Early years, ages 3 to 6

Settling into school is often a major source of anxiety for such young children, rooted in the emotional stress they have to manage in the first moments. It is a confusing and difficult period for children, who often have to leave behind years spent at home, accompanied by the people with whom they have a bond of emotional security, to move into the new reality of school. A new space, with a group of children of all ages and new adults who will have to become their figures of reference, support and security for several hours a day.

Our project, in line with other kindred educational projects, considers it absolutely necessary to take care of these moments in order to foster a good experience of school. This is an option that conventional schools usually cannot take on, because of their tutor-to-pupil and tutor-to-family ratios and their lack of space and time, but also of willingness, since it is often not given enough consideration or the importance we believe it deserves.

Every settling-in process is different and depends on very varied factors, sometimes full of subtleties. We know that every family has its own particularities, depending on its history and experiences, so that no two processes look alike. That is why we attach so much importance to communication and transparency between the family and the accompanying adult: it is a shared path that lays the foundations of the relationships. Relationships that are interdependent and that grow together: family–educator and child–educator.

This process is a movement the child makes outwards, in search of something new and unknown that attracts them while also posing new challenges. The presence of the family member or reference adult gives them the security to “launch themselves” into life and to discover, explore, take on and live new situations that will make them grow. One feature of this process is that it is not linear, which means there will generally be steps forward and also steps back, as a condition, we might say, inherent to this (spiral) process.

Groups are organised mainly by cycles, but it is not a rigid arrangement. Each child’s needs are the main criterion in forming them, so at times there may be children of other ages within the same group. We continually consider whether each child is in the group that suits them best and, when necessary, we make the appropriate changes.

We believe the mix of ages is very enriching, while we also maintain a distinction between the different cycles and the way of working in each, suited to the characteristics and needs of each developmental stage. Alongside this, there are often inter-cycle proposals and activities that widen this exchange even further. They may be one-off activities, projects that arise from shared interests or proposals linked to common goals, such as fixing up and designing the playground, preparing a celebration or creating a play. We also create spaces in which the older children can make proposals to the younger ones: reading them a story, showing them a project, preparing a performance, designing a movement circuit or suggesting a game in the playground.

The school’s overall ratio is roughly one reference adult for every 10–12 children. In the early years it comes down to a maximum of 8 to 10 children per reference adult, while in primary it rises to 12–13, depending on the characteristics of each group. These ratios may vary slightly in primary according to the group’s needs, but we always aim for them to be small enough to guarantee close follow-up consistent with our pedagogical principles and to attentively accompany the different learning, emotional and personal processes that take place throughout the stage.