Jan
BIC Sant Agustí School
Baleares International College, Sant Agustí, is located in the high-quality residential environment of Sant Agustí on the south coast of Mallorca. The school is in a very accessible location, just on the outskirts of the capital, Palma. The school has a capacity for 160 students from 2 to 11 years of age.
Baleares International College, Sant Agustí, has excellent facilities for Primary age children including large, brightly lit and well-equipped classrooms as well as specialist facilities such as the library, music and art rooms. Information Technology is catered for by the use of Chromebooks throughout the school. There is plenty of safe play space on campus and each age group has its own area.
There is also a spacious dining room with views out to sea. We use the local Sports Centre for swimming lessons, have access to a local forest school and a make good use of nearby Calanova sailing club and beach. We have two dedicated language rooms focusing on Spanish, Catalan and German.
At BIC, Sant Agustí, we celebrate each student's achievements on a daily basis. The school's family values are built on respect and consideration of one another in a productive, caring environment, supported by highly qualified and dedicated teachers. We aim to create a stimulating and caring environment which enables all students to reach their potential and by doing so, develop the skills and confidence needed for a fulfilling life.
Directions: If you are coming from Palma on the Autovia, take exit 6 Génova/Sant Agustí. Take the second exit at the roundabout and then the first right onto Carrer Andreu Ferret. Continue straight on over Carrer Mónaco onto Carrer Noruega. Follow the road round and onto Camí son Toells. Turn right to continue on Camí son Toells and keep going until you see BIC Sant Agustí.
Age range
2–11
School hours
Day school,
08.45 to 15.45
Extra-curricular activities,
15.45 - 17.00 daily
Student / teacher ratio
10:1 (at full capacity)
Languages
- English
- Spanish
- Catalan
- German
- French
Curriculum
Early Years Foundation Stage
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
Facilities
Specialist language classrooms, outdoor classrooms, specialist Art and Music rooms, library, large sports court, Early Years playground, soft play area, spacious dining room, plus access to local forest school, sailing club, beach and sports centre
Welcome from the Principal
Baleares International College, Sant Agusti is set in a beautiful building just outside Palma and is one of the oldest schools on the island (founded in 1957). We provide a British curriculum within a truly diverse international community for children age 2 to 11.
Our excellent reputation both locally and internationally is underpinned by ensuring that all our children receive the high quality education they deserve. We have skilled teachers and small class sizes which enable our children to achieve academically and flourish personally.
The school has a warm, friendly atmosphere and a strong community feel. Children feel safe, happy and nurtured. We treat each child as a unique individual and aim to instil in them a sense of curiosity and a love of learning that will continue throughout their lives.
In addition to the challenging and broad British curriculum we also offer Spanish, Catalan (from Year 2) and German (from Year 3) during school hours. There is a dedicated art studio, music room, two language classrooms and an outdoor classroom. Our Director of Sport ensures we have an excellent sports programme for all students including sailing, beach volleyball and swimming. The local beach is just a few minutes down the road and the children are lucky to have a view of the sea from the spacious dining room! Children are encouraged to learn a musical instrument after school and we offer a range of tuition in musical instruments and singing. We have an excellent extra curricular programme with activities such as robotics and coding, art, martial arts and sailing.
After completing their Primary education at Sant Agustí, children have the opportunity to transition to our Sa Porrassa campus for their Secondary education. As part of the Orbital group the two schools work closely together and have the added advantage of being part of a wider global educational organisation. With links to schools around the world the students have the unique opportunity to learn globally and begin to think globally.
I look forward to welcoming you to our school where I am confident you will find something special and unique.
Janice Short
Principal, Baleares International College, Sant Agustí
BIC, Sant Agustí, has a large number of excellent facilities including: specialist language classrooms, outdoor classrooms, a large sports court and nursery playground, plus access to a local forest school, a sailing club, the beach and a sports centre with a heated indoor swimming pool. The school´s learning environment includes specialist Art and Music rooms, a soft play area, a Library and a spacious dining room. The classrooms are large, air-conditioned, well-lit and newly furnished.
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Janice Short
Principal
Janice Short has been involved in education for a number of years, starting her career in Wales as a primary school teacher for 15 years before moving into lecturing as a Primary Mathematics specialist at Glyndwr University, teaching on the teacher training degree as well as Early Childhood Studies and Education degree programmes. After moving abroad to teach in her first international school in Egypt, Janice then became a Head of Primary, founding the Primary school in an international school in Northern Malawi. Moving onto Gran Canaria as Head of Primary, she helped to lead the school to successful British Schools overseas accreditation by the UK’s Department of Education. She is a lead inspector for NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain).
Contact Email: janice.short@balearesint.net
Jaimy Van Iersel
Nursery Teacher
Miss Jaimy is the Nursery (Starfish) teacher and is passionate about Early Years children and teaching. She was born in Holland and moved to Austria at the age of sixteen to pursue her dream to live and work in the mountains. She lived there for 5 years, working as a ski and snowboard instructor in the winter, and enjoying a job as an outdoor instructor in the summertime. Later Jaimy moved to Mallorca and since then she has made this beautiful island her home and became a mummy of two wonderful little girls. Eight years ago, she arrived at BIC Sant Agustí in EYFS where she is at the centre of everything to do with Early Years!
Contact Email: jaimy.vaniersel@balearesint.net
Sara Enseñat
Nursery Teacher
Miss Sara is the Nursery (Starfish) teacher on a Friday. She qualified as a teacher in 2005. Before qualifying as a teacher, she worked at the BBC but always knew that working with children was her passion. After teaching in both KS1 and KS2 in South London for 10 years, she, her husband, 3 children moved to Mallorca in 2015. She is now a super happy member of the BIC team and enjoy every second she spends in the Nursery.
Email Contact: sara.ensenat@balearesint.net
Helen Carmichael
EYFS Assistant
Miss Helen comes from England where she started her career in Marketing for a Law firm, before working for 3 years as cabin crew. She then moved to this wonderful island which she has now made her home, along with her 2 children. She joined the BIC family 6 years ago where she was part of the Early Years team at Sa Porassa. She is now a valued member of our team here at San Agustin where she works in the Starfish Class Nursery as the Teaching Assistant to Miss Jaimy.
Contact Email: helen.carmichael@balearesint.net
Virginia Rabadan
Reception Teacher
Miss Virginia is our Reception (Seahorses) teacher. She has been an Early Years teacher for more than 20 years, teaching in England and Spain. She has been working for the Orbital Education Group since 2010, based in BIC Sant Agustí Campus. She is a very friendly person and very caring towards others. She also loves to take part and help in all sorts of charity events.
Email Contact: virginia.rabadan@balearesint.net
Karen Thomas
EYFS Assistant
Miss Karen is originally from Northern Ireland and has been living in Mallorca for 7 years. This is her third year working at BIC in Early Years. Miss Karen is dedicated to providing a safe and happy environment for the development of the children throughout their schooling and understands that every child is unique. She is the Teaching Assistant in Reception (Seahorses).
Contact Email: karen.thomas@balearesint.net
Alison Thorpe
Primary Teacher - Year 1 and acting SENDCO
Special educational needs co-ordinator
Ms Thorpe is our Y1 (Seals) teacher. She has over 10 years teaching experience in the UK and Spain in both independent and state schools. She is from East Anglia in England and received her BA in Primary Education at Anglia Ruskin University. She has lived and worked in both Madrid and London and now enjoys the island of Mallorca with her husband and daughter.
Contact Email: alison.thorpe@balearesint.net
Georgia Scott
Primary Teacher - Year 2 Turtles Class
Miss Stott is originally from Oxford in England and studied Education Studies in Bristol. She worked in Milan, Italy for 1 year and then returned to the UK as a TA in Nursery, before then completing her teacher training specialising in ages 3-7. This is her 4th year at BIC where she has been teaching in KS1. Outside of school she loves travelling, writing, studying languages and walking. She is our Year 2 (Turtles)) teacher.
Contact Email: georgia.stott@balearesint.net
Cathy Carter
Primary Assistant - Year 2
Miss Cathy is originally from Wilmslow in Cheshire, where she lived before moving to Mallorca. She started her teaching in Mallorca 12 years ago teaching Secondary English at BIC in Sa Porrassa, having studied French at the University of Leicester. She then moved to Sant Agustí, teaching Year 5 and is now enjoying her new role in school as Teaching Assistant in Year 2 Turtles class.
Contact Email: cathy.carter@balearesint.net
Carrie Martinez
Primary Teacher - Year 4 and EAL Coordinator
EAL - English as an additional language
Miss Martinez is a Year 4 (Jellyfish) class teacher and joined BIC in the 2017-2018 academic year. Since being at BIC she has been working in LKS2 but has experience working in Early Years and KS1. She loves that we are a small community school with strong family values. Miss Martinez is our school EAL coordinator and is passionate about languages and language acquisition.
Miss Martinez is originally from Manchester and has been working in international schools across Spain for over 10 years. She strives to inspire children to be happy, independent leaners who aim high and develop a lifelong love of learning. Outside of school she enjoys outdoor activities and considers herself privileged to live by the sea.
Contact Email: carrie.martinez@balearesint.net
Melanie Eccleshall
Primary Teacher - Year 5
Ms Eccleshall has recently moved to the island to start work at BIC as the Year 5 (Whales) class teacher. She is originally from England and has over twenty years’ experience working in schools in the UK and on the east coast of the USA. She uses this range of experiences to develop herself as a teaching professional and to ensure her classroom is a positive learning environment for all students. She believes in bringing education alive in the classroom and to support students to become confident and successful individuals.
Contact Email: melanie.eccleshall@balearesint.net
Sara Abbott
Primary Teacher - Year 6
Ms Abbott is the Year 6 (Sharks) teacher and is originally from Berkshire in the UK and has been living in Palma for two years. She has experience teaching KS1 and 2 and has previously undertaken roles of Literacy Coordinator and MFL coordinator. The latter is one of her biggest passions and she is thrilled to be teaching French to KS2 at BIC. Drama and the Arts are also great interests of Ms Abbott and she has performed in several amateur dramatic musicals in the UK. She loves the Mallorcan lifestyle and enjoys spending as much time as she can outside in the sun, visiting beaches and snorkelling.
Contact Email: sara.abbott@balearesint.net
Christopher Edwards
Primary Assistant - KS2
Mr Edwards is currently the Year 3 (Dolphins) primary assistant working alongside Miss Conway. He is from England and prior to teaching, worked as an Occupational therapist in various hospitals. Mr Edwards has worked at BIC Sant Agustí school for 3 years and enjoys supporting and helping the students thrive and develop.
Contact Email: christopher.edwards@balearesint.net
Maria Guerrero
Teacher of Spanish and Catalan
Miss Maria is one of our Spanish and Catalan teachers at BIC Sant Agustí. She has been in the school for 6 years. She is from Mallorca, where she studied to become a Primary teacher specialising in teaching languages. She also studied abroad in countries such as Sweden or Canada, where she had the opportunity to know other cultures and improve her English. She loves the school and the children, always trying her best for the children to learn and enjoy.
Contact Email: maria.guerrero@balearesint.net
Patricia Campos
Teacher of Spanish and Catalan - CANVAS Lead
Miss Campos one of our Spanish teachers at BIC Sant Agustí and is from Mallorca. She grew up in the south of the island and attended Primary and Middle school there. She studied for a Primary Teacher PE specialist degree in Leon, a city in the mainland. When she finished, she came back to Mallorca to undertake a teacher training course, allowing her to teach Catalan. She lived in England for three winters to improve her English knowledge and volunteered at a primary school, in Gateshead, Newcastle. She joined BIC in 2016 as a one to one teacher and then became a Spanish teacher.
Contact Email: patricia.campos@balearesint.net
Anita Baggaley
Teacher of Music
Mrs Baggaley teaches music at Sant Agustí to children in Nursery up to Year 6 and feels that music is a wonderful way for children to learn many skills in a different way than academic subjects. She thinks that she is the teacher who has been at BIC the longest, with this year being her 35th year at school!
When she started teaching at BIC, there was no music at all, so from small beginnings at Sant Agustí, we now have busy, active, exciting music departments in both BIC schools.
She is very proud now to be teaching the children of former pupils and the friendly, family atmosphere at school is still very much as it was all those years ago. She loves teaching music and hopes that all her pupils, past, present and to come will develop this same love.
Contact Email: anita.baggaley@balearesint.net
At BIC Sant Agustí we are very fortunate to have many beautiful beaches within walking distance from the school.
Part of our philosophy is for our children to spend as much time outdoors as possible and to enjoy the nature of the island. We use the local beaches in a variety of different ways:
BIC Beach Boot Camp
Key Stage 2 have a weekly session of BIC Beach Boot Camp where we jog to the beach and spend the sports session there. A combination of warm ups, yoga, boot camp style exercises and team games such as beach volleyball and capture the flag ensure that our students are challenged physically and learn new skills in a fresh and beautifully inspiring setting.
Beach Cleans and the Ondine Association
As a school, we work hard to educate our students about marine conservation and plastic pollution. As part of the curriculum we collaborate with the Ondine Association to deliver their Dos Manos Schools Programme. We support their vision of creative education and community action. We regularly participate in beach cleans around the island, which is also a great opportunity to get families together at the weekends, working towards a common local cause.
Fieldwork
Subjects such as Geography and Art lend themselves well to trips to the beach, where our students can explore and develop a range of skills from mapping the local area, discovering beach wildlife to sketching boats at the sailing club. We encourage our staff and students to take advantage of our local beaches, for them to develop a sense of wonder and respect for nature.
We are very lucky here at BIC Sant Agustí because there is a quaint little forest located just a 5-minute walk away from school – a perfect setting for “base camp” at Forest School. All of our students from Nursery through to Year 6 are given the opportunity to explore nature once a week as part of our Forest School initiative.
What is Forest School?
Forest School is an inspirational process, that offers all learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.
Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and compliments the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.
Key Features and Benefits of Forest Schools
- The use of a natural outdoor environment.
- A child-led approach to learning, which is fun and unhurried.
- A long-term, hands-on programme that allows repetition where children come into contact with nature using all their senses.
- Builds children’s confidence and self-esteem as they are responsible for making their own decisions and are carefully supported to achieve their goals.
- Allows every child to have a voice, especially those who find it difficult to communicate in a more conventional learning environment.
- A high adult-to-child ratio allows children to undertake new experiences and challenges whilst taking appropriate risks.
- Supports personalised learning.
- Trained adults, facilitators and observers rather than leaders and instructors.
A Hands-On Learning Experience, in a Natural Environment
Depending on the age group, examples of Forest School activities include:
- Woodland walks and nature trails
- Nature crowns
- Mini-beasting
- Shelter building
- Making teddy homes
- Forest School stories
- Basic tool-use to make minibeast hotels, wooden snakes, tree cookies, leaf presses etc
- Building and lighting fires
- Camping trips in forest areas
*Children take part in all activities under adult supervision of course.
Our facilities here at BIC Sant Agusti extend far beyond the school grounds. To enhance the opportunities we provide our students, we have excellent relationships with a number of facilities close by and use them on a regular basis.
Only a 5-minute walk from school along the beach, Port Calanova, home to the Spanish National Sailing School, with decades of history, unbeatable location, a highly-qualified professional team and fully equipped sports facilities, provides an ideal setting for our students to test their skills and master the art of sailing, kayaking and other exciting water sports.
This is both an element of our physical education curriculum and is available as an after-school club throughout the year. We also organise a summer camp at Port Calanova, available for all Orbital Education students around the world, giving them the perfect opportunity to think globally, make new friends, learn new skills, and enjoy the sport at the same time.
We are delighted to share the results of the December 2019 BIC, Sant Agustí Parents Survey
First and foremost, we would like to thank all parents who took the time to complete the Parent Survey. We really appreciate, both in the areas of real strength and those that we need to keep improving.
As a community, we embrace continuous improvement and want the best possible learning environment in school for our students, staff and parents.
Please find a copy of the 2019 Parent Survey Analysis here, shared with parents during our Parent Meeting on Thursday 30th January. During this session, our Principal, Ms Millar, talked through the main areas of the findings and discussed these with parents.
BIC, Sant Agustí Parent Survey analysis
The three areas that our parents believe Baleares International College, Sant Agustí excels in:
1- Personalised approach
2- Teaching staff
3- Leadership
4- Quality of education
96% of parents would recommend our school to others in the future.
The three areas you believe Baleares International College, Sant Agustí need to improve in:
1- Facilities
2- Afterschool activities
3- Quality of education
We are proud of how far we have come already and with our parents' continued support, encouragement and confidence, we look forward with excitement and positivity to continuing to enhance the learning experiences at Baleares International College, Sant Agustí.
What our parents say:
"When we arrived we saw the way they welcomed us and we immediately realised that this is the school our son would to without a doubt" - Primary Parent
"The personalised approach is by far the best we have come across since we moved to the Island" - Primary Parent
" The teachers are caring, smart and creative. They carry out fantastic activities with the children and constantly challenge them whilst making learning fun" - Primary parent
