our case, early years (I3, age 3, to I5) and primary (Years 1 to 6). It means that children’s schooling at Espai Aigua is officially recorded, as in any other school, and that the move to secondary school after Year 6 happens through the ordinary route.

Until recently, most living-education projects in Catalonia ran without this recognition, often as associations or childcare spaces. We began that way too, in 2009, in premises in the Clot neighbourhood. Official recognition came in the 2026-27 school year, and it was not a formality: it was a long road on which we needed the creativity and collaboration of the whole educational community (the association’s board, the teaching team and families) to complete it. We even had to undertake building work.

Why it took building work

An officially recognised school has to meet requirements on space, safety and accessibility. The building of the former Tres Fonts state school, where we have been since 2015, needed thorough adaptation, including the installation of a lift to make it accessible. To finance it, the association took out a loan from Coop57, the ethical finance cooperative of which the association is a member.

Official recognition classes us as a private school, but there is no owner investing. We are still an association of families and educators, in which the community decides and sustains.

What does not change

This is where the key lies. Official recognition covers the schooling, but it does not dictate the method. Our way of doing things is the same as before: small ratios, emotional, relational and educational accompaniment based on the bond with the reference adults, project work based on the group’s interests and other pillars we talk about in other posts on the blog.

We work with the official curriculum as a framework, but from our own perspective: content is made flexible and reorganised (or disorganised), and we focus on processes, on developing skills and on the resources to learn anything through practice and experimentation, at each person’s own pace.

What changes for the family

Three things in particular.

Administrative peace of mind: the schooling is recorded, reports are valid and a change of school, if it ever comes, is an ordinary procedure.

The move to secondary: after Year 6, the child goes on to secondary school just as from any other school. “Do they adapt well to secondary school afterwards?” is another of the most common questions. The answer, once again, is yes. The last years of primary work particularly on the autonomy to study and investigate, which is a highly valued ability, as well as on plenty of experience of self-knowledge and of managing relationships.

A school that can sustain itself: official recognition, together with the families’ task system and the fees, is what makes a small project sustainable, with groups of 8 to 13 children per adult, inside Barcelona.

If you would like to see it for yourselves, come and meet us. A morning explains more than any article.