Commitment to Education
At Macmillan Education Iberia, we are committed to education and sustainability. We aim to contribute towards building a better world for future generations through the work we do.
That is what drives us to carry out a variety of Responsible Business initiatives and projects that aim to inspire curiosity and motivate lifelong learning at any age.
“Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning.” Source: The United Nations
During the 2021-21 school year we launched the bMaker Odyssy Competition II Edition.
Winners:
Colegio Trueba de Bilbao
Congratulations to all the students and teachers involved for their fantastic project on the renovation of air in the classroom. This is a particularly pressing topic given the ongoing pandemic.
This competition was open to all schools using bMaker, an educational solution that incorporates programming, robotics and 3D printing. The aim of the competition was to get students thinking about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), though one of the techniques learned with bMaker to find a way to make their environment more sustainable.
Colegio Trueba de Bilbao
PRIZE FOR WINNING PARTICIPANTS: Colegio Trueba de Bilbao
A Maker classroom that includes a 3D printer, filament, accessories for 3D printing and a workbench with tools for Technology projects.
CHARITABLE PRIZE: Fundación Balia para la Infancia
Two biannual bMaker licences
Through the charitable prize we aim to contribute towards closing the digital gap which has been aggravated by the pandemic and extend the reach of education in programming and robotics to students that otherwise may not have access to this, creating more equality in education.
With this competition, we hope to contribute to the SDGs, encouraging development in education and more equal opportunities amongst marginalised groups through access to innovation and new technology.
Training sessions for families on dealing with bullying
Through open sessions entitled “How to deal with bullying at school from within the family environment”, our experts provide families with a range of tips on how to identify and prevent bullying.
The content of these sessions is based on the research conducted for the creation of the bullying prevention programme KiVa. KiVa is a bullying-prevention programme for schools created by the University of Turku in Finland, at the request of the Finnish Ministry of Education. Its effectiveness at reducing bullying has been proven in numerous scientific studies. It is based on the prevention, intervention and monitoring of bullying through comprehensive and targeted actions, inlcuding training teachers and helping parents and children to identify bullying and take action at an early stage.
Families who attend these sessions receive a family advice guide and information on bullying in Spain.
Training sessions held:
- Tetuán’s Cultural Centre, Madrid
26 September 2019 - Miramonte, Cartagena school
17 October 2019
Upcoming sessions pending evolution of the current pandemic.
We are keen to support charities working in Spain whose values and mission are aligned with our own. For that reason, we have been collaborating with the Balia Foundation for Children since 2017.
Balia Hello
Balia Hello is a transversal project that aims to familiarise children with the English language in an enjoyable way, providing educational experiences in English outside of the school environment.
To support this educational project, Macmillan Iberia has provided Balia with:
- Pedagogical advice
- Teaching materials (textbooks, flashcards, puppets, exercise books)
- Materials for the classroom (posters, board games, toys, story books)
- Digital Licenses: Advantage and One Stop English
- Training in the use of Macmillan Education materials
In order to further support Balia in their mission of encouraging the children in their centres to improve their English, we donate the amount needed to employ a native English teacher to give fun, dynamic classes one hour a week.
Teacher Travis, curso 2019/20
Teacher Pamela, curso 2020/21
Technology Project
Balia was awarded our charitable prize in the bMaker Odyssy Competition II in 2021, in order to develop the technology projects they run in their after school sessions and work towards closing the digital gap that affects the students they work with due to their economic situation.
Support during the COVID-19 pandemia
Most of the children and teens that Balia work with have been affected by the digital gap during the pandemic, finding themselves at home without the technology or sufficient data to be able to follow their classes online. For this reason, we joined Balia’s campaign for donations of second hand laptops and tablets amongst Macmillan Iberia employees, as well as helping to raise money to buy new ones and cover internet connections in students’ homes.
Additionally, we donated the following Macmillan Iberia resources to help the children at Balia continue their education at home:
- Digital licences
- Books from our Pre-Primary series Dex to a class of 17 children and their tutor.
We are in regular contact with the pedagogical team at Balia and keep them up-to-date with the same resources we offer to teachers. During the lockdown, this meant access to EnCasaConMacmillan (At Home with Macmillan), an area of our website with a large range of resources to support distance learning with worksheets, teaching tips and Storytime videos.
Operation toys
As a year as difficult as 2020 came to an end, in Macmillan Iberia and CBL warehouse, we wanted to show our solidarity towards families hit by the economic repercussions of the pandemic and therefore joined Balia’s campaign for no child without a Christmas present. Individual employees bought presents for all 37 children in Balia’s 3-5 years age group, and as a company we donated more than 200 children’s books in English.
Macmillan Iberia has also held several fund-raising events such as bake sales, second-hand book sales and charity activity days to raise money for Balia’s educational projects.
For more information, see our Corporate Social Responsibility Reports here.
Volunteers from Macmillan Iberia and fellow publisher Edelvives, in collaboration with the NGO SED, will spend two weeks in Ghana carrying out a range of educational projects aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Macmillan Iberia, together with the Springer Nature group, condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Our thoughts are with all the people affected by this difficult situation.
We join the call for a ceasefire and a return to peace. Peace is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and a prerequisite for human progress. As an academic and educational publisher dedicated to building bridges of understanding, we experience with dismay and sadness the events that the Ukrainian people are experiencing.
From Macmillan Iberia we wanted to make our tiny contribution to support, as far as possible, the Ukrainian community.
Vocabulary guides in Spanish, English and Ukrainian
We have been working to create a set of guides with useful vocabulary about school and about emotions in Spanish-English-Ukrainian. The guides are in a mobile version and in a printable version. The purpose of these guides is to facilitate communication and integration of Ukrainian students in the school environment. Our intention is to send these guides to the families of these students (refugees families or host families).
Providing Macmillan Education textbooks for free to Spanish schools that have welcomed Ukrainian refugee students in their classrooms
During the 2021-22 school year, Macmillan Education textbooks have been sent to schools that had requested them, within the Spanish territory. We will continue to carry out this initiative during the next school year.
Macmillan Iberia, with the Macmillan Poland team to help Ukrainian refugees
In coordination with the Macmillan Poland team, in Macmillan Iberia we organized the collection of non-perishable food and hygiene products, for later distribution among Ukrainian refugees in Poland. The initiative was carried out with the collaboration of colleagues who, voluntarily, were in charge of coordinating the collection and packaging of the products that the staff took to the different sites in Spain, finally being able to take the shipment of 52 boxes to Macmillan Poland offices.
