The Delegate for Educational Development and Vocational Training, Francisco Alonso, has visited the CEIP Ave María del Diezmo, one of the centres where the Summer Educational Reinforcement Programme is being carried out in the capital. In the province, a total of 1,125 students are taking part in this Plan, attended by 135 teachers. Of this number, 1,055 students are in Primary Education and 70 in Secondary Education.
In Andalusia, there are a total of 12,759 students, 1,381 teachers and 268 schools. With this fifth edition, almost 50,000 students have taken part since it was launched.
Francisco Alonso pointed out that this initiative has a dual purpose, “on the one hand, and more importantly, to help students achieve school success with a free public alternative, and on the other hand, to help families in Almeria to reconcile work and family life”. In addition, the delegate indicated that this programme contributes to improving students’ school performance and becomes an alternative so that students can also enjoy leisure and summer activities.
During the visit, he pointed out other measures implemented by his department to improve the educational indices in Andalusia. Thus, in the next academic year 2023/24, as the new curricula state, the competences in fundamental subjects such as Mathematics and Language will be reinforced, with a transversal axis such as reading comprehension.
Summer Reinforcement Programme
The Programme, which takes place in July, is aimed at Primary Education students and students in the 1st and 2nd years of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) attending public or publicly funded schools who have difficulty in achieving the competencies or exceeding the objectives of the year in which they are enrolled and, therefore, need reinforcement, especially in Spanish Language and Literature, Mathematics and English.
The aim is to improve the skills and attitudes associated with reading, logical mathematical reasoning, the acquisition of language skills (comprehension and oral expression) and the English language, combined with the practice of sport and healthy habits. The aim is also for students to acquire organisation and work habits as well as study techniques, thus contributing to an increase in the promotion and graduation rate of Andalusian students.
The timetable is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and groups are established by courses with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15 students. In this Educational Centre, 9 groups with an average of up to 10 students participate.
For her part, the director of CEIP Ave Mª del Diezmo, Mercedes Martínez, explained that “being able to carry out this programme in the centre is a very important action for our students, which is why I would like to thank the group of teachers who are working with us to make it a reality”. In addition, the director explained that “the experience of these four years of developing this programme in this centre has helped us to reinforce basic content and to promote social skills and a healthy lifestyle for our students”.
Teaching materials
The Regional Ministry of Education and Sport provides the participating centres with didactic material to be developed during the course of the Programme, which includes printed resources as well as guidelines for the use of multimedia educational resources to complement the students’ learning process. In addition, they are provided with a guide with guidelines on different active and innovative methodologies that bring the teaching-learning process closer to the real contexts of the students.
Likewise, in order to develop integration and group adaptation skills and to increase students’ self-esteem, the guide offers games and dynamics of integration, knowledge and relaxation. All these materials and resources are adapted to the appropriate curricular levels for each of the groups and can be adapted to the needs of the students and the context.
Likewise, in order to resolve doubts on the programme’s web portal, a Frequently Asked Questions document is included as well as a guide with orientations on different active and innovative methodologies that bring the teaching-learning process closer to the real contexts of the students. Likewise, in order to develop integration and group adaptation skills and increase students’ self-esteem, the guide offers games and dynamics of integration, knowledge and relaxation.
