CEIP San Ildefonso is the second oldest school in Madrid, Spain. Its origins date from 1543, the year in which

Carlos V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infant ...

granted a Royal Certificate to finance the school. It is dedicated to

Saint Ildephonsus Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus (rarely ''Ildephoses'' or ''Ildefonse''; Spanish: San Ildefonso; c. 8 December 607 – 23 January 667) was a scholar and theologian who served as the metropolitan Bishop of Toledo for the last decade of his life. His Go ...

. For years, it catered to orphans of public servants but now the pupils are regular Madrid children including many immigrants.

Bilingual program

CEIP San Ildefonso participates in a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

program which was started in autumn of 2004 with British teaching assistants in 26 schools throughout Madrid. Children, starting in first grade or ''primero de primaria'', have at least a third of their classes in English (or a minimum of nine hours).

Spain's lottery

For two centuries, children from CEIP San Ildefonso have sung the winning numbers of the Spanish National Lottery, including the hugely popular Christmas draw. The first time the children sang was on March 9, 1771. As orphans, they were expected to be less susceptible to cheats.

References

Schools in Spain 1543 establishments in Spain San Ildefonso {{Spain-school-stub