Courses are given by a team of trained psychologists, teachers and professionals at all teaching levels, from primary school till university, with the collaboration of several public and private agencies as well as well-known professionals.
Courses are planned to achieve the aims and objectives designed in the EPSEM Enrichment Model, whose principal aim, for more than a decade, has been our theme: "It is not planned to make exceptional people, but happy children".
The Educational Psychology and Social Enrichment Model (EPSEM), created in 1989, is based on the study of the developmental differences in gifted students, according to an exhaustive identification and evaluation process. This allows us to know every child’s characteristics well in order to provide personal counselling and treatment, according to different educational, emotional, motivational, social, etc. factors.
The courses of the EPSEM Programme are an enrichment extracurricular education strategy that consists of designing personal programmes, according to every child’s characteristics, following vertical or horizontal criteria as required and applied simultaneously to the normal and regular instructional programme. The courses of the EPSEM Programme are useful for the improvement of the regular curricula, because they incorporate and allow the realization of different activities that can not be implemented in the regular classroom. Besides they promote the cognitive, social and emotional development of the children and youngsters.
General objectives of EPSEM Programme are:
- the prevention of failure in school;
- the increase of motivation;
- the stimulation of search and relationship;
- the provision of security for students so that they can meet other students that think, feel and talk the same way they do.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE EPSEM PROGRAMME:
Problem-solving and social-relational skills are critical to success in both study and relational areas.
The course of the EPSEM Programme consists on providing experiences that enable students to discover how to use problem-solving and socio-relational skills in a wide variety of situations.
Developing research capacity: search activity is characterized to be a thoughtful, systematic and methodical activity, and it is aimed to gain knowledge and solve scientific, philosophical or empirical-technical problems.
It is a stimulus for the creative intellectual activity. It helps to develop a growing curiosity about problem solving, and, also, it contributes to the advancement of critical reading. It is important to consider that one of the educational aims is to develop thinking skills. Simple definitions and explanations are not sufficient. It is more practical to understand ideas confronting to problems.
Different type of activities and international techniques (translated and/or adapted), that require no specific field of study, are been chosen for working with students. So, we have been able to focus on strategies applied to problem solving and socio-relational skills.
Activities made in every area are concreted in every enrichment course.
Students work in the following areas:
a) DEVELOPMENT OF COGNITIVE SKILLS
- Improving cognitive skills.
- Encouraging research and improving expository and creative skills.
- Amplifying and deepening themes.
b) DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-RELATIONAL SKILLS
Building values and developing critical thinking.
Ending the course, parents are given a detailed report about the activities that student have made in every area, as well a qualitative observation by the teachers about the progress of the student during the course.
