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Botikazar BHI is an upper secondary school situated in Bilbao (Basque Country), a historic yet dynamic and modern town of 350.000 inhabitants. It is a laical and free school. The school has beautiful surroundings. It sits close to the Nervión-Ibaizabal estuary, 100 m. from the university of Deusto and overlooks the extraordinary Guggenheim Museum, as well as Iberdrola tower.
Botikazar is a modern upper secondary school, with 500 energetic students and an outstanding faculty of over 50 teachers. All of the students are enrolled in a two-year education called Bachillerato. After they graduate the students are qualified for university admission or advanced vocational training. Our students are between the ages of 16 and 18, provided they haven't retaken any school-year.
Teachers all have a university degree: Maths, History, Computing Science, Chemistry... and since 2010 they have to do a specific master degree to be teachers.
Botikazar is a plurilingual school, which means that students can study several subjects in English. In addition, they compulsorily study English, Basque and Spanish, but they can also choose German or French as optional foreign second languages. Those choosing humanistic studies must also study Latin, and they can also choose Greek.
Presently the school has 17 groups with roughly 30 students in each, and the large number of students and classes allow the school to offer a great variety of subjects and a few extra-curricular activities.
The school year commences in the second week of September and closes by the end of June with mainly written exams. We never do oral exams except for the language subjects. Each lesson lasts 55 minutes (60 on Friday). The students take 34 (1st year) and 33 lessons (2nd year) a week for 35 weeks.
Botikazar BHI is a democratically run institution, which places great emphasis on student and teacher participation. Teachers and students alike have committees in which matters of importance to the school are discussed and agreed upon. The committees advise and put forward proposals to the management board. But it is the Highest Governing Body (OMR, Órgano de Máxima Representación) that makes decisions and votes for or against all of the previous proposals. The members of the OMR are students, teachers, non-teaching staff and a council's representative.
In all subjects a high standard of teaching motivates and inspires students in their studies. Projects and experiments with new learning and teaching styles form an integral part of the school’s academic life.
Finally, an international orientation is part of the school’s objective. We place great emphasis on the fact that all students have the opportunity to meet foreign cultures in order to develop an international awareness. This is achieved through student exchanges, field trips, and visits by guest teachers and students.
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