Among the main organisational variations and alternative structures in early childhood education and care (ECEC), the following stand out:

• ECEC in rural schools,
• bilingual education,
• penitentiary classrooms.

ECEC in rural schools

This comprises the following type of provision.

• Gathered rural school (colegio rural agrupado [CRA]):
  • Purpose: to provide educational services in geographical areas with low population densities.
  • Target groups: second-cycle ECEC and primary education students living in geographical areas with low population densities.
  • Organisation:
    • Each CRA brings together several schools in nearby towns, forming a single school (comprising both the second cycle of ECEC and primary education).
    • They have a single management team and a teachers' assembly, a body that includes itinerant teachers who attend several schools.
    • The educational plan and the annual general curriculum are the same for all the grouped schools.
    • Each setting in the CRA can be structured with a small number of classrooms, so that within the same group there can be students of different ages and grades.

Bilingual education

This comprises the following types of provision:

• Bilingual education programme, by agreement with the Spanish delegation of the British Council:
  • Purpose: to provide second-cycle ECEC pupils with the basis for future fluency in other languages and to help them to become familiar with different cultures in the context of a multicultural and multilingual Europe, providing them with a set of strategic, linguistic and sociolinguistic skills.
  • Target groups: second-cycle ECEC pupils in education-type settings.
  • Organisation:
    • Bilingual schools providing both the second cycle of ECEC and primary education use an integrated Spanish-British curriculum.
    • Teaching is delivered by teachers specifically hired to participate on the programme, and specialist English-language teachers from those bilingual schools.
• Portuguese language and culture programme:
  • Purpose:
    • To ensure that the children of Portuguese workers and immigrants preserve their linguistic and cultural heritage.
    • To encourage interest and respect for the Portuguese culture among Spanish children.
  • Target groups: second-cycle ECEC pupils from Portugal or who speak Portuguese, and Spanish children enrolled in education-type settings.
  • Organisation:
    • Portuguese teachers assigned to Spanish schools carry out activities included in the timetable, through `integrated classes´ (in which the Portuguese and Spanish teachers carry out joint activities with all the children in the classroom) or `simultaneous classes´ (in which the Portuguese teachers teach the group of children who have chosen to participate in the programme).
    • Promotion, exchanges, study visits and Portuguese clubs, among other activities, are also organised.

Penitentiary classrooms

Spanish legislation sets out, in the General Penitentiary Law 1/1979, Article 38.2, modified by General Penitentiary Law 13/1995, the right of mothers to keep their children with them until they are 3 years old.

The aim of the penitentiary classroom programme is to ensure that children who are in jail with their mothers receive education and care relevant to their age. There are properly equipped ECEC settings within penitentiary institutions, with specialists in ECEC who are in charge of education and leisure programming for minors.

These ECEC settings have psychomotricity classrooms, education rooms, dining rooms and garden areas for outdoor games. They are managed by permanent staff who schedule activities as in any other ECEC setting.