The main task of the Guidance Department is to provide all students, without exception, with resources in a balanced and complementary way so that they can achieve successful development. In other words, to offer attention to diversity.

This path is followed collaboratively with students, teachers, families, the Management Team, external professionals, and local associations and services. Depending on the case, needs are managed either within the Ikastola itself or outside the Ikastola.

We have a multidisciplinary team, closely coordinated with the rest of the professionals at the Ikastola. The Guidance Department is made up of the following profiles.

COUNSELLORS AND GUIDANCE COUNSELLOR

They are organised by educational stage, and their task is to provide individual attention to students who need it and to design and coordinate the resources and strategies they require.

In the case of Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, guidance also comes into play. The guidance counsellor helps students acquire the skills they need to build their life projects, both in the academic field and in the personal sphere. To this end, among other things, decision-making strategies are worked on.

PSYCHOLOGIST

The support offered by the Ikastola’s psychologist is available to any student who needs psychological support. The support may be individual or group-based, and agreed with the family. It is one of the means offered by the Ikastola to care for emotional wellbeing.

THERAPEUTIC PEDAGOGY TEACHERS (PT)

Students who need it have a support teacher for a specific number of hours each week. The role of these teachers is to work on and develop, in a personalised way, the areas that need to be strengthened in the learning process.

SPEECH THERAPIST

The Ikastola’s speech therapist carries out observations of students in Early Childhood Education and offers guidelines to the families of students who need them.

THERAPEUTIC PSYCHOMOTRICIAN

We also have the perspective of a therapeutic psychomotrician within the team, which helps us to understand certain children’s behaviours and design appropriate resources. Individual therapy is not offered —the conditions for this are not in place—, but the psychomotricity team and the tutor are guided by this perspective.

EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT ASSISTANTS

Students who need it may have an educational support assistant, provided that the Department of Education approves this additional resource. The role of these professionals is to offer students full-time personalised attention, so that they can develop the skills needed to work within the group.

HIPI TEACHER

For students who have recently arrived in Euskal Herria, learning Basque is the first priority. In addition to having a personalised learning plan during school hours, the Ikastola offers personalised Basque language reinforcement to students who are learning Basque.

The work of the professionals in the Guidance Department is often invisible, but they form the backbone of the Ikastola’s educational practice. 

They observe the student as a whole and design a roadmap to multiply their chances of success. This path can have many dimensions: the emotional aspect, the academic area, the social sphere, physical limitations, motor development... To respond to all of these, they work along the following lines:

• Observation of students.
• Guidance for families.
• Individual and group interventions.
• Monitoring of specific programmes.
• Measurement of significant aspects through assessments or tests.
• Coordination with teachers and tutors.
• Coordination with external networks.

The work of this department is of great importance on the path towards building an inclusive Ikastola. That is, an Ikastola for everyone, where children and young people can achieve the greatest possible personal development.

This responsibility belongs to the entire educational community, and Aranzadi works every day not only to provide quality education, but also to guarantee students’ equal opportunities, justice and equity.