Ojen, Spain · PrivateColegio Ecos is a private bilingual school of the Attendis group on the Costa del Sol, the boys' half of a pair: the group's girls' school nearby is called Las Chapas. The school stands in the Elviria-La Mairena development, and there is an important subtlety of address here: the postcode and municipality on its own site are 29612, Ojén, whereas the IB register assigns the school to Marbella. Two IB programmes are authorised - the Primary Years Programme (PEP) and the Middle Years Programme (PAI) - while the school has only applied for the Diploma Programme and calls itself a "colegio de categoría solicitante para el Programa Diploma": the IB diploma is not awarded here yet. Teaching is bilingual, Spanish and English from the very start, with a third language - French, German or Portuguese - from the first year of primary school, and the school prepares pupils for Cambridge English certificates. Of the services, the school's page names a canteen and a school bus; as support it names weekly hours of personal and family counselling.
Key facts
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeAttendis · school is part of the networkWhat stands behind each entry
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
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: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Attendis is a private school group in southern Spain founded in 1972. On its site the group lists 20 schools and 13 Attendis Preschool nurseries in Andalusia and Extremadura: two schools each in Algeciras, Almería, Badajoz, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, Marbella, Seville and the El Puerto de Santa María and Jerez area. According to the group, all of its schools were started by parents inspired by the teachings of Saint Josemaría on education and the family. Since the early years the schools have been run by the public limited company Centros Familiares de Enseñanza, registered in the Seville Commercial Register. The group's site is attendis.com.
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.