snikpoh

At schools 'round here, you can only be held back once per year and only in years 2, 4 and 6 of primary. In ESO I'm not sure but some of my son's friends were held back in the first year.

My son is the only foreigner in his school yet we've never heard of any complaints that he is passing everything whilst nationals are being held back.

lynnxa

yes - same here

in ESO you can be held back once in each year


the whining woman I mentioned - remember I said 'valencian' reather than 'spanish' - she considers anyone whose first language isn't valenciano to be foreign, so would include spanish nationals from elsewhere in the country in that - so her poor son would pretty much have to be top of the class to be above all the 'foreigners' in the class

as far as I'm concerned, as long as my kids have genuinely tried their best, then that's enough

if they were trying their best & failing because the language was beating them - then I'd move them to either a bi-lingual or international school

I'm told that some subjects at my kids ESO will be taught in English for this year's 1º...........that should be interesting..............

siesta

Mothers might be "catty" (sic) about repeating basically because many parents are more worried about what other people might think than their own kid's education. It's that sad. So that's not a proof to say there's a stigma. If people wouldn't repeat, they would have the same attitude with the marks, if not with the exams, if not with whatever.

As I had said before yeah, in primary school you can only repeat in 2, 4, 6 and only ONCE in the whole period. The fact that it's only in even numbers is because it's divided in ciclos, so they allow 2 years to achieve the competences. I heard that they were going to change this, not sure if they're still working on it. In secondary is much more common to repeat, because the assessment is completely different. They have to pass every single subject and if they fail more than 2 they have to repeat. The number of people re-sitting in the first 2 years of ESO is big, especially the first. Once past those years it changes. Holding back every year in ESO has changed, at least here, it used to be only once per ciclo (1-2 / 3-4) but now it's every year.

cricketman

Siesta, you've taught in schools in Spain and the UK. How do they compare?

siesta

Hehe, I'd need a whole forum to answer that but I can tell you the first impressions/differences of a Spaniard going there: students divided in ability sets was a shock for people; no exams, marks, repeats like here; teachers are Miss; no textbooks; uniforms for all type of schools and for me, I noticed a huge difference in teacher's work. They work more, they are observed and they are pressured with results. I wasn't a proper teacher so I'm not talking from personal experience, only what I saw working with them. I was with a group preparing Spanish GCSE and the whole year is so focused on a standarised exam. But then they tell the students the answers and they learn the speaking test by heart. Even those exams, (almost?) nobody fails. They set you with a grade but it's not like here. I was also impressed with the idea of grade prediction, I was given a list with the grades they were supposed to have at the end of the year. I was an assistant but I was with other Spaniards doing the same so we would discuss what we saw and the general impression was that.

lynnxa

I understand that 3º ESO is a big 'sticking' year, if only because of the sheer number of subjects they have to study - my daughter had 12 subjects last year (maybe 13?) - just too many

by comparison 4º should be easier, simply because they can concentrate much better on fewer subjects

& yes I agree - it's sad that some parents are more concerned about what other people think than their kid's education - I wholeheartedly feel that it's better to repeat & make sure you understand than to just keep going ahead & potentially never learning anything

sadly I know of at least one child who failed half a dozen or so subjects in 1º, so was held back - & at the second attempt failed even more yet because they only hold back once, moved into 2º - so some still slip through the net here

siesta

I also think there are too many subjects. Going on with my previous post, I really liked A-level system there where you can concentrate on less subjects and you have more freedom to choose them. That didn't happen at all here when I studied (this ESO system is relatively new, people over 28 studied with the previous one) my COU (now Bachillerato). 3º ESO is a difficult year but I think less people repeat because many students don't even get there. Those who consistently repeat and are only waiting to be 16 and leave, don't get that far, let alone 4º ESO.

lynnxa

you're right - I know a couple who left in June, having only reached 2º for the second time