2023-09-05 12:24:49
It’s eight in the morning on a Monday in the SEK El Castillo school, in Madrid. The windows reveal the first flickers of the lights in the classrooms. The janitors open the patio doors, punctual as clockwork. And with them, the center welcomes the children who appear on the other side of the entrance accompanied by their parents.
He parting moment it is as particular as the character that defines each student. Some, more affectionate, say bye kissing their parents. Others resist and their relatives slap their faces when they manage to catch them off guard. There are also those who run to meet their friends, trying to take advantage of the time before it is time to line up to enter class.
In a matter of minutes, there is no noise left on the street. Only the silhouettes of those parents who stay until the last moment, and while they wait they cannot help but wonder if they are doing it right, if their children are as happy outside as they are at home. If there is someone capable of putting a thousand eyes on them, taking into account that there are more than a thousand boys in the school, and that whoever can achieve such an achievement should be considered, in any case, a superhero.
matilde castro She’s one of those professional looking panorama at school. Inside the classroom, she teaches Physics and Chemistry to the children of ESO, but outside of it, her day does not leave her without homework to do either. For a little over a year, she has been working as wellness coordinator in the center, a position that turns the teacher into a kind of “emotional reference for students“.
In his day to day, Castro works from the mission of “creating a pleasant climate in which children and professionals can be comfortable, feel safe and find a space to go to if they are having a problem inside or outside the school”. During his conversation with EL ESPAÑOL, he explains that his job is to ensure “that detection policies and protocols are established to tackle problems that students may have”.
Actually, his figure is a novelty both for the Madrid school and for the rest that implement it in Spain. Talk of the welfare coordinator began with the development of the Organic Law 8/2021and this was officially incorporated into Spanish schools with the beginning of last year.
Mental health in childhood
Happy children learn more. This is how multiple studies that establish a direct relationship between the emotional well-being and the academic performance of school-age children, revealing that their ability to retain concepts depends to a large extent on the state of mind with which they study them.
In schools, it is not difficult to find cases of students whose grades have worsened following going through events such as the divorce of the parents, the change of residence or the loss of a loved one. In these cases, most of the work is more emotional than academic. For this reason, says Castro, “teachers must be trained in emotional skills so that they can give support to students and help them manage their emotional crises.”
The teacher explains that, when there is a conflictive case, they start a chain of actions that begins with the involvement of the tutor. “It is essential that there is a good student-teacher relationship, because this is the one who will best notice a different behavior in the minor,” he explains.
“At the school we treat students individually and when necessary we implement a monitoring system, because the guardian cannot always see the symptoms“. Matilde Castro collaborates with the guidance department and the medical service to ensure that “any problem that a child is suffering from can be detected in time.” Thus, when seeing strange marks or other signs that might indicate, for example, physical abuse, action is immediate.
Another major concern of the SEK El Castillo school revolves around the problem of bullying, one of the most frequent causes of juvenile mortality in Spain. The center launches numerous initiatives with the aim of the child will never be alone. Cultural workshops, tournaments, games and cultural exchanges with which “we create a system of networks that makes children always feel welcome”.
In this same line, the teacher takes advantage of her conversation with Enclave ODS to talk regarding the “house system” which the school has. What does it consist of exactly? The school is divided into four houses, very similar in definition to what is meant by a brotherhood.
In these groups, he explains, children from different grades mixwhich guarantees that “even if a student does not have a good relationship with his classmates, he can find in his casa a place to establish connections with children of other ages,” he explains. “It’s a networking system that allows them to feel comfortable and welcomed.”
In addition to these initiatives, Castro stresses the importance of prevention. “Children are small and sometimes they make mistakes in their relationships.” For this reason, it is essential that their learning is also emotional, that they are offered the necessary resources so that they know how to take care of their self-esteem and the way in which they relate to the environment.
In this, those who also have a primary role, especially when summer arrives and classes end, are families. “At school we also give talks and work in workshops with parents. It is very important to have everyone’s commitment to properly ensure the protection of minors, especially now that they have access to the digital environment.”
[Conociendo por dentro el colegio Internacional SEK El Castillo (Madrid)]
1693917748
#feel
