AE 12345678

Hi all

I have some questions whcih are doing my head in as I can't seem to find any answers!

1, In the UK to get the children ito a certain school we have to live within a certain distance to the chosen school. Is it the same in Italy?

2, I know that admission are usually in March but what happens if one arrives say, in June? Do schools admissions offices close over the school holiday period?

3, Can children be admitted to school whilst still in the UK? I have a feeling the answer to this will be no!

4, In the UK there is a league of tables that displays how well particular schools are doing, is there anything like this in Italy?


5, If I move over to Italy and am actively looking for a job, do I have to prove income?

questions, questions!!!

Any help at all would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

caf66

Hiya Andrea - normally the children do go to their catchment area school and of course have priority over children outwith the area, but there is some flexibility depending on numbers, popularity etc..
Better to get school registrations in on time, but there is some leeway for late applications, especially if you are moving from abroad. My nieces got into the school of their parents´ choice near Como in October, having only registered couple weeks before, so it is possible, wouldn´t get too bogged down in deadlines.
As far as I´m aware, you do already have to be living here/have an address in the catchment area of the schools you would like your children to attend - at least for the state schools. The private/semi-independent schools more relaxed about this.....entering prima elementare/prima media/primo liceo would definitely be better applications on time if possible. We are not aware of any league tables like in the UK - and it is not a bad thing to be honest. We have our kids at school in Florence, by no means knowledgeable about everything but been through the system/going through it, so happy to share our experience with you.
Yes, you do need to prove you can support yourself and dependents, but at least you no longer need a permesso di soggiorno! It is all do-able, even though it seems impossible trying to see to everything!! Good luck - where are you thinking of moving to?
CA

AE 12345678

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

We ae hopefully going to move to somewhere in the Liguria area, not too fussed where exactly yet. But we like Bordighera, San Remo and the surrounding villages, I know that gives us some scope for manouvere but we trying not to get to set on one place. The hardest thing at the moment is trying to find things out from the UK. I need to find a good rental agency. We are thinking of renting for a year and then buying if we settle. I have a list of the estate agents in these areas but hey don't seem to have much/if any 3 bed apartments/houses to rent out on their books. So I thought that an agency that deals soley with rentals might be a better idea.
All this beaurocracy makes you wonder how people who just get off the boat (so to speak) do it!!
I woul like to teach English but have to do my Celta in the next couple of months before we can come anyway. But am able to do other things if all this fails.
Thanks again

AE 12345678

Hi, forgot to ask, do you know if there is a standard amount that is expected to be in one's bank account?

4evamoving

Andrea,

Did you end up moving to any of those towns? How do you find them so far?
We are looking at spending some time in Italy - a year for now - and are considering that area. Big kids - 13 and 15 - and no Italian whatsoever
cheers
nadia

AE 12345678

Hi,
Not moved yet, still trying to get everything together in this country but still intend too. I have children of a similar age, 14, 12 and 9. It is a beautiful part of the country and we love it. We have found a good site for rentals called Solo Affiti. They seem to have a lot of properties of varying prices so I'm sure you'll be able to find something. iT would be a good idea to do some Italian though if you can. There are loads of sites on the internet. Try BBC.co.uk/languages, it's a good site for repetition and games. Do you have work or are you looking to get something when you are there?
Good luck. Andrea

richeller

We enrolled our 2 boys in school while we were still living in Australia and once we moved here we live 28klms from the school, having said that it was a private school. And we enrolled them in around June for a start in the following September. I guess it depends on the school and whether or not they have full classes or not.

4evamoving

Thanks, Andrea, that's a good site. Do you have something similar for holiday accomodation? We seem to have picked the worst time of year to travel - we will be there between 10 - 24 Aug and every place we try is fully booked.
For now I am not planning to work when we move.
will let you know if I learn anything useful about the school enrolment processes, although I doubt there will be anyone around to answer questions in august

richeller,

What school do your boys go to - italian or international? Did they speak any italian before you moved?

nadia

AE 12345678

Try

holiday rentals.co.uk.

not sure if that's completely correct but I think so. they always have something.
We went over to Italy in February and stayed in Badalucca, which is near Arma di Taggia. Near the shops ans supermarket. It quite good for looking around other areas, near Imperia through to Sanremo, although it is about 15 minutes from the coast and in the mountains a little bit, but still a good base to scout around. We found this place through holiday rentals. I would be very interested on how your search for schools goes and would love to hear from you.
I am very envious of you, I wish I was sorted to go right now!!
Anyway, hope this info helps, I could give you her e-mail but I'll ask her first if it is ok to hand it out.

Andrea

richeller

Hey Nadia
My boys went to a private international school, but in September they will be starting at an italian school. No they did not speak any italian when we arrived, now I am sure they will survive in the 'immersion' of the italian school. My youngest is starting prima elementare in september and they will do 8 hours of english per week. My eldest will go in quarta elementare and he will only do 2 hours per week, but his italian is by far the best in the family. At the new school they have other non italian speaking students who have arrived from abroad and apparently have all settled in and learning italian quickly. It is a personal choice, but I don't think that it would have been right for my children to go straight to an italian school, having said that maybe it is not fair to give them yet another change after a year of living here................ who knows, lots of sleepless nights making the choice.
I would highly recommend giving the children some one on one italian lessons just to give them the basics, it will give them a lot of confidence.

richeller

Nadia,
I forgot to tell you that the school will probably have someone to answer the phone etc at school, because the new school for the boys called me last week asking for some documentation and I said I was going to go to the school to drop it in but I thought they would be closed and she said they close only for 2 weeks in August. Give it a try

Lorna at Vicenza

GO TO PAGE 8 OF THIS FORUM and look up "home schooling in Viterbo" and that might give you an idea of what some of us think of the schools here.