Shoz

Hello there
Can anyone give me some guidance on Spanish State schools in Javea (Port or Arenal area) for a 3 year old and a 7 year old? Thank you

montgomail

There are several regulars who live there - Lynnxa being one, although she is in the UK for a few days. I am sure she could help with schooling matters - might be worth sending her a PM once you have increased your post count to 3.

Shoz

Thank you for that, I will put up another post in a few days time.

chris600uk

Vicente Tena - brilliant for a 3 year old

The port school - it's worth a try but don't count on it

The arenal - personally I wouldn't bother

Don't know about 7 year olds, had no experience of the spanish schools

You do need to get your application in early because places tend to go fast

Shoz

Thank you Chris600uk. I will follow that up, for sure. There is also the possibility of a move to Calpe. If anyone can recommend a school around there, then great. We are going out there to visit family in August, so can check things out more then. Looking to move towards the end of this year.

scottvanda

[QUOTE=chris600uk;8541348]Vicente Tena - brilliant for a 3 year old

The port school - it's worth a try but don't count on it

The arenal - personally I wouldn't bother

Don't know about 7 year olds, had no experience of the spanish schools

You do need to get your application in early because places tend to go fast[

Hi
If you have had no experience with spanish state schools how can you make statements like this????

Shoz

I'm interested to hear all comments, positive, or negative. It all helps. I have read on previous threads that the Spanish state system is very good, and that the teachers are very caring. The arenal school seems to have had a bad press, for one reason and another. However, I am strongly in favour of just visiting the school and getting a feel for the place. A gut reaction, for me, will always preside over " hearsay." At least that has proved true for my children's school in the uk. All comments are welcome. i hope to have more news of our move to spain within the next week. Thanks all,

lynnxa

I'm back

my older dd went to the Arenal & my younger one is still there

IMO it's a good school - they get good grades & younger dd got loads of extra help for dyslexia

my older dd is now at coming to the end of her second year at secondary school - the head teacher is already talking to her about uni courses - what & where

the port school is usually over-subscribed - too many people living in the catchment area

you might get into Vicente Tena if you live in the catchment - it works in a similar way to the UK as to which school your kids go to

the Arenal school is fairly new & not yet full - so newcomers often go there regardless of where they live

it has a higher proportion of expats (from many countries) for that reason alone - but it does mean that they are very good at helping kids who don't speak spanish

send me a private message if you want more personal info

lynnxa

If you have no experience of the Spanish schools how can you possibly comment

lynnxa

there was some bad press a few years ago - problems largely caused by a particular AMPA (parent assoc) member - I know the inside story - I was on the committee at the time

it was still a very new school then & was still finding it's feet - it really is a great school now

chris600uk

Visiting a school tells you nothing unless you see grafiti or airport type security at the door, or have an opportunity to interact with the children there over a period of time.

Truth is, you won't "get a feel for anything" until your child is actually in the school.

In England there's usually a very good reason why some schools have a good reputation and are sought after and some schools aren't - so why should Spain be any different?
It takes time to build a good reputation and a moment to lose it.

My first choice was the Port School, purely for my own selfish convenience, although I now know that that was never an option, because we had no relatives, or maybe not the right kind of relatives.

That's my opinion based on my experience so far.

With particular reference to Scott's comment/question about how I can make a statement as I did.

When I said I had a 3 year old, who is now a 4 year old in Spanish school that meant that that was within my experience, so yes Scott, I do have some experience.

When I said I didn't have any experience I was referring to 7 year olds, and meant that I wouldn't be able to personally comment until our 4 year old becomes a 7 year old.

If anyone reading this thread already has a child at the Arenal, then perhaps they can add something to this to help the OP make a decision.

Which I see has just happened

lynnxa

aaahhhh

now I know you

bess

Hi there we are moving over in Feb and I was wondering if you had decided what school and if so what where your reasons for that choice. We have a 5 year old and a newborn. I am so worried about putting her into a state school because of the language barrier for her and also myself. If you or anyone can advise on what state schools have a good name. The other area we was interested in was Jesus Pobre but don't want to send her to a school where there aren't any English speaking kids or teachers for that matter. My Spanish is very basis at the moment. Any advice would be great.

Shoz

Hi, We were also looking around jesus pobre but we have just been told, by my employers that a move may be delayed by a year or more, so can't help, with your dilemma at the moment, but the general advice seems to be, the earlier the better , in terms of language barriers.
Good luck. Children are very adaptable
Jane
keep in touch

chris600uk

Bess you have nothing to worry about. The children will learn both Castellano and Valenciano within the first year and they'll be pretty good at it.
Our four year old now gabbles incessantly to everyone.

I think it's better if there are only a few english kids, I'm not going to expand on that, it's just my opinion.

Speaking for the staff at Vicente Tena, they are expert at dealing with children from France, Russia, Romania, Morocco, and the UK.
I can't say enough good things about them.

You might have a bit of difficulty yourself at first, but you'll quickly meet other parents that speak one or both languages who can help out - I did.
You will have to make a real effort to get over the first hurdle; Basic Spanish, but once you've done that you'll be ok.

Funny thing is, when you make the effort to speak the lingo, the spanish people generally try to use what little english they have to help. That's been my experience...