Hands Across Europe N E W S L E T T E R IES Ben Gabirol Edition. December 2005 Introduction
Welcome to the 1 st edition of “The Hands across Europe” Newsletter. Here we are presenting you, our partner schools in Carrickfergus, Nauen, Wloclawek, Legnano and Gulbene, the 1st issue of our Comenius Newsletter. We want to introduce you to our school, Ben Gabirol: its present facilities and curriculum, its staff and head teacher, and its students’ leisure time, likes and dislikes and expectations for the future. At Ben Gabirol everybody is very excited and enthusiastic about taking part on this new and ambitious project that will focus upon the social, political, historical and economical changes that have taken place over the past century within our respective countries. Our main objectives will be sharing our cultural heritage, values and lifestyles with our partners in Europe and promoting, raising and broadening the European awareness of all participants Pupils and teachers will have the opportunity to visit and make friends among the partner schools throughout the project. Thus pupils and staff will increase their knowledge of other European countries, languages and lifestyles and will be better informed as European citizens. Hopefully our teaching experience will also be enriched by exchanging our worries and concerns relating Education in our six schools. Let’s do our very best to make this experience memorable for everyone .
OUR SCHOOL: Who was Ben Gabirol?
He was a Jewish poet and philosopher born in Malaga in 1021. His poetry deals with nature and love but it also expresses bitterness, anguish feelings of helplessness towards the trials of life. Gabirol’s work was focused on the origin of the soul and its relationship to its Divine source. He composed over three hundred poems. He died in 1058. He left no record of a wife or a family. He wrote “Behold, I have spent my life in search of truth while others have wasted their substance on love”.
IES Ben Gabirol
Ben Gabirol is a state secondary school founded in 1986 and located in a densely populated area called Cruz de Humilladero on the west of Malaga. Our school has had a website since 2000, which has been awarded twice. The webpage is: www.iesbengabirol.org At present, 672 students attend our school, taught by 55 teachers (23 male and 32 female) 359 students in compulsory secondary education 148 students in post compulsory secondary education (“Bachillerato”) 165 students in Vocational Training. The students’ ages range from 12-16 (compulsory education); 16-18 (“Bachillerato”, post-compulsory education); 16-18 and 1820 (Vocational Studies) This school year, as a major novelty, all classrooms have been equipped with computers in an effort to adapt the school to new technologies.
School Facilities:
Sports Pavilion Assembly Hall Computer Rooms Library Science Laboratory Language Laboratory Technology Room Music Room Physics Laboratory Chemistry Laboratory Staff room Art room
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COM OMPULS LSOR RY Y SECCON OND DAR ARY
NEWSLETTER
4 YEARS Commoncore subjects taught in year 1, 2 and 3. Optional subjects offered in year 4: Computers, Science, Physics, Chemistry
OPTIONAL SUBJECTS
Biology Geology Maths Physics and Chemistry COMMON SUBJECTS:
Sciences of Nature an d Heal th
I.E.S. BEN GABI ROL
POS T-C COMPPUULSSORY SSECONDARRYY
CURRIC UL UM
So cial Sciences An d Hu mani ties MIDDLE CERTIFICATE (2000 Hours)
VOCATIO NAL TRAINING
Certificate of compulsory Secondary needed
HIGH CERTIFICATE (1800 hours) Certificate of Postcompulsory secondary needed
QUA LIF IESS F ORR JO BS CO NN E CTED ED WITH H CAR RE O F T H E E LDE DE RLY Y
Language Foreign Language 1 Foreign Language 2 Spanish History Philosophy Physical education
SPECIALITY SUBJECTS
Greek Latin History of Contemporary World
Maths and Economy
Q UALI LIFIIES ES F OR R JJOB BS S CO NN NE CT ED D WIT H V VARIO US S FO RM S OF OF EN EN T ER RTA AINM EN T
QU UAL IFIE S FO OR JO OBS CON ON N ECT E D WIITH TH SOC CIIA AL AN D C CU ULT UR RAL IIN NT E GRA ATIIO ON OFF T HE DEP EPRIIV VED D
The t ea c h e rs of B en Ga bi r o l S e con d ar y S c ho o l The staff of our school consists of 55 teachers (45% women/55 % men). Approxima-tely 15 % of the staff take part in the Comenius Project. As the range of subjects they teach is as varied as their interests, they are willing to contribute to the success of the project in several ways: guiding you throughout the history of our city (Laura López and Carmen García), discovering the wide variety of the local fauna and flora (Lola López), showing you the artistic richness of the region (Carmen Roldan) and, of course, letting you know more about us (Mª Mar Artero, Miguel García, Ana González, Miguel Angel Moya, Santiago Cordero and Joaquín Segura). Lots of helping hands for the cultural project we have started.
Our Head Teacher: Julián Julio Mainer Lasheras Julio Mainer was born in Madrid. He studied Physics in the Complutense University in Mádrid. He did some research on Magnetic Anomalies in the same university. He became a teacher in 1974 and taught in different cities before he came to Málaga to live and teach at Ben Gabirol in 1987. He was the Head of the Physics Department and also the Head of Studies for several years before being appointed Head Teacher in 2001. The previous year, 2000, Julio designed a Webpage which was awarded a second prize on a Webpage Contest organized by the Junta de Andalucía (our regional government). The page was jointly produced by Julio and a group of 2º Bachillerato students (A level). The page’s main aim was to make Physics easier and more enjoyable for students to learn. He has been our Head Teacher for the last five years. We all appreciate his concern, involvement, dedication, hard work and enthusiasm in his post.
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SURVEY: LEISURE TIME
Favourite Leisure activities at Ben Gabirol:
1. Going out with friends. 2. Listening to music Favourite types of music: regat贸n, pop, hip-hop, and rock. Their first choice is Spanish music, followed by English music.
3. Watching TV
They watch TV two hours daily, usually in the evenings. They are selective in what they watch. In general, they think TV programmes are rubbish
4. Computers
90% of students own a computer and half of them are also connected to the Internet, which is mainly used for chatting or school work.
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5. Sports
6. Going to discos
7. Reading
Reading is not very popular as it is placed at the bottom of the list.
Likes and dislikes Students like wearing trendy clothes. They are fashion-conscious. Vocational Training students prefer hippy-style clothing.
School life and expectactions for the future
A high number of students have a high opinion of school and teachers. Vocational Training students think their relation with teachers and among themselves is excellent Relationship with:
Expectations after they finish their Compulsory Secondary Find a job 8% Voc ational Training 33%
‌your teachers ‌your classmates How do you feel at school?
Bachillerato (A level) 59%
Expectations after they finish their Post-Compulsory Secondary: 59% Bachillerato students (A-level students) want to go to university. 22% of Bachillerato students (A-level students)want to take Vocational Training. Vocational Training students would like to find a job connected with their studies.
They all hope to visit one of the countries that take part in the Comenius project.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF MÁLAGA
Malaga was founded in the 8th century B.C. by the Phoenicians. They called it MALACA (probably from the word malac - to salt) and they used the harbour as an important centre for salting fish. The Greeks followed the Phoenicians in the 6th century B.C. Málaga was further developed by the Romans, who colonised Spain in 218 B.C. giving it the status of a confederate city. The Romans stayed for more than six centuries. They enlarged the fortress and built a theatre as its foot, which is now partly excavated and open to the public. In 711 A.D. the Moors invaded Spain and Málaga became a major Moorish city and port, famed for figs and wine. It was one of the last Moorish cities to fall to the Christian conquerors, Isabella and Ferdinand who took it in 1487. Throughout history the region of Malaga has experienced several devastating natural disasters. Famines, epidemics, earthquakes and poor harvests contributed to the tragic 16th and 17th centuries.
Lucía Sánchez Diestro Andrea Navas Denisse Prystupa
The 18th century saw a renewal in commercial activity and economic growth mainly due to the commercial links with the American colonies. During the 19th century iron, steel and textile factories were built, making Malaga one of the most important industrial center in Spain. The economy of Malaga began to decline again when the colonies were lost at the end of the century. Another industrial recovery began after the civil war in 1937 but the biggest economic boom happened in the 1960's with the success of the tourism industry. Today’s Malaga is a modern city with lots of historical monuments like the Alcazaba, the cathedral, the Roman theatre and an interesting centre with other valuable buildings and important museums. Málaga has an important commercial port and airport. It has exceptional climate and is one of the main tourist destinations in the Spanish peninsula with the service sector being the basis of the economy.
TH E ST UD EN TS ’ CO MM IT EE : Sylvia Gutiérrez Vanesa Salazar Victoria Sanmartín Nazareth Moreno Nuria Santos Noelia Vázquez Camila Carlomagno Eugenia Santana
Nerea Ramirez Javier González Gema Cueto
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