the sun is shining

Hi,
When we move over to Spain my three children will be going to a spanish school.
However i would still like them to take there GCSEs as well as there spanish exams, is there any way that when we move they can take these exams while going to a spanish school like classes after school, we will be moving to a area near alhurin el grande.
All advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

Hillybilly

Nobody else has responded so...at the bottom of this posting there are some ads about GCSE tuition by distance learning. Also as there are hundreds of expats in the AEG area I'm sure you'd be able to find private tutors for most subjects.
I can see why you'd want to hedge your bets but it's an awful lot for kids to have to cope with 2 sets of exams. Depending on their ages wouldn't it maybe better to give them a GCSE education plus extra Spanish to stand them in good stead? Just my thoughts.

the sun is shining

Hi,
I agree with what you are saying? and i did think i would receive more input in this question as we are needing this advice.
Our options are we will not be able to afford to put the three children through an English school out there, my girls are 4, 13, and 14, They really want to learn the language and they have said they are quite happy to go to a spanish school, but would like to take there GCSEs.
That is why i was unsure if they can have extra lessons to do there GCSEs they want to do the main subjects maths, English,
Thanks

jdr

The main question is, are they going to live in Spain or are they going back to UK ?.
If they stay in Spain then you are wasting money on them, as they probably wont need them.

gallerie9

They will do the international Baccalaureate ( i think that how you spell it )
its an international exam that is more rounded, and is being used in some schools in the uk.
As a teacher my self and having taught GCSE and a tiny bit of the Baccalaureate in my opinion the Baccalaureate holds more opportunity's for University Places world wide. what it does really is stops children having to chose 8 / 9 GCSE courses and is much more balanced for that reason.

the sun is shining

Hi,
We are staying in spain long term however if they decide they want to come back to the uk at any stage then they need the gcse's for jobs in the uk.

mikelincs

Would have thought the baccalaureat would have sufficed, after all Tony Blair has been going on about moving over to that type of education in the UK, and there are many people from the EU working in good jobs in the UK without getting GCSEs.

the sun is shining

Hi,
Is that baccalaureat the exams in state school's, My middle daughter who is 13 wants to go back to the uk to university to do law when she has finished school over in spain.

And i would like to know would they accept the exams in england from spain.
Thanks for all your replys

Carol&John

Hola!
If you google search international baccalaureate (IB) you might find your answer.
A private (fee paying) school near us has done away with GCSE, favouring the IB.
What effect this will have in 5-10 years time, regarding entry to top universities, remains to be seen...
Regards,
Carol

gallerie9

They hold the same qualifications, so no problem.
In my opinion they are better and give a child a balanced all round education. Many students from overseas go to UK university's, that there is no problem with the qualifications in-fact they are held with high regard.

the sun is shining

Hi,
Thanks for everyones feedback i do understand they when they start at the spanish school they will have to get to grip with the language which i know my oldest daughter will struggle with, my middle daughter will fit in and it will i hope just come to her and my youngest well she has only just started primary school. To her it should be ok i just know that i have to work on her with the english language and teach her how to write english at home, but i would just like to say thanks for all the replys

mikelincs

I think that they will be so immersed in the language that learning it will come easy. Spanish is supposed to be one of the easiest languages to learn. From friends who had children of school age when they moved over here and who couldn't speak Spanish, they are both fluent now within 2 years.

the sun is shining

Hi,
Thank you for your reply i have been trying to learn spanish myself but I'm not getting anywhere with it but i keep trying. i think once i am over there i will grab it hopefully.
Our friends have lived there just over two years and the kids after six months were able to string sentences together, and now are fluent, i have just heard the older you are the harder the brain takes to learning new things. thats probably why i cant understand a thing I'm saying ha ha ha.
and once you hit around 13 or 14 it's hard for them but i will have to see. i do feel guilty that i wont have the cash to send them to a English school but then i look at it as we are moving to another country and we should learn there language and communicate the way they do, so for us it is exciting to learn another culture and way of life.

Hillybilly

Personally, if it were me, I'd wait to move to Spain until the two eldest had completed their secondary educations. Your youngest will then still be young enough to make the move. I've seen too many English teenagers brought to Spain who have "gone off the rails" - into drugs, getting pregnant, playing truant, failing exams and generally turning into not-very-well-adjusted young adults with few real prospects other than barwork (and I don't mean Law!).

Your first priority is surely your kids' educations, not your desire to move to Spain (albeit for the right reasons, in the long term). A wait of a few more years is no great hardship when compared to your kids' futures. You'd never forgive yourself if it all went pear-shaped would you? Particularly as you have daughters as opposed to sons - Spain is still very behind the times compared to the UK when it comes to equality between the sexes and your daughters' prospects here IMHO will be a lot poorer than in the UK. Hope you don't take any of this the wrong way, just expressing a personal opinion

mikelincs

I've seen a lot less problems with young people here, but that may be just where we live, but the kids here seem very well behaved and polite, and they are mainly ex pats. Much less in the way of problems, mind you we don't have bars etc round us.