Today, the Catalan Minister of Education Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray, the Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, and BIST President Andreu Mas-Colell visited the institute, set up with the collaboration of BIST.
The Angeleta Ferrer secondary school opened its doors for the first time last year in a temporary location. This September, 142 students started school at the institute in a brand-new building located in Barcelona’s Eixample neighbourhood. To mark the occasion, an official inauguration took place this morning with the Catalan Minister of Education Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray, the Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, BIST President Andreu Mas-Colell, and members of the school managing team, the education community, and students.
The institutional representatives visited the new premises and attended the press conference. As outlined in a press release, the new building has a total space of 4,870.65 m2 designed to host 500 secondary and baccalaureate students. It currently hosts 142 students: 81 from first year (1r ESO) and 61 from second (2n ESO).
A unique STEAM centre and a reference for teacher training
The secondary school will also become a centre for innovation in science education and training for teachers in STEAM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics). It is the result of three years of joint work by the Catalan Education Department and BIST to update the ways in which science and technology are taught in the Catalan system. The centre will generate new knowledge and tools for STEAM learning, some linked to the scientific research carried out at the BIST centres. It will also be a place to train teachers, both through stays at the institute and through best-practices dissemination to the whole education system.
The Catalan Department of Education, the institute’s team, and BIST are currently finishing the design of the teacher training and educational innovation programme, expected to be completed before the end of the year. This plan takes into account various possibilities for teacher training (with different formats and rhythms), collaborations with other centres and stakeholders, and specific milestones for transforming the system.
The centre will also facilitate joint work and the exchange of ideas between teachers and researchers from the seven BIST centres, connectingsecondary school education with cutting-edge scientific research.
