Hi all.

Firstly thanks for all of the information I have already collected from your forums. A lot of information and that has saved me a long and complicated first post.

My question is simple for those that already live in the area we are looking at moving too.

We have 2 children. My youngest son will be 8 years old and my oldest son will be 13. After many months of searching and investigating including job hunting etc it seems like the best and most logical area for us to move to will be Marsaskala.

So are there any parents of boys who have in recent years moved to this area and enrolled their children in a suitable state primary and secondary school within a short drive of Marsaskala? To be honest we do not just want all of the good points, but also the bad if possible please as we have to make the right decision based on all of the information.

Any advice is welcomed as most of the information available on the internet is extremely helpful however finding the right schools is hopeless.

Thank you to you all in advance and have a lovely evening.

Kind regards

John & Cecilie Robinson.

State schools will teach in Maltese, so unless your children are already fluent in Maltese, they will have a big problem. You really need to be looking at International Schools, where the teaching will be in English. These are private schools and you will of course, have to pay.

Hi and thank you for your reply.

Your response is confusing however. We have read several threads concerning only English speaking students in state schools where the lessons have been taught in English, except for obviously Maltese and Religion. When these subjects were being taught the children who did not speak Maltese were offered extra English or Maths lessons.

This has been confirmed by 2 head masters (from the north of Malta) who explained that due to them having students from all over the world that they had to adapt lessons accordingly and therefore taught in English.

Hi John,

Probably best if you contact the school and ask them:

St Thomas More College, Marsascala Primary
A: Triq Dun Frans Bianco, Marsascala, Malta MSK 1140
T: 00356 2163 3658
E: [email protected]
W: http://stmc.marsascala.skola.edu.mt/

Hi Cynic. Thank you for the information.

I was kind of hoping for people with English speaking children already in the schools but it looks like there arent any with kids in schools around Marsaskala.

I have the school lists from before but that doesnt tell me what the schools are like, or how the English speaking children are settling in. What problems they are having.

Are there parents with kids in state school from other areas that can share their experiences please? :-)

Have a great day.

Hi John,

I'll be up-front and say I have no direct experience of Malta, but I have 3 ex-colleagues who now live in Malta, that I speak to frequently (one's an ex-teacher who now teaches English to mature Maltese nationals - which makes me think it's probably not clear cut); unfortunately, all are now retired and any info they have on what goes on in schools is historical. Our kids education is really important, so I'd always do what my wife and I did before we made the jump and go and see the schools for yourself first; yes, it may cost a few bob, but we looked at it as part of the process.

One thing we learnt is that internet advice is always useful, but it's one persons perspective and non-accountable when it goes wrong.

Best of luck in your move.

Hi again.

Yes I totally agree. We have now been speaking with the education minister as well as the head teachers of the two most logical schools. Just waiting for the next email confirming once and for all about my childrens lack of Maltese.

Our childrens education is number one priority and if we could afford private or international we would, however our relocation is to help with my medical condition (warmer weather) and hopefully when we arrive I will be able to return to work therefore meaning we could afford to pay for schooling. However its not for sure so we are just trying to find the next best alternative.

We do agree concerning visiting Malta and the schools before hand. This was not in our plan, or our budget, but to ensure things go as smoothly as possible it seems like the best thing to do. And of course means we can also look for rented property at the same time.

Thanks again for your advice.

Our youngest will be going to Marsaskala Primary and our oldest to Senior secondary School in Zejtun so once again, if anyone has any information and advice about these 2 schools we would be extremely grateful! :-)

Something to remember about Maltese schools is that all the state schools are religious. If you aren't Roman Catholic this may be a problem for you, especially for the 8 year old as he would be more susceptible to adoption of what he sees around him. The only way to get around it is to send them to an American or British private school. Other than the religion, the state schools aren't bad and teach very similar to the British system. Teaching in Maltese I would argue is a good thing as they will adopt the language and integrate better into Maltese society... Good luck with it!

Hi there, we too are making the move to Marsascala and hopefully will be placing our 9 year old daughter at the primary school. I've found it quite hard to get clear information regarding what language etc is used for each lesson, there's so much conflicting stuff. We will be out there in 3 weeks and plan to visit the school (I know it's the holidays but have been informed the school will be open due to running a holiday club) and hope to gather more information directly from there. I'll post once I've been. Good luck with the move - Vikki

Hi Vikki,
Thanks for your response. Yes I agree with the problems concerning information gathering so we would be very grateful for any info you have. Are you there permanently from August? Where are you moving from? Do you have jobs already? Sorry for the questions and please dont feel pressured to answer, just curious. :-)
Thank you again and good luck to you too! ;-)
Kind regards
John & Cecilie

I don't know how much info you need or have but I can advise you to an extent on state schools in the South, my grandchildren are and have been going for nine years to school in B'bugga/Safi, apart from English, social studies and maths in English, other lessons are in Maltese, Protestant pupils were given free periods to study during Religious lessons, My grandhildren are English/Maltese and found it very difficult in their first few years due to not knowing their fathers (maltese) tongue but it didn't take them long to learn and blend in as most children in the South use Maltese language all the time. There are a small percentage of English speaking students most of the time and youngernclasses have facilitators to help them in understanding. Hope this helps. Best advice is expect your children to come home speaking another language soon, that's the hardset part to accept when you can't understand them. Good luck.

Maltaman thank you for your reply. Always helpful with more information. ;-)

Yes we heard that the area could be problematic concerning language in the school. The education minister suggested Sleima as a more suitable area concerning English support for children in the schools. We have 2 areas to check out now so fingers crossed.

Thanks again.

Kind regards
John and Cecilie

Hi sorry I never recieved a notification of your reply. We are moving indefinitely on the 7th of August from Edinburgh. I have a job already and my husband will settle the children before seeking employment. Can't believe it's happening next week it's coming so fast. We have decided we will try state schooling in Marsascala, hopefully our daughter will still be able to get a place but if it doesn't work for her we will look into online schooling instead. Where will you be relocating from?

Vikki

Hi again Vikki.

Thanks for the reply. Yes I know how you feel. Cecilie and I are very excited but nervous. We have sent out job applications recently so fingers crossed.

We are a little concerned about schooling and are looking into renting around St Julians however this is not set in stone. Our mind changes every five seconds but obviously our children's eduction is the highest priority.

Currently we live in Drammen, Norway. My wife is Norwegian and I am English. In fact my mother was born in Edinburgh. :-)

Good luck with your move. You will be getting there around 4 weeks before us so your experiences will be of great interest to us, so we would appreciate an update when possible? ;-)

All the best.

Kind regards

John and Cecilie