K in Modena

Thanks for the clarification, Lorna.

Ruth, I don't know about any "official" Brit meet-ups. I know a few Brits here and people of other nationalities and we meet up for the occasional pizza- but there are no parents among them, otherwise I'd ask them for you. I'm almost certain the "Ferrari wives" organise a lot of meet-ups, but I'm not one of them, so I'm not invited

It took me a while to meet expats here because I don't work for a big multinational company and my husband is Italian, but there are some lovely people out there

Lorna at Vicenza

Are all your kids off school tomorrow and Monday for November 1st ?

A long weekend to look forward to - brilliant !

indiebird

Mine are off on Monday, but a friend who works at the scuola superiore thinks it's all a bit strange as the first is on sunday. She actually asked me whether the kids were off as her school is shut too, but she didn't know herself til last monday. She says they don't normally move the hols if they fall on a weekend.

Lorna at Vicenza

Workers lose out when a 'bank' holiday falls on a weekend - they get an extra day's pay in their monthly salary but they don't get the time off - but the schools have always made sure the kids get their one or two days off ..... they'd never get a break during the year if they didn't.

indiebird

Yeah you're right Lorna. We are quite looking forward to it, although dh isn't off and monday is my yoga day. I have been told i can take the kids to yoga with me but I don't think I could relax properly with the kids there and it's not fair on the other ladies I don't think....

Lorna at Vicenza

No idea what I'm going to be doing yet - but it won't be yoga - it won't be eating little birdies and it won't involve going to any cemeteries.

indiebird

lol. no nor us!! The florists must do a booming business!! Wonder how much 'extra' homework my ds will get..... quite useful having two at the school as the little one can bring the bigger ones homework home. I can't understand why, if you're too ill to go to school, then you're not too ill to be doing homework and catch up work.

LivingHere

We are caught in the difference between an International school for the eldest and italian asilo for the younger ones. DD1 was off for half term all last week, but she goes back on Monday. DS1 and dd2 are off on Monday, but not all the schools are closed.

indiebird

oh my goodness!! poor you. That sounds like a logistical nightmare.... I get confused with two in the same school. I'd have no hope with two different systems... Does the one at the Int School get less summer hols?

LivingHere

She breaks up at the end of June - the same as the Scuola Maternas but later than other Italian schools. She goes back right at the start of September though.

indiebird

so more in-line with the US system then? I think it sounds more civilised actually. 6 weeks is short but 12-14 like it is here is madness. 8-10 would be perfect.... oh and no flipping holiday compiti too!!

indiebird

I'm in a grumpy mood this morning and just thought I'd share! After telling 37100 yesterday that everything seemed to have calmed down at school a couple of things erked me yesterday. We had kindly agreed to collect homework for one of the girls in ds's class who has been poorly with the flu this week. however ds came out in a bad mood as apparently his teacher went mad at school because 'some' children did not do their homework this week after they were ill. My son did most of it apart from some maths that he didn't understand and his dad said it was better to go and ask the teacher to explain it as often we don't get the method right here (i.e. as the teachers want it set out). Now tbh, I did have a go at him, because he just left it and of course yesterday it looked like he hadn't been bothered. I said it would have been better to have approached the teacher on his first day back and get her to explain it then so he could have completed the homework. She shouted at his and told him that he needed to read the text book. He shouted back telling her that he did read it but didn't understand it, but also his dad hadn't understood it either. she just threw up her hands at this... Anyway, the teacher said that she was sick and tired of the teachers organising this homework (it is never written out by a teacher buy by a child' and then people not doing it and therefore there would be no more copying out, instead it was up to parents to phone other parents. My son said that this had never worked for us as I don't like phoning up people as I don't always understand so well over the phone (I cocked up his english homework doing this in the summer hols and he got punished for my phone issues!!!!) and the teacher said 'tough, she'll have to learn now won't she'.

How can they really get away with talking about parents like this??!! It really annoys me. I have told ds that he shouldn't say anything to her. Just listen and nod but not to bother arguing back as he isn't going to win. Also on further enquiry the peeps that didn't do the homework are the same people who never do the flipping homework!! Yet again this writing down homework and either giving it to the absentees siblings or leaving it at the front desk was supposedly a school wide thing this year after many parents said that they didn't have anyone to phone out of the class.

The second thing is that my son has gone into school today feeling upset as he scootered to school today and happened to scooter behind a boy and his mum in one of the other quinta classes and overheard the mother saying to her son 'you don't play with that english do you? He is stupid and doesn't behave well and his mother is fat and stupid.' My son didn't say anything but came back to me. He wanted to go and shout at her, but I said that a) I have noticed her speaking to his teachers about her own son's bad behaviour more than we ever did so he was more badly behaved anyway and b) we know that it's not nice to say those things about people and if his mum is that ignorant us shouting at her isn't going to change her oppinion. Better to keep away from people like that. Secretly though, my heart broke for him and there really is no need for it is there??!! He speaks two languages for goodness sake and has experienced two cultures. Don't think that makes us ignorant do you??

My daughter is having a bit of this in her class too. She desperately wants to join in with our italian lessons and when I questioned her as to why, when everyone we speak to says she speaks perfectly and with a local accent, she said that the children in her class keep telling her they can't understand 'an english.' I asked whether the teacher can;t understand her and she said that the teacher does it is just some of the kids. She also told me last week that the little boy she sits next to (and doesn't behave so well) told her that 'he is getting used to sitting next to an english now.' I've said to tell them to mind their own business and if it carries on then to tell the teacher. I know this attitude comes from some parents but it is annoying, especially when, at the asilo last year she was so encouraged and so accepted by her peers as one of them.

Lorna at Vicenza

Oh God Indie, that all sounds so upsetting. I live in what I call a tinpot village with many backwards attitudes and ideas but Chloe and Alex have never been subjected to any of this "English" crap. I suppose it's because they were born here and grew up here so aren't as new or as English as your kids - but I certainly am and I don't think Chloe and Alex have ever been ridiculed for having an English mum. Some kids even see having Chloe in the class as an advantage as she can tell them a word they have forgotten.
I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that this village has so many foreigners in it now that I'm seen as a "good" foreigner and not a nasty, smelly one. (Their words not mine).
I'm sure if your school had as many foreign kids in it as ours does, the biggots and racists would be more than happy to have their kid sit next to an "English" rather than a Muslim, Indian, Marocchino, Asian etc. Bloody fools.

The catching up when you've been off sick is a joke here as well.
I know a few more mothers now and even have one or two telephone numbers but I will not chase around town looking for school books and make Chloe copy out pages and pages when she's poorly.

The last time she missed a few days of lessons, I told her to get somebody's books when she went back to school - somebody whose handwriting she could read - and I photocopied the pages and glued them into Chloe's books.

Not one teacher said a word about it.

Just this week a mother asked me if she could borrow Chloe's books as her son had missed two days of school. There were 4 full pages of writings and diagrams in Chloe's maths book.
Mattia's mummy took one look and said "Oh Dio - he'll be doing this until 8pm tonight." I told her I had just photocopied stuff last time.

"Well I think we should all start being more like you then - stay here with the kids for 5 minutes while I go and get photocopies." I'm sure if her or her son had got told off for this I would have heard from her by now so it must have worked for her too. I don't understand how they can expect a kid to go back to school after a week off, cope with the normal daily homework and on top of all that - copy out a week's worth of lessons as well. Bleeding ridiculous.
Besides which - if the other kids need their books for homework - whose bloody book are you supposed to borrow ???

37100

Think even I would have lost my cool this time. Never chased homework. If I could get hold of it and the boys were well enough to do it o.k. If not ****.

indiebird

I have to say that there are a few foreign kids but not a great amount. It also seems to make a bit of a difference if you have one italian parent. There are a few kids in the commune that have been adopted by italians too from places in Africa and South America and more allowances seem to be made for them and their italian families won't take any crap either. I reckon that with my kids sometimes it's jealousy. For one thing they can speak English already, whereas their own kids struggle with it due to the parents lack of knowledge and also there has been an attitude recently that we are living here, taking an italian job, not paying taxes here but putting our kids into state school and using public amenities. None of which is true!! Ah well tough anyway as we don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon!!

37100 thats what I thought. I'm just gonna send him in without it and say I have no phone numbers to phone. Any comeback then I'm going to the Presida and she can sort it....