SOS Schools in Argentina

SOS Nursery School Mar del Plata

Report from the nursery school for 2008:

This school year was characterised by the consolidation of all the proposals planned: teaching content, educational policies and teachers.

We met our goal of having 135 students, with 5 sections among the two shifts. Since September we have opened the enrollment for 2009, and we already have almost all the sections complete for said year. 

We made a literary exhibition for all the community and it was a real success.

We conducted training workshops for teachers and relatives of students and former students to form them as literacy tutors for the “It is never late” programme, which depends on the FUA (Argentine University Federation) and the Law School of the Mar del Plata University. So, next year the nursery school will be a literacy centre for adults, thus a lot of people will be able to learn how to read and write.

At the end of the school year, we made an examination (of the school and the staff); the results obtained will be the basis for new projects during 2009.  We always try to place this school at a good educational level on the General Pueyrredón District, with the commitment and professionalism of the teaching staff.

Among the annual activities, we can mention: 

• Philosophy workshop with children: based on the Matthew Lipman theory, the main goal is to teach children “to think”, that is to say, to develop a critical thinking. Every child is a unique human being with abilities, dreams, sorrows, joy, knowledge and lack of it.
• Project on environmental education: it is taught in every section of the nursery school. Teachers talk about this taking into account the abilities of the students according to their cognitive development. They talk about: how to take care of water, soil, water and air pollution, nicotine poisoning, waste products recycling, how to take care of the natural resources, among other.
• Programme “Grandparents who tell stories”: this is coordinated by a group of elderly people who try to bring together children and grandparents using literature.
• Artistic workshop: this is related to literature, encouraging children to read and to know different kind of books.
• We completed other projects related to: the family, the house, the city, the animals and the plants, the traditions and other topics suggested by the students.

We worked hard on the community aspect and on the relation of the nursery school with the community. We made different activities for the educational community such as: a kermes, a festival for the children's day, a spring parade, a celebration for the family’s day, the week of the music, a reading marathon sponsored by Fundación Leer and the HSBC, a Literary Exhibition. All the activities had a large audience.

SOS Secondary School Oberá

The SOS Secondary School opened in 1992 and has about 170 pupils.  As well as 15 classrooms, the secondary school has a science lab, an art room, workshops for electronics, joinery and sewing, and computer labs. In the evenings the school is used for adult education for the local community.

SOS Primary School Oberá

Update report from 2008:

During the academic year 2008, the school has been open to receive different educational and teaching strategies.  The start of the extended day with workshops for readers and writers, the cultural heritage and the mathematical games demanded from the teachers a greater curricular vision which included logical processes for the appropriation of conceptual contents using innovative strategies.

There was a presentation of the work done during the extended day, including experiences gained in the field of knowledge, how to acquire and reinforce the previous knowledge in reading, writing, mathematical reasoning and expression through games.

This year we have implemented, at the Initial Level, two teaching hours in special areas, five in total: three for Technology and two in Physical Education.  At the Primary Level, we have developed different activities related to the goals set.  Some projects were related to the normal curricula and others were related to the community, as for example the mural created at the entrance of the SOS Children’s Villages, using a design that won a contest among the students of the school. The project was completed by children of the SOS Children’s Village in Oberá and the students of the SOS School.

As proposed at the beginning of the school year, everybody worked to accomplish a more professional school culture.  Therefore, we have received proposals to evaluate the educational quality. Said evaluations will help us on the initial diagnosis for 2009.

The extracurricular projects, as for example the dining rooms, the school wardrobe, the training centre, have been completed, thus all the objectives proposed were accomplished. All the students and children that attend to the School and even those that live in the local community benefit from this.

On December there were some ceremonies to end the school year. Parents, students, authorities and teachers of the different levels of the School attended to said event.

During the event the following have received their certificates:

• 58 Preschool students, from Rooms A, B and C;
• Seventh grade students from Rooms A and B (First Class of Primary Education, Law 26206);
• Ninth grade students E.G.B. (Federal Education Law);
• 33 students from high school;
• 25 students of the Training Centre

During this ceremony, the students with best grades, the students chosen as best schoolmate and 13 students who attended the same school since nursery school to the end of high school at this school received an award.

On December 5, there was a reception for the graduates at the Czech Community hall. The graduates attended with their parents and they shared a beautiful party.

This school year ends with 925 students. The school tried to keep students, using strategies to avoid school truancy and repetition of years.