SOS Schools in Paraguay

Asunción SOS Schools

The SOS Secondary School opened in 1983. There are about 270 children in nine classes. In addition, there is a computer room, a room for typing lessons, a laboratory, a theatre, a library, a kitchen, a dining hall and an administration area. The Ministry of Education and Culture uses the staff of the SOS Secondary School to train teachers of other schools in the community.

The SOS Primary School opened in 1983. There are about 540 children in nine classes. The Ministry of Education and Culture uses the staff of the SOS Primary School to train teachers of other schools in the community

Update report from 2008:

The SOS School Asunción offered its services to 669 pupils of First, Second, Third Period and Middle Education. Students in general presented a god academic performance, so most of them were promoted to the immediate superior grade or year.

This year, 15 students from the Middle Education and 51 from the Basic Scholar Education are graduated.

The great event that was the 25th anniversary of the SOS School focused around whether the plans development, activities and projects were implemented in each class, between periods and integrating periods between them.

It continues with the methodology of cooperative groups in classes, the process assessment of students and follow-up of their own rhythm and learning strategies. Didactic field trips were performed too that always contribute to accomplish teaching objectives. To celebrate the 25th Anniversary some activities like an Artistic Festival, a Mass, a SOS Marathon and other were organised in the School with the participation of families with great enthusiasm and success.

Through different artistic and sport activities, the students demonstrated their qualities and enthusiasm for these events “Talents Festival”, Closing ceremony of Theater, Dance and Music Workshops and a Physical Education Exhibition organised by the students from the “Technical Secondary School focused on Sport Assisting”. Students, boys and girls, from different grades and courses participated of projects promoted by the Ministries of Health and Education: “Recycling everything”, “Voices, sounds and colors”, “Rights Promenade”.

Teachers attended different courses and training workshops that were proposed from the Institution and also proposals received from the Ministry of Education and other entities. 

Asunción Nursery School

The SOS Nursery School at Asunción had a population of a hundred 4-5-6-year-old boys and girls from the Zeballos Cué neighborhood and other near neighborhoods.

Rich games and singing experiences as well as other artistic and sport expressions were shared by partners and also the families participated.

Some joint activities were performed with the first year, with the purpose of preparing the little kids for their integration to the next period. They enjoyed and get integrated with peers and teachers.

The enlargement in the nursery school fee for younger boys and girls than previous years resulted in a sequence and systematic approach to the hygiene, food, health and other habits.

The hygiene and afternoon snack every day became privileged learning spaces about food, hygiene, cares and their importance at this age. We had talks with parents about this issue in order to promote their sons and daughters to improve in these aspects.

The didactic field trips with specific objectives like recreation, integration, contents consolidation, projects closures   objectives, etc which helped to the development of communication channels among peers, teachers and families.

Boys and girls with their families celebrated 25 year of the School and Asunción Village with an active participation in the programmed activities: Mass, Artistic Festival, SOS Marathon, etc.

Among the proposals that the Educational Centre provides every year, is the gymnastic exhibition where the youngest have a special protagonist showing there their motor abilities.

The Dance and Theater Workshops closed their year activities performing a show where they displayed what they have learnt and developed during the year.

Luque Secondary School

The SOS Secondary School opened in 1999. There are about 200 children. The secondary school also includes vocational subjects and ends with a school-leaving exam comparable to A-levels.

Luque Primary School:The SOS Primary School opened in 1999. There are about 340 children

The total registration of the year was of 605 students from whom 589 among children and young finished the period. The methodology applied was basically the one of Didactics Units approaching different topics like: Rights and Duties, health, the planet and the factors that represent a risk for it, natural resources, food, the importance of water, etc.

It is very important to stress out the implementation of curricular adjustments in each grade and shift from 1st. to 6th.grade, with valuable results for children with certain difficulties besides the collaboration of Young students from different universities that provided their personal and professional time for the attention of children with difficulties of relating with peers and with learning problems. Just to mention some of the universities that helped, UCA, UNA, UNIDA, Evangelical University and a group of parents that in the opposite shift worked in a volunteer way with students from the third grade within the same thematic . Besides, a Psycho-Educator fostered everything related to the monitoring of those children mentioned above.

In the third period and high school the contents have been developed through the Didactic Units and the Projects emphasising the performance of individual and/or group works applying research techniques, oral expositions, didactic field trips and process works. The Cooperatives simulation activities became quite important in this third year of implementation since the youngsters from the Business Administration secondary School have fostered their capacities to manage a micro business like cooperatives.

A strategy that gave important results in relation to the best academic performance of students was the monthly reports to parents, that made possible a greater approach of people in charge and a stronger commitment from the families with their children’s education; besides we accompanied the students from the support classes with a teacher that guided each of them according their possibilities.

A marvellous achievement was that through de Project “All Children with their Books” the students had the opportunity to have with 4 books that enabled them to expand and reinforce the contents leant in class.

This year the Fourth edition of the Sports and Cultural Olympic competitions took place with the young which is framed into the Objectives of the Global Games for Peace, as well as the II Marathon carried out together with the Secretariat of Culture of the Municipality, de Administrative and Educational Supervision as part of the Challenge Day, promoted by the Municipalities Federation of the city of Sao Paulo where 80 schools from the cities of Luque and Aregua participated. It is good to mention also the 2nd.edition of the Talent Festival where all the students put their best to interpret national and international songs in a party for all the educational family.

The students have participated of several educational activities at area and departmental level, as for example: Voices, Sounds and Colors Contest, Expo Culture, Track inter-school competition, young Encounter in favor of the Scenic Arts in the City of Villarrica (28 students from the MAJA group of CEL traveled). The students from ninth grade have expanded their professional formation, participating of hairdressing courses, electronic devices repairing and elaboration of different types of consumption products for home and manufacture of bijou. In Eighth grade, they work with Gardening workshops, and elaboration of organic fertilizer (compost) and vegetable garden.

In relation to Labor Training for parent, some workshops were carried out like silk flowers courses, school for parents and with the ACE’s it has been working in three workshops during the year. The work with the Health Brigade continued which is constituted by teachers, parents, and all other people from the environment that might have been interested in developing these actions like struggle against the dengue and other activities in favor of the ecology.

In the year 2008, we have commemorated our 10 years of Service to the community, working restless to give our best in favor of boys and girls of our country.

Luque Nursery School

The total school registration of the year was of 105 pupils and out of them 103 children finished the school year.

Methodologies applied

The educational proposals in classroom were performed through didactic units taking into account that these facilitate a greater integration of contents and improve the organisation in the classrooms. They are focused on the interests and immediate needs of students as the projects methodology as well.

Through the daily routine, the students live different experiences of interrelation through tools as: guided games, dramatization, songs with reading of images, team work, circular dances; integrating parents into these moments and working together in nursery school, Pre-school and 1st.grade at each level generating through them a greater and better adaptation and integration.

Other Strategies: Corners: games or Works in corners contribute to a more significant learning of Mathematics, Reading and writing and Sciences.

Observation

In the area, there are a few schools focused on vulnerable sectors which have nursery school because the demand is important. This affects boys and girls since many of them did not go to nursery school and because of age they request to enter Pre-school.

Regarding Teachers Training and Upgrade, teachers attended to nine meetings around tables about learning led by the Teaching Supervision of the Area “A” Central and 4 meetings during the year organised by the Educational Team of this Educational Centre.

Achievements accomplished

1.    Integration among children in each class and in the whole level

2.    Internalization of coexistence guidelines

3.    Pleasure for Reading and for didactic games which favored communication

4.    Organisation an solidarity from groups of parents against situations that affect the level

5.    Confidence, security and autonomy of children

6.    Participation of families in an average of 60% (corresponds to a 57% of mothers’ participation) in meetings and/or processes of elaboration of joint activities with the teacher.

San Ignacio Nursery School

Update report from 2008:

We started the school year with the analysis of the strategic plan and projections for the year 2008, elaboration an annual organiser schedule.  We organised the annual plan according to the programme of Initial Education from the MEC, taking into account the curricular adaptation of the methodology used in nursery school (constructivist and teaching of tenderness).

We performed the first workshop for teachers about cognitive terminologies such as: Intelligence, Neuroscience, Integral Formation and Timely Stimulation, set by the Programme Director. We developed the first workshop with parents, where the topic analysed “the agreement” as focal point and starting point for all good relationships between parents and children. In the second part of the workshop the constitution of the School Cooperative Association of Parents (ACES) was carried out which was recognised by a municipal resolution, the local government and the MEC. The elaboration of environmental improvement programme and to obtain a different vision about the environment through workshops for parents with different activities articulated with the families also took place.

An Alliance Agreement with the Paraguayan Studies Centre Antonio Guasch, CEPAG was signed which consists in a labor training for families focused on the improvements of self-consumption and income generation capacities through family farms, benefitted with goods and tools, technical training by an agricultural engineer, monitoring by the programme director and with a commercialisation system of products.

Observation and generation of anecdotic records by consensus with the teacher’s group table were the key elements in measuring the improvement of those who enter to be benefitted with the programme.  The goal was that 100% of  those who just entered to the programme as participants could finish it with urban norms incorporated, a better capacity for interpersonal relationships and to acquire learning of high teaching quality with process of academic production and significant accomplishments. This was obtained through interviews, Dialogues and agreements with parents registered in records and in a record file. Those documents generated as reports, booklets and interviews were also of great importance to be assessed as an indicator. 100% of beneficiaries when finishing the Period though our programmes will have reports, booklets and interviews; from these at least 95% achieved significant acknowledge, in a qualitative way.

I lived my learning like this, as closure of the learning table groups with other teachers of the educational community, developed once a month during the school year 2008, in alliance with the MEC, CEPAG and SOS; as main protagonists, the children explained different productions of thematic focal points developed during the school year with the participation of 33 schools of San Ignacio.  The assessment workshop was dictated and led by Marcia Taglioretti and was financed by CEPAG.

We fulfilled the objectives: Train for a continuous improvement of the interaction processes of the Teaching.-Learning system in a surrounding every time more changeable; Generation of Learning Spaces together and toward other educational centre of the area; To promote and strength the active integration of the family as an indispensable factor of the integral development of the child, fostering their rights at the same time. To promote that our children learn to think, to discern, to judge, to choose with critical spirit, in looking for a formation that enriches their personal development; to generate professional formation actions  for parents and children responsible companion; to plan actions fostering a quality learning.