Oak House School opened in 1968 in Barcelona, Spain and has since grown to 950 students while maintaining a family atmosphere and focus on students' academic, social, and emotional development. The school blends elements of the English and Catalan education systems in its curriculum. While it must comply with requirements of both systems, Oak House also offers the International Baccalaureate program and Cambridge IGCSE exams to students. The school has added new programs like the IB Diploma and is constructing a new building, while also seeing increased enrollment despite economic challenges through strict cost control.

1. Our overriding aim is to fully equip the students to deal
with the challenges they will face when they leave our school
Julie Harris, Headteacher of Oak House School:
“ ”Oak House School opened on September 19th,
1968. As the number of pupils at Oak House grew,
the school gradually increased its facilities. There is
something which remains unchanged from the
early days, we still retain a family atmosphere, with
the sole objective of providing the finest education
for our pupils.
In September 1989, Oak House School, S.A. changed
to the present day Oak House School Private Foun-
dation, a non-profit organisation.
Oak House School teaches English from pres-
chool with native teachers, so that, once they
finish, the students can communicate effectively
in English, Spanish and Catalan. However, apart
from bilingualism, what other benefits does
choosing a school like yours bring?
We focus on our pupils as individuals and aim to
help and motivate each student to achieve their full
academic potential. We also recognize the impor-
tance of the social and emotional aspects of a
pupil’s education as well as the importance of self
confidence.
The school currently has 950 pupils and numbers
are planned to increase with the opening of the
new building and the introduction of the Inter-
national Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
What factors do you bear in mind when planning
the curriculum for your students?
When planning the education of our pupils, our
overriding aim is to fully equip them to deal with
the challenges they will face when they leave our
school. These challenges will be both academic,
social and emotional.
Our Early Years and Primary curriculum content is
largely determined by the requirements of the
English education system, and complemented by
the teaching of Spanish and Catalan language. In
the secondary years our curriculum content is large-
ly determined by the compulsory elements of the
Catalan education system, and complemented by
Cambridge International General Certificate of
Secondary Education (IGCSE) exam preparation in a
range of subjects.
At the age of 16, pupils can choose between the
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme,
taught in English and the Spanish Bachillerato cour-
ses, largely taught in Spanish and Catalan.
What benefits and what barriers can a school like
yours have in Spain?
A school such as Oak House has certain advantages,
for example, we can take the best elements of both
the English and Catalan education systems and
blend them to form our own unique curriculum.
Of course, we don’t have total freedom, we have to
comply with the British inspection criteria and the
requirements of the Catalan education system.
You teach in a way such that the students from a
young age start to learn about aspects of the
working world. How do you encourage this busi-
ness-school relationship, looking to the future
employment of your students?
This is an area which we are keen to develop further.
We are fortunate to have many ex-pupils and
parents willing to give up their time to share their
professional experiences with our students. These
talks help to open-up the world of work.
However, we are working to develop this by provi-
ding opportunities for our students to spend time
in the workplace, thus gaining a greater insight into
the world of work.
How has the economic crisis affected Oak House
School? Have you seen signs of recovery in the
last few months?
We have seen the effect of the economic crisis and
have worked hard to contain school fees through a
strict control of our expenses, while protecting the
quality of our education. With regard to overall
pupil numbers, we have not been significantly affec-
ted. In fact, our numbers have increased by 8% over
the last 2 years and we have waiting lists in many of
the year-groups. This is hopefully, an indication of
economic recovery.
You are a school that always strives to do better.
What new activities and projects are you develo-
ping at the moment?
We have added several exciting projects in
progress: the widely recognized International
Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) to our curri-
cular offer, we have begun construction of a new
building to house our Bachillerato and IB pupils,
which will be ready for use in September 2015; and
we are building up a network of schools in Engli-
sh-speaking countries around the world, who will
join our Experiential Learning Programme.
Come next month you will have been members
of the Chamber for a year. How would you define
the contribution our organization has made
during this year to Oak House?
The advantages of being a member have quickly
become evident. The events organised afford won-
derful opportunities for Oak House to become more
visible, both within Barcelona as whole and
amongst the Chamber’s members. Our contact with
the Chamber has also led to contact with other orga-
nizations such as Barcelona Global.
The events organised by the
Chamber afford wonderful
opportunities for Oak House to
become more visible
“
”
Julie Harris, Headteacher of
Oak House School