General information

The academic year will start on 7th September for all students (PYP Infants & Primary, MYP & DP). We would like to remind you that during the second week of September, starting 4th September, PYP Pre-Nursery and Nursery students will start their adaptation period (see point 2.4).

As mentioned above, on 7th September we will celebrate CIT´s 20th Anniversary with a special event. For this reason the school timetable for students on this day will be from 9 am to 2 pm (except for PYP Pre-Nursery & Nursery students see point 2.4), there will be adaptation of the bus service and departures on this day but there will be no restaurant service. In the circular we will be sending in August you will receive more information regarding the event that will take place on 7th September in the afternoon.

The last day of school will be 21st June for PYP (Infants & Primary), 24th June for MYP students and 28th June for students studying first year of DP.
In Appendix I – School Calendar for 2023-2024 academic year – you can find information regarding school holidays and the different projects programmed for the next academic year.

This summer the school office will be closed from July 31st to August 20th. If you need to contact us, we recommend you send us an email and we will contact you on Monday, August 21st. From 21st to 31st August we remind you that our office hours will be from 9:00am to 3:00pm.

School holidays and non-school days:

• 12th October (national holiday)
• 13th October (non-school day)
• 1st November (national holiday)
• 6th & 8th December (national holidays)
• 7th December (non-school day)
• Christmas holidays (25th December to 7th January)
• Semana Blanca (26th February to 3rd March)
• Easter holidays (25th- 31st March)
• 1st May (national holiday)
• 24th June (local holiday)

Below you can find the drop-off and pick-up times, as well as the locations.

PYP INFANTS

The walking gate for PYP Infants will be from Calle Finlandia; families will be able to accompany students to their classroom (see diagram 1).
When arriving by car (see diagram 1), students will wait in the Primary school restaurant, accompanied by a teacher. When the school gate closes, they will be taken to their respective classes.

Bus students will be accompanied by a monitor at all times, who will take them to their class in the mornings and pick them up from their class in the afternoon for the return bus journey. (see diagram 1)

The Early morning club will be available from the 7th September and the Late pick up on 8th September- except for Pre-nursery and Nursery students which will be available form 11th September.

Extracurricular activities will start in October; you will receive further information about these activities in Circular No. 2.

We will be sending an email at the end of August to confirm how and at what time you will be picking up each student.

PYP PRIMARY

PYP Primary students can enter school via the walking entrance in calle Finlandia (see diagram 2); from this point students will access their classes unaccompanied. Pick-up will be from the same point; students will be accompanied by teachers until they are picked up by an authorised adult.

When arriving by car (see diagram 2), students will be greeted by teachers and then will go directly to their classes unaccompanied. For the car pick-up they will be accompanied by a teacher at all times.

Students will be accompanied by a bus monitor during the bus route; upon arrival at school they will go directly to their classes unaccompanied (see diagram 2). For the return journey, as from pyp Year 4, students will go to the bus unaccompanied.

The Early morning club will be available from the 7th September. and the Late pick up service from 8th September. The Extra-Curricular Activities and Co-Learning will start in October. In Circular No. 2, you will receive more information about the activities on offer. We will also send an email at the end of August to confirm how, and at what time, you be picking up each student.

MYP & DP

MYP & DP students can enter via the walking entrance in calle Finlandia (see diagram 3); from this point students will access their classes unaccompanied. Pick-up will be from the same point. For reasons of safety, students are not allowed to access or leave the school through the main office gate nor the bus lane.

When arriving by car (see diagram 3), students will be greeted by teachers and then will go directly to their classes unaccompanied.

Students will be accompanied by a bus monitor during the bus route; upon arrival at school, they will go directly to their classes unaccompanied (see diagram 3).
The Early morning service will be available from the 7th September and the late pick up from the 8th September.

We will be sending an email at the end of August to confirm how and at what time you be picking up each student.

Car circuit

As you can see in the diagrams above, vehicles will access the school car circuit following the red arrows. During the process, the driver should not leave the car nor stop the engine.
We kindly request all families not to access or park in front of the car circuit entrance in the 20 minutes prior to its opening in order to facilitate the arrival of the school buses and respect the circulation regulations in the school surroundings. We would also like to remind MYP & DP families to not access the car circuit before 16:05.

Each vehicle should stop briefly at the corresponding pick-up/drop off point. The pick-up process should be done as quickly and safely as possible. The families with children in different school levels should stop at the first pick up/drop off point and then at the next one. The pick up point for students in PYP Infants, Year 2 & Year 3 is the one nearest to the exit.

In order to guarantee the children’s safety, and avoid accidents, it is totally prohibited to park on the circuit. We would also like to remind you that you are not allowed to collect any children who are waiting at the circuit if you are walking i.e. not in the circuit, due to a matter of safety and also because it could create confusion for the teachers who are supervising the children.

We also kindly request that families not use the pick-up circuit as an opportunity to speak to the teachers to resolve any questions they may have, as this could cause delays and difficulties on the circuit.

Drop-off and Pick-up protocol

The reception of all students will be made based on the established timings. For this:

A. Families should ensure that they leave the school grounds as soon as they drop their children off, leaving the space and the building available for its educational purpose. families should say goodbye to their children fast, and avoid having conversations with teachers when picking up and collecting their children. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that we all follow this rule as it shows respect for the student and will ensure their maximum safety.

B. The late arrival of students has a negative effect on the group and does not allow the individual student and the class group as a whole to take full advantage of the learning environment. For this reason, the school doors will be closed at 09:20 and once classes have started, the school entrances will remain closed. WE PLEASE ASK FOR PUNCTUALITY.

C. ARRIVING LATE TO SCHOOL: families and students who are not punctual will have to wait until the beginning of the next lesson to enter the class; this means waiting until the start of the following lesson to enter the classroom. At this stage, the student must be left in the Secretary’s office to be taken to the classroom. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MAY A PARENT/GUARDIAN LEAVE A STUDENT ALONE IN THE SECRETARY’S OFFICE DURING THIS TIME, NOR SHOULD HE/SHE ACCOMPANY THE STUDENT TO THEIR CLASS. Punctuality is considered to be very important. If there is a continued lack of punctuality, the Head of the School will intervene and take the necessary action with respect to the inconvenience to others (mainly their own child). It is important to respect the Secretary’s office space.

D. Access to the school building will remain closed during the school day. If you have a parent/teacher meeting, an appointment, or business in the Secretary’s office, we ask you, for your safety and the children’s safety, to close the school gate and ensure that it is kept closed at all times. Any information related to the needs of a student (special diet, care and attention of the child, bus, authorisations, pick up) should be communicated to the Secretary, preferably via email and always after leaving the child in class, in such a way that, following the internal communication procedure in the school, all messages will be shared with the corresponding person/s.

E. IMPORTANT: families who wish to collect their children early must notify the Secretary a minimum 1 hour before. Should a child need to be picked up by a person that is not part of the family, we remind you that the child will need to have been previously authorised by his families/guardian. Children can only be picked up during the stipulated timetable for each educational stage or preferably during breaktime. (Please see the time schedule on the school website in ‘Occasional Services’.)

MYP and DP students are allowed to leave the school on their own with previous authorisation from their families. Before they leave the school, they must sign the signing-out register at the school office.

F. Families who pick their children up walking, must avoid parking on the pavement outside the School. This is a safety request to avoid any possible accidents as well as not to occupy the road unnecessarily.

G. Families must respect the use of the School Car Park; please use only when needing to visit the school secretary. Please do not use this area as a pick up point

H. As a mandatory compliance measure, families will communicate the drop-off and pick-up of their child in order to ensure the correct organisation and safety of the school through the forms established in the timetable.

To facilitate the incorporation of new students into the school, on the first day of class (7th September for PYP (Infants & Primary), MYP and DP the teachers will meet them in the Co-working area (opposite the main school entrance) at 10:00, half an hour after classes start. Families can say goodbye to their children at this time and the teachers will accompany the new students to their classes where they will meet their tutor and classmates. There will be designated areas for each year group in order to avoid crowds.

During the first days of school, ALL new students from PYP Infants (Pre-Nursery, Nursery, Reception & Year 1) & PYP Primary (Year 2), should wear an identification card in a visible place that will be given to them the first day. This card will help the staff and other members of the School to identify and establish a relationship with the students.

INDUCTION PERIOD PYP INFANT (PRE-NURSERY & NURSERY)

Schooling is a big change and challenge for the Infant School children. This is the reason for which the school considers that the first days at school should be given very special consideration. The Induction Period sets a procedure with different steps and schedules to be followed by families, teachers and students during the first days at school.

We understand that this is a difficult and emotional period for both the children and families, this is why we consider it important to accompany the child. It is important that we leave as soon as we have said goodbye; this way we will help the children to adapt to their new environment (school, teachers, classmates, timetables etc.) as soon as possible and in a caring way.

Please find below the timetables for the Induction Period:

On the 29th August there will be a meeting for all families of Pre-nursery and Nursery students and new families of Reception and Year 1. An informative meeting regarding the daily routines of the Infant school.

From Monday 11th September all services (bus transport, early morning club, late pick up…) will be available for Pre-Nursery and Nursery students.

During the last week of August we will confirm each student´s class (Yellow or Orange). Pre-Nursery students will be in the White class.

* Notes:

• (+1) Means that the student should be accompanied to school by one parent/guardian.
• (+1-) Means that the student should be accompanied to school by one parent/guardian and will go to the coffee break organised by the school while his/her child will be in class with their classmates.
• ( – ) Means that the student should be accompanied to school by one parent/guardian who will say goodbye to him/her as soon as the child is safely inside the classroom.
• Students can bring a snack: water, fruit, juice, or a yoghurt drink.

The distribution for the rest of the Infant school groups is as follows:

ALEXIA

Alexia is our digital platform where you can follow your child’s school day, homework, communications, along with other information. During the first few days of September, all new families will receive an email with their credentials in order to access the online platform.

For those families who already have an account, we remind you that if you forget your Alexia username or password, you have to enter the Alexia login page, using the link “Forgot your password?”; you will have to enter the email address with which you provided us and click on the “I am not a robot” tab; you will receive an email with your username and the link to create a new password. Remember that this password has to have upper case, lower case and numbers and be at least 8 characters in length.

APP ALEXIA FAMILIES

The Alexia app for Families is a communication tool that favours the relationship between schools and families, allowing them to access information at any time and from anywhere. It is an application for IOS or Android smartphones with an intuitive navigation concept that adapts to the current way of communicating.

During the first weeks we will be offering some informative sessions on ALEXIA for those families who have any questions.

ALEXIA CLASSROOM

ALEXIA CLASSROOM is for students from PYP Year 2 onwards. Students will have their own username and password so that they can follow activities throughout the school year. Through the PSHE area in Alexia Classroom they will have all the information and the organisation of the work uploaded by the teachers.

OCCASIONAL SERVICES

As well as ALEXIA, the school also has a platform where you can book occasional services (bus, early morning club, late pick-up, early pick-up) which you can do through the reservation system available on the school website by clicking on the icon OCCASIONAL SERVICES.

The user name is the same one as you use to access Alexia and the password is pwd2324cit. Once you enter, you can modify the password to a personal one that you will remember for future reservations. New for this year: you will be able to recover your password if forgotten.

Once you enter you will find the following icons:

One of CIT´s marks of identity since its foundation is our ‘Experiential Curriculum’ which corresponds to a holistic view of the learning process: we do not only learn content but also values, competences (capacities, abilities and skills); we do not only learn “from others” (experts and teachers), but also “with others” (by collaborating) and “for others” (engaging socially); we do not only learn by preparing ourselves for an academic future (or career) but also for a professional future by exploring our talents, our options, our preferences, our enjoyment, what allows us to genuinely fulfil ourselves.

Ultimately, we know that we not only learn inside the classroom but that we learn – and learn a lot – from what we dream, plan and do in the context of educational experiences designed with pedagogical principles for our educational community outside the classroom as well. These learning processes, when carried out in a coherent and progressive manner, show what is called character: a set of traits and qualities that determine the way we face the challenges and opportunities that life offers us so that we are in the best position to make the most of them for our own future and that of others.

As a curriculum it has its own structure which is organised as follows: 

• objectives
• values
• competencies
• areas of knowledge: optimal project, speech and debate, volunteering or service learning, professional development program (pdp), emotional intelligence and personal development, vocational and professional orientation program, good4us
• evaluation: personal portfolio
• methodological principles

To this end, CIT has established a curriculum of activities and experiences that are differentiated, cumulative, evaluable and progressive throughout the twelve years of school life of the students in our school from Primary to the year prior to their access to university, in 2nd Baccalaureate. Each of them has been chosen according to the level of maturity, autonomy and characteristics appropriate to each year group, and covers areas as diverse as sports and healthy leisure activities (sailing, golf, horse-riding, skiing,…), volunteering, multi-adventure trips and expeditions, nature experiences, leadership & emotional outdoor training, Speech & Debate, vocational guidance, among others.

In addition, for Secondary and Baccalaureate students, the Career Guidance and Development Programme for High Employability is included as part of this experiential curriculum, which, with the support of their LEM – Learning Experience Manager – allows access to numerous courses certified by the most prestigious universities and companies at a national and an international level (IBM, Microsoft, Harvard, MIP, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Politécnic University of Valencia, TEC-Monterey, etc…).

All the evidence and merits resulting from these experiences are documented in a ‘Personal Portfolio’ accredited by institutions, organisations and companies of recognised prestige and which will form part of the academic documentation of each student at the end of their studies at the school together with the corresponding credential in addition to their Baccalaureate qualifications. The ‘Personal Portfolio’ is a fundamental tool for compiling and remembering all the experiences and learning that form part of the Experiential Curriculum. It is also a valuable instrument of evaluation and validation of the personal development of each student and for this reason it is an essential part of our educational commitment.

Throughout last year, we have had to make decisions and adaptations to this programme due to the exceptional situation we are living in, making a conscious effort to sustain and enhance not only the experiential curriculum itself but also the importance of the ‘school community’.
The ‘Experiential Curriculum’ is conceived as an opportunity to enhance, improve and include challenges and moments for a greater and more meaningful personal and professional growth of our students. Within this program of activities, there are some that are mandatory (such as the Optimo Project, speech and debate workshops, first aid course, etc.), which vary according to the age of the students, and others that are voluntary (volunteer opportunities, national debate league, university fairs, workshops, etc.).

Ever since its establishment in 2004, CIT has always used technology as a means of improving the educational process for our students via the ITAKA project (Interactive Training Aiming for Knowledge Achievement), promoting the acquisition of skills, knowledge and abilities leading to the formation of responsible and critical thinkers required for the world that we live in.

Therefore, the Bring Your Own Device project is simply the next step, a logical continuation of the ITAKA project’s evolution that we have been committed to from its origin and have continued to develop over time.

This coming school year, we have delayed the beginning of this project for Year 4 students another year, giving us space to research and work on digital skills with other tools that are not necessarily the students’ devices. Therefore, in September 2023, this project will be for PYP Year 5 and 6, MYP & DP students who will have the opportunity to bring their own devices (tablet with keyboard or laptop) to class, where they will work on activities and develop projects through technology. As well as team research work and familiarisation with new technologies, among other skills. For Year 5 to 2nd ESO we recommend an iPad with keyboard while from 3rd ESO/MYP4 we recommend a laptop.

In order to bring the devices to school, students must read and sign, together with their families, the use BYOD policy before 20th September. In this policy we would like to put special emphasis on the responsibility of all educational agents (families, students and teachers) in the responsible use and consumption of digital content and tools, to make them an efficient and productive element of our educational work. You will receive this document in Circular No. 2 with more information regarding the project.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (students between 16 -18 years old approximately, a stage corresponding to the National Baccalaureate in Spain) within CIT has its own organisation that is important to respect for the success of the students and the school. Within this organisation, the start of classes has been brought forward to 7th September to give teachers and students more time to carry out the necessary classes and activities for the correct follow-up of the program and its preparation. The last day of classes for students of the first year of the Diploma will be 28th June 2024.

In all of the DP subjects there are evaluation components (written and oral tests, projects, plays…etc) that are evaluated by anonymous external professionals, but assigned to the IB, the so called External Evaluations, and other components that are evaluated by CIT teachers but also externally moderated by external professionals, the so called Internal Evaluation. The teachers will publish the dates on which each student will have to take these official internal tests within the school and it is essential to respect the day and time assigned for it, being able to recover/change only if there is a medical justification.

The CIT Diploma Program has an internal calendar for internal assessments and mocks that can be found in Appendix VII. At CIT, we make every effort to ensure that students adhere to this schedule for their well-being and success. If any student does not respect the scheduled deadlines, he/she will have to follow the established reinforcement plans or attend the seminars organised by the teachers from 4 to 6 pm.

The official calendar of external tests (exams) for the second year of the International Baccalaureate Diploma for May 2024 will be published during the first term of the 2023/24 school year.