Jobshadowing in Madrid

On February 16, 17, and 18, the Spanish National eTwinning Support Service had the privilege of hosting colleagues from the National Support Services of Estonia, Malta, and Romania. Malta was represented by NSO Dr Rose-Anne Camilleri and Ambassadors Ms Michelle Borg and Graziella Brincat. This marked the conclusion of a job‑shadowing activity that began last year in Malta and continued in Estonia. On this occasion, the focus was placed on eTwinning Schools. Throughout the three days, good practices were shared and various collaboration proposals among the participating countries were discussed.

One of the most enriching moments was the visit to IES Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, an eTwinning School that exemplifies the five core values of this philosophy: shared leadership, collaboration, student agency, serving as a reference point for other schools, and innovation and inclusion. From the very first moment, a strong sense of teamwork, an excellent atmosphere of coexistence, and clear support from the leadership team for all proposed initiatives could be felt.

Among the various initiatives carried out at the school, the students explained how they develop the different educational projects and what these contribute to their multicompetence development. It was a true privilege to see students from different educational stages present their projects with autonomy, confidence, and great pride—and moreover, in English and French.

Among the school’s initiatives, the GM‑FM radio workshop and the monthly newspaper Gregorio Marañón Monthly stand out. Both are open spaces for student participation and are oriented toward critical and responsible communication.

IES Gregorio Marañón is also a preferred schooling centre for students with extensive support needs related to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The aim of this program is to create an educational, organizational, and methodological environment that meets the needs of these students within an inclusive context.

The students, in excellent English, also explained their participation in Global Classrooms (Model United Nations), a project that fosters skills such as research, debate, and negotiation, and that culminates in an international conference.

In addition to all these programs, the students at IES Gregorio Marañón take part in STEM initiatives, join mobility experiences, and develop eTwinning projects. In fact, we had the opportunity to hear about their project experiences, all of which were very positive: eTwinning opens doors, strengthens bonds, helps develop linguistic communication skills, and promotes collaboration between students from different European schools. The Gregorio Maratón project was also presented—a charity race entirely organized by the students and connected to the local community. Finally, we met a French eTwinning ambassador with whom the school collaborated last year on a project included in a pedagogical kit applicable to eTwinning projects linked to Erasmus mobilities. We are grateful to the students and educational team of IES Gregorio Marañón for their warm welcome and strong commitment to eTwinning values.