On Thursday 4th August, 12 teachers from the three sections of The Grange School (Lower Prep, Upper Prep and Senior School) participated in the Programa de Liderazgo Astoreca (PLA), a formative initiative that has been running for the past four years. Each year, the programme selects leaders from the three Astoreca schools (San Joaquín, San Juan, and San José) to be trained in instructional and cultural leadership. This year, our School was invited to accompany these selected educators in the programme.

The Astoreca schools are recognised as highly effective institutions where more than 90% of pupils continue their studies in “educación superior técnica o universitaria”. For the past three years, members of the Astoreca school community have visited The Grange School to learn from our best practices. This most recent visit marked an exciting new stage of collaboration: an exchange spearheaded by Upper Prep that fosters a two-way alliance where both communities share and learn best practices from one another.

During this round of observations, The Grange School teachers had the chance to visit classrooms, observe school routines and break times, and engage in conversations with school leaders, pupils, parents, and other members of the School Community. It was a valuable opportunity to see teaching and learning in action in a different school, to reflect on our practices, and to share ideas that will help strengthen teaching and learning in our own context.

We were also delighted to note that the” “Directora de Colegios de la Fundación Astoreca”, Mrs Ximena Torres Rodríguez—an Old Girl from the Class of 1984—shares this connection with our own Head of Upper Prep, Miss Rebeca Aguilera, also from the same generation.