Colegio Británico de Cartagena

Location: Two campuses in Cartagena, Colombia: Castillogrande Campus on Av Piñango, and Anillo Vial Campus at KM 12. The campuses are accessible within the city via major roads. Castillogrande contact: (+57) 300 815 4026; Anillo Vial contact: (+57) 300 811 7729.

Little Skills CBC; Preschool; Elementary; Middle School; High School.

Private day school with international curricula (IB Diploma; Cognia) and bilingual programs.

Colombia

The school offers international and bilingual curricula. It pioneered the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) in Cartagena and provides a U.S. Diploma through Cognia, forming a triple qualification: Colombian bilingual, Cognia US Diploma and IB Diploma. The RULER program supports emotional intelligence in partnership with Yale University. A Highscope-inspired preschool program supports development in a bilingual environment. Language learning starts with English in preschool, with French introduced from 4th grade through 12th grade and English proficiency certified with the TOEFL exam in high school. The academic levels span Little Skills, Preschool, Elementary (Active Learning), Middle School (multilingualism) and High School (Triple qualification: national bilingual, Cognia and IB diploma).

The school's triple qualification enables access to universities around the world, through Colombian bilingual, Cognia American and IB Diploma credentials.

Be Well is the school's framework for wellbeing and mental health. It defines five focus areas: Sleep, Healthy Living, Social Networks and Screen Time, Brain and Your Wellbeing, and It's Good to Talk. It provides guidance to students, staff and families on maintaining emotional and physical wellbeing. The school promotes a positive wellbeing culture with universal and targeted supports to develop resilience and social-emotional skills, including cross-curricular approaches to risk awareness from K2 to K12 and the daily application of the RULER program for emotional regulation. Be Well activities include Global Be Well Day, safe spaces, and student voice surveys to identify vulnerable students and tailor support. The safeguarding lead coordinates wellbeing and safeguarding across the school.

Emotional and social support is provided universally, with additional support available through a SENCO (coordinator of special educational needs) who assesses student needs and either provides direct support or refers to the appropriate professional (DSL or safeguarding/coexistence teams) when more resources are required. The school offers individual support programs that strengthen social, emotional and behavioral skills, and inclusion is implemented through the Decree of Educational Inclusion with development of DUA and PIAR (Plan for Inclusion and Reasonable Adjustments). When universal supports are not enough, there is access to more specialized help, including SENCO, psychoeducational work with psychology, or a shadow tutor trained in safeguarding. One-to-one sessions enable students to discuss concerns in a confidential setting, while the school does not substitute professional mental health or clinical care. The school collaborates with families and external specialists to ensure access to appropriate services.

The Cognita-RedCol international network prioritizes mental health and wellbeing and defines Be Well as a cross-school focus. The Be Well framework directs attention to five areas—Sleep, Healthy Living, Social Networks and Screen Time, Brain and Your Wellbeing, and It's Good to Talk—and provides guidance to students, staff and families on maintaining wellbeing. The network fosters a healthy culture and delivers school-wide wellbeing education, including routines, preventative programs, and the RULER approach for emotional regulation, as well as calm spaces and transversal wellbeing initiatives from K2 to K12. Global Be Well Day activities and the VOS (student voice) survey help identify vulnerable students and shape targeted supports. Safeguarding and wellbeing strategies are integrated to ensure timely support and family involvement in wellbeing decisions.

Safeguarding is a school-wide priority with a Designated Safeguarding Lead (and deputy) and a contact network to coordinate safeguarding across the school. All staff have a responsibility to support safeguarding and must report concerns to the safeguarding lead, who will inform parents and coordinate with external agencies as needed. If a student is at risk or discloses abuse, staff follow internal safeguarding protocols and involve the safeguarding lead or deputy, with external agencies engaged when appropriate. Cases are reviewed at least monthly, with weekly follow-up in suicide-risk situations and ongoing collaboration with parents and safeguarding professionals. Staff receive safeguarding training and guidance on conduct, and a shadow tutor may be assigned with safeguarding training when needed. In extreme cases, temporary or permanent withdrawal may be considered in agreement with families and treating professionals to protect the student and the wider community.

1. General requirements: The College admits students from Kindergarten 1 through 9th grade. For grades 10 and 11, each case must be evaluated with prior authorization of the Rectorate; there are no admissions to Grade 12. Parents interested must register some initial data with the Admissions Department and authorize the processing of their personal data. Kinder 3 applicants have a Play Day scheduled on an internal day (Day 5), which is the day the Psychology Department has designated for admissions processes. Applicants to primary and secondary grades must undergo an interview with Psychology and knowledge tests (including an English test). The interview also applies to the parents. 2. Description of the admissions process: Families express their interest in starting the admissions process and send initial information. The school receives the information and invites them to an informational talk. The school offers an informational talk, a presentation of the educational project, a tour of the school, and the purchase of the application form. Families submit the required documentation for the admissions process. Valuation activity: for Kinder 1, after receipt of the applicants' documents, the valuation activity and parent interview are scheduled; for other grades, knowledge tests and interviews with the applicant and with the parents are conducted. The Admissions Committee reviews the documentation and the results of the valuation and interviews to make the final decision. The admissions outcome is: Admitted (continues to enrollment); Not admitted (the reasons are communicated to the family); Partially admitted (the possibility of admission is reviewed by the committee). 3. Diploma Programme entrance: All CBC students may access the Diploma Programme and the IB does not exclude them. All students enrolled at CBC will study the Diploma Programme subjects during the last two years of schooling (Grade 11 and 12). At the end, all students may sit the official IB examinations to obtain the IB Diploma. Depending on the results obtained during the first year and the student's specific conditions, the possibility of awarding certifications instead of the Diploma may be considered. Applicants to Grade 11 from other schools must have outstanding academic results in the majority of the assessments administered, and the Admissions Committee will consider these along with the other required criteria. Grade 11 admissions are at the discretion of the Rector, the Head of the Diploma Programme, and the Diploma Programme Coordinator once it is verified that the student has met in another institution the same subject requirements that will be offered by the College. The Diploma Coordinator informs students of the Diploma Programme elective subjects and teachers present their subjects so that students can make informed decisions about the subjects they will study during the two-year programme. The Coordinator organizes the student groups for each subject area according to the offering for the school year. 4. Responsibilities: The Diploma Programme Coordinator organizes, counsels, and follows up with students through the different admission stages. The Coordinator organizes and conducts informational talks for families interested in the school and for 10th-grade students, and administers student enrollment. Teachers, in addition to knowing and complying with the established guidelines, actively present their subjects to students and support them in choosing what is best for each individual, and provide important information to the Diploma Programme Coordinator for subject planning. Parents and administration know and comply with the guidelines. 5. Updates: 20/10/17 Creation (Version 01). 15/08/24 Introduction and diploma requirements (Version 02). Includes the possibility of suggesting certifications in place of the diploma.