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| About
the Department of Education and Training |
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| Ministerial
responsibility for the Department of Education and Training
is held by the Hon Dr B Linares. The
Department of Education & Training, under the control
of the Director of Education & Training, is responsible
for the management of education and training. The Director,
subject to the directions of the Minister, has a duty to promote
the education of the people of Gibraltar generally, to control
and direct educational policy, to administer and inspect all
schools and to ensure the due administration of the provisions
of the Education Act and any subsidiary legislation.
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| The
Senior Staff of the Department |
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The Senior Staff of the
Department consists of:
Title |
Staff Name |
| Director
of Education and Training |
Mr
E Gomez BA(Hons) PGCE MEd MIL |
| Senior
Education Adviser |
Mr
J Britto BEd Dip.Ed ADAES MEd |
| Principal
Educational Psychologist |
Mr
A E Trinidad BEd(Hons) MA MIL |
| Education Advisers: |
Mrs
S Payas BEd
Mr D Grech BSc MSc PGCE
Mr L Gomez BEd(Hons) ADCUM
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| Government
Training Officer |
Mr
E Reyes BSc PGCE |
| Administrative
Officer (SEO) |
Mrs
G. Catania |
| Assistant
Education Adviser |
Mr
S Sullivan BSc PGCE |
The Department
has responsibility for the development and implementation
of an effective framework for learning in all its forms –
full and part time, academic and vocational.
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| The
School System |
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| There
are 14 schools and 1 College of Further Education in the territory.
All teacher-training takes place in UK universities and colleges.
In addition, teachers must have a registration number issued
by the DfES(UK).
Details of the schools and College of Further
Education are as follows:
School Title |
Head Teacher |
| Gibraltar
College of Further Education |
Mr
V Hermida (BA(Ed) |
| Westside School |
Dr
G A Garcia BEd MEd PhD |
| Bayside School |
Mr
A Danino BA(Hons) PGCE MIL |
| Bishop Fitzgerald School |
Mrs
P. Lyon Cert. Ed. MEd |
| St Anne's School |
Mr
J. Cortes B.Phil |
| St
Joseph's Middle School |
Mr
G. Parody BEd, ADAES |
| Sacred
Heart School |
Mr
K Saez BEd(Hons) ADCUM |
| Hebrew
School |
Mrs
N. Garson Cert. Ed |
| Governor's
Meadow School |
Mrs
T Curtis BEd |
| Notre
Dame School |
Mrs
I Azzopardi TC |
| St
Bernard's School |
Mrs
P Duarte ADAES BEd |
| St
Joseph's First School |
Mrs
M T Viales, Cert. Ed |
| St
Mary's School |
Mrs
N McLaren BEd |
| St
Paul's School |
Mrs
J. Montegriffo, BEd |
| St
Martin's Special School |
Mrs
A Lukas, MA |
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| Pre-school Education |
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The Gibraltar Government
provides a number of places in nursery units for children
of pre-school age. Current Government provision for pre-school
children is catered for by St Paul’s Nursery, St Paul’s
First School and Nursery, St Mary’s First School and
Nursery, Governor’s Meadow First School and Nursery,
St Bernard’s Nursery, Notre Dame First School and Nursery
and St Joseph’s First School and Nursery. There is also
a Nursery attached to St Martin’s Special School.
A
number of privately run playgroups and nurseries augment Government
provision. There are currently 10 private playgroups/nurseries
registered with the Department of Education and Training.
These are inspected jointly by the Environmental Agency, City
Fire Brigade and the Department of Education and Training
to ensure minimum standards of accommodation, numbers on roll
and staffing levels.
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| Primary
Education |
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Primary Education
is free, full-time and compulsory for residents between the
ages of 4+/7+ (Years R to 3) and in Middle Schools for the
8+/12 age-range (Years 4 to 7). All these schools are co-educational
and English is the language of instruction. Spanish is introduced
formally in the Middle School (Year 4), although in certain
circumstances relating to special needs and work with reception
class children, the use of Spanish is not discouraged in first
schools. All curricula are governed by the National Curriculum
Regulations which is based on the National Curriculum for
England. There are specific differences in respect of Spanish
and other subjects (including Religious Education) which reflect
local realities.
Entry to
formal education in the First Schools and the Hebrew Primary
School takes place at the commencement of the Autumn Term
each year. This is organised in such a way that all children
who will attain the age of 5 during the academic year are
enrolled at the beginning of the academic year. To ease the
transition into schooling, morning sessions only are attended
for a period of time. Morning sessions plus afternoon sessions
follow this later on during the year. Finally, full attendance
for both morning and afternoon sessions follow. Schools are
free to determine when and how often children start attending
afternoon sessions.
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| Secondary
Education |
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| Secondary
Education is free, full-time and compulsory between the ages
12+ and 15+ years. The 11+ selective system came to an end in
1972, with the two single-sex grammar schools, and the four
single-sex secondary modern schools merging into the two existing
single-sex comprehensive schools.
As is
the case at Primary level, the secondary curriculum is defined
by National Curriculum legislation. In the first two years
(Years 8 and 9), both secondary schools offer a broad compulsory
curriculum which includes English, Mathematics, Science, French
or European Studies, Spanish, History, Geography, Art, Music,
Religious Education, Physical Education, Design and Technology
and Information and Communications Technology. In Years 10
and 11, pupils opt for a number of subjects from a range of
disciplines, always keeping to National Curriculum requirements,
in order to enable them to study this reduced number in greater
detail for public examination purposes. In addition, all pupils
take the core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science),
Religious Education and Physical Education.
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| Special
Education |
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| St
Martin’s School was opened in September 1976 and essentially
caters for a wide range of special needs for children between
the ages of 5+ and 16+.
A Special
Unit for children of First School age was established at Notre
Dame School in September 1983. A second unit was established
in January 1985 at Bishop Fitzgerald. These units cater for
children for whom St Martin’s would be inappropriate
but whose special needs cannot be met satisfactorily in the
mainstream classroom. Special needs provision at secondary
level is enhanced by providing a special unit at each Secondary
School. There is also an Alternative Learning Centre at Bayside
School which aims to provide support for disaffected pupils.
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| College
of Further Education |
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The
Gibraltar College of Further Education evolved from the Technical
School set up in 1949 under the auspices of the Ministry of
Defence (Royal Navy). The demise of the Royal Navy Technical
Colleges as Britain withdrew from its former colonies resulted
in a move to localise posts in Gibraltar and this was steadily
done from the mid-seventies onwards. The closure of the Royal
Navy Dockyard in Gibraltar in 1982 accelerated the localisation
process and this was completed in 1985 with the departure
of the last RN Principal and the complete transfer of the
facility to the Gibraltar Government.
Course
Provision
Full-time provision
is primarily centred on Intermediate and Advanced Courses
in Information Technology, Business and Finance Studies and
Built Environment Studies.
Day-release provision
in the main leads to NVQ Certificates at Level II and III
in such areas as Retailing, Administration, Bricklaying, Plastering,
Carpentry and Electronics or BTEC National Certificates in
IT, Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering.
An area of rapid
growth is that of courses leading to professional qualifications.
The College is providing tuition/tutorial support for bodies
such as ACCA, ILEX, ICSA, AAT and the Institute of Bankers.
There are also a large number of qualifications ranging from
GCSE to AS/A levels being offered to full-time students in
partnership with the two secondary schools as well as part-time
courses in the evenings.
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| Higher
Education |
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There are
no facilities in Gibraltar for full-time higher education, and
consequently, all students must study elsewhere at degree or
degree-equivalent level and certain non-degree courses.
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| Last
Revised : 07 April 2003 |
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