← Back to homeBritish Montessori Los Fresnos
Alpedrete, Spain · est. 1993 · Private
Illustration · Alpedrete
A British school in the mountains north-west of Madrid, in Alpedrete, working since 1993; in the Cambridge register it is listed as Montessori School Los Fresnos. Today it is British Montessori, which has three buildings: Los Fresnos and Mataespesa in Alpedrete and El Enebral in Collado Villalba; together with Montessori School La Florida in Aravaca they make up the Grupo Montessori School, legal entity Los Fresnos Education S.L. The school is secular and co-educational. From the playgroup at two years to the last grade the programme is British, with Spanish language and culture; in the younger groups until the start of primary school lessons follow the Montessori method, and the school keeps its influence later as well. Graduates receive Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel IGCSE and A Levels, which the Spanish Ministry of Education recognises as equal to ESO and Bachillerato; preparation for the Spanish university entrance examinations is part of the programme. The school is a foreign British centre authorised by the Community of Madrid, a member of NABSS, a Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel examination centre. Among its graduates' universities the school names Cambridge and Imperial College. The school does not publish its fees.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, Chinese, German
About the fees The school does not publish its tuition fees on the site, only a telephone number and an enquiry form.
Admissions The school writes that it regards the diversity of cultures and nationalities as an asset. An application is made for each child separately, places are given from the waiting list in order of application, with priority for siblings of pupils and children of former pupils. From Year 5, that is from 9-10 years, the child has an interview before enrolment to check that the programme and the school's philosophy suit them. Everything goes through the admissions office, which contacts the family when a place becomes free.
Stages and year groups Grades Playgroup (2 years) - Year 13. Stages follow the British system with Spanish equivalents: Playgroup for children of 2-3, Nursery and Reception (EYFS), Years 1-6 of primary, Years 7-11 of secondary with IGCSE and Years 12-13 with AS and A Level (2 Bachillerato). In the younger groups there is the Montessori method and Chinese; in primary English, mathematics, science, music, art, computing, physical education, personal development and, separately in Spanish, Spanish language and culture; German is added later. In Year 13 pupils sit A Levels, Spanish language and Spanish literature are taught in Spanish, and there are three or four optional subjects.
Address Calle Navacerrada 13, 28430 Alpedrete, Madrid
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · authorised programmeNABSS · school is part of the networkschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: IGCSE (ages 14-16), A-Level (ages 16-18). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate. A-Level is the senior years, and their results are what British and many other universities admit on.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →NABSSschool network
NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain) is not an owner of schools but an association of British schools in Spain, founded in 1978 by a group of leading British schools in the country. According to the association, it has more than 80 member schools, which educate more than 49,000 children and employ more than 5,000 teachers. Only schools officially authorised by the Spanish authorities as foreign schools teaching the British education system and certified by the British Council after inspections can be members; new schools that are still developing are not admitted straight away. The association represents the schools' common interests, encourages collaboration between them and holds an annual conference; its school finder places member schools in Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Andalusia, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Murcia and other regions. The association's site is nabss.org.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Where leavers go: University of Cambridge · Imperial College London
The school writes that its graduates have entered universities in the top ten of world rankings, and names Cambridge and Imperial College; with IGCSE and A Levels one can apply to the United Kingdom, the USA and other countries, and in Spain they are recognised as ESO and Bachillerato. There is a guidance service for choosing studies after school.
Facilities
There is no data for this section yet.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school does not name its teachers or publish their number.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)85 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data64 Value for money (6%) scored at the median74 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
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