Hi,

We are a family with four children aged between 12 and 2 and may shortly be moving to either Florence or Fano with my husbands work for a short contract (16 - 24 months) does anyone have any details of schools in those areas that follow the UK curriculum - I have found the international school in Florence but I am unsure of how jumping into this (Italy / US ???) system then back to the UK one would work out - does anyone have any experience of this problem?

I would like to hear from anyone who has children at The International School Of Florence who could give me a review of it please.

Also if anyone has moved to Italy recently with children I would love to hear any tips or details of problems they had that we may not have considered yet.

The alternative is to stay in the UK and let my husband enjoy Italy on his own - not my first choice!!

Thanks

We have looked at the International School recently and it is lovely! The two principals were very approachable and had all the time in the world to show us around and answer our questions. We were really inpressed. The UK and American system are not that different and I think it is an education in itself to be studying with other nationalities who have a different view of the world. It may depend on what you are looking for when you define the word 'education'. Is it an end product ie, you want your children to achieve good exam results or are you looking for an education that encourages questioning and a genuine love of learning which is carried way beyond the schooling years? The school in Florence seems to be very 'child-centered' which I love and has good results too, (they do the IB). We have 4 children and the eldest 3 are probably going to start next September (if we don't go back to the UK) as they have had 2 years in the Italian system and I am keen for them to have some English tuition now. We are probably not going to be here permanently so it seems the best option.

I hope that was helpful. The school has a really great reputation and an amazing view!! They also have tortoises wandering around the garden!

Sarah

Hi, although my children , antonio aged 6 1/2 and georgia nearly 10, are attending the local italian school as we are living here permanently(fiesole) we would love to meet up when you move over. I am still learning italian after living here for a year but my husband is fluent and can help should you run into difficulties. Please feel free to email for any info. Ann-marie

Many thanks for the information posted, we should be finding out for definate in the next few weeks if the move will be to Italy or Dubai (Help). Once I know for sure I will be in touch - Thanks again