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Escola Semente Compostela

Santiago de Compostela, Spain · Private

Illustration · Santiago de Compostela

Semente Compostela is a non-profit school in Santiago de Compostela on Rúa Moas de Abaixo, recognised by the Galician government and accredited by the American NEASC. It takes children from two to twelve, at the kindergarten and primary stages. What sets it apart: the whole day runs in Galician, and that is the language of instruction. The school belongs to the Escolas de Ensino Galego Semente - a non-profit social initiative launched by the Gentalha do Pichel association, which together with other similar projects aims to lay the groundwork for a future Galician national school. Its name is taken from the Escolas de Ensino Galego of the early twentieth century, created by the Irmandades da Fala and driven by Leandro Carré and Ánxel Casal. The school states its purpose itself: to give children the chance to be in the world without giving up their own identity, and to show that all cultures matter, large and small, and that one need not abandon a mother tongue in order to acquire new ones. It lists its principles as a set: a Galician school, a feminist school, a secular and scientific school, an international school, a transformative school, a community school, a school in nature, an inclusive school - and more than a school. English the school names as a language in which teaching and communication also take place, and it treats the children's multilingualism as a resource. Teaching is by projects, in mixed-age groups and without ordinary textbooks, with much time spent outdoors: the school has a vegetable garden, a yard and an outdoor classroom. Around the school the association runs clubs in traditional music and dance, games and drama for children aged 3 to 16, 4 camps a year and Galician-language meetings for children under 3. The school lives, in its own words, on the work of activists and on the contributions of supporters. English the school names as a language in which teaching and communication also take place, and it treats the children's multilingualism as a resource. Teaching is by projects, in mixed-age groups and without ordinary textbooks, with much time spent outdoors: the school has a vegetable garden, a yard and an outdoor classroom. Around the school the association runs clubs in traditional music and dance, games and drama for children aged 3 to 16, 4 camps a year and Galician-language meetings for children under 3. The school lives, in its own words, on the work of activists and on the contributions of supporters.