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IES Miguel de Molinos

Zaragoza, Spain · State

Illustration · Zaragoza

IES Miguel de Molinos is a state secondary school in Zaragoza, on Calle Gabriel García Márquez. It holds three levels at once: the four years of ESO; the bachillerato in four lines - arts, science and technology, general, and humanities and social sciences - plus a version of the bachillerato spread over three years instead of two; and vocational cycles in commerce and marketing and in computing and communications, including the qualification of Technician in Microcomputer Systems and Networks. The school makes the point that this lets a pupil go the whole way without changing institution. It has two bilingual sections, both long established. The English one follows the integrated MECD - British Council curriculum: the content and methods of the Spanish and British curricula together, Literacy five hours a week plus one or two extra, science and social sciences in English from the first to the third year of ESO and science with economics in the fourth; the school acts as a University of Cambridge examination centre for IGCSE and writes that all of its candidates have passed its International Diploma of Secondary Education six years running. A pupil in that section leaves with a special note about the British integrated curriculum on the ESO certificate and A2 in English, and can sit B1 free of charge at the municipal language school. The French section carries the LabelFrancÉducation mark: four hours of French a week, geography and history taught in French, a native-speaker conversation assistant, an exchange with Nîmes and a trip to Paris, a leaving certificate with a note about the French section, and A2 in French. Entry to the French section requires no test; entry to the English one comes from a bilingual primary school or through an entrance test. Lessons run from 8:15 to 14:05, and bilingual pupils have a seventh hour until 15:00 on one or two days a week, never on a Friday.