schools in spain...help!!
 

hi
i have a 10 year old and a 13 year old i'm in a bit of dilema??
i have read that my 10 yr old would be fine in a spanish state school and will pick up the language quickly, but my 13 yr old may have trouble!!1

unfortunatley i can't afford to put them into english speaking private schools so they would both have to go into state school...would this be a problem for my 13 year old??

is there anyone who has put older children into the spanish system?
thanks
holly

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

I know how you feel. I was in the same situation last summer. I have put my son in British private school and it is killing me. But even in the private school, I find kids very rough and rude (I find) and it is accepted by the teachers as part of growig up. In the state schools might be worst I don't know, but again, it may vary from place to place. many people put their kids in state schools and are happy. It largely depends what are your family expectations of course. I don't believe in bullying behaviour and "who is stronger gets" as this was in my time and has passed now. But a lot of families think it is good for kids. I t depends of your kids temperaments also.

You need to go outside the school playground and observe the behaviour of kids in your district. This is what I did.

All I can say, all this was a shock for me in the begining, kids kicking each other and throwing stuff around and parents smacking kids etc. But in time one gets used to it and just have to handle thngs bad with good.

Spanish kids grow up to be friendly and good friends, I can see them taking care of their young siblings ad so, all has good and bad. You have to think of your own family structure and circumstances.

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

I have two girls aged 13 and 15 and they both go to the local Spanish state school. We did put them into an International school when we arrived here four years ago, only on the basis that we did not know anything about the Spanish system and thought it would be better for them to carry on their English education. We eventually took them out of that school as we felt we were paying extremely high fees for nothing and there was no parent association so we had no say in any matter. Whilst Spanish school is not everyone's cup of tea and yes we have had problems with bullying which was successfully sorted out, I must admit they are doing really well and adapting to their new life and also making lots of new friends of different nationalities. If I had known then what I know now I would have put them straight into the Spanish system as it is much easier for them to adapt at a much younger age, but I am sure you're children will be fine after a couple of months.

Good Luck

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

Hi Holly,
which part of Spain are you looking at?

we moved here last march and did go the private route with our son then aged 11. He has had to repeat year 6 but is ok about that. We pay 4500e per annum, this includes lunch and transport.

regards
Sue

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

my friend came over with her 14 year old, she wen to Spanish school then stayed on to equivalent 6th form

Its so hard not to worry how the move will affect them and whether to put them into International school

Perhaps you could try Spanish states school with extra private lessons at home ? I know that helped my son a lot (although he was younger but also had to deal with Valenciano too :confused: )

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

It so much depends on the child. We know children as young as seven that are so tied to children of their own nationality in school that they really struggle to integrate. We also know children older than yours that have adjusted fine to the language, the culture and the Spanish state school system.

As far as we can tell, there really are no hard and fast rules. It's often down to whether your children WANT to learn and integrate, not whether they can.

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

I think a lot also depends on whether there are other English children at the same school or in the same class, naturally they will stick together with those they can communicate with easier but if they is no other option then they will integrate quicker and also learn the language quicker Im sure

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

Hi,
I came here when my daughter was 11, (and would of been going up to secondry school in the UK) we were in the coast then and i put here in a spanish state school, she loved it (she did go into a junior school, to do the last year again) there were a lot of english kids there, and she did mix with them but she had private spanish lessons at home and did pick the language up well,
A year later we moved inland, and she started secondry school here, shes the only english kid in the whole school, and has fitted in well, the was no bullying, and I think some of the kids saw her as a bit of a novelty, (shes 15 this year) and now i dont think they even see her as english, and shes really happy.

I did think of putting her in a private school, and when I knew we were moving here I phoned the big private school in Alicante to make an appointment, I told them I was flying over special, and when I arrived, I found thay the person I was supposed to be seeing, had gone out shopping!!!!!! that really put me off. :curse:

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

Hi
Thanks
you have made me feel so much better...spainish schools it is!!!!!
holly:thumbsup:

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

My grandson started in a Spanish nursery school till he got into the normal school and he really got on well and was speaking Spanish within a few weeks. ;-))

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

We are moving to Madrid on the 18th of this month :eek: with our two girls age 7 and 11 and have decided to put them into a spanish state school so fingers crossed they settle in well. I think that sometimes you just have to go for it, good luck.

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

Hi,

We moved to Spain 4 and a half years ago with our 5 kids who were 3, 5, 8, 12 and 13 years old. We put them all in Spainish state schools and they all managed fine.

The 3 and 5 year olds found it the most difficult to start with and we had about 6 weeks of them crying when we dropped them off on a morning.

The older ones were fine from the word go. The 13 year old was top of his class after about 15 months in most subjects including Lengua. The 5 year old had only been to school in England for 1 year before we moved to Spain and he's top of his class now.

They are all now fluent in Spanish.

There have been ups and downs but I'm sure there would have been in any school anywhere in the world.

We certainly don't regret sending any of them to the Spanish state schools (which are much better than any of the schools they went to in England). They all really enjoy going (which is much better than they ever did before)!

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

hi
thanks everyone for all your experiences.
i feel much better about enrolling the kids in the state system..it sounds better than the private schools!!!

thanks again

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

Interesting thread and a subject matter that is close to my heart.

Myself and my wife have debated the matter of international v spanish state school and so far state looks the best option. However I still have a certain degree of trepidation about sending my kids there, which seems silly considering the feedback throughout the site.

Its good to get firsthand accounts from parents as you guys know your kids better than anyone and can judge their reaction to their schooling.

Time will tell which way we lean.

the munros

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

Hi,
I was a teacher in the UK and have 2 teenagers who went through the whole state system there. When we moved to spain last year with our 2 year old and 9 year old I was in such a tizz! I like you had heard so many different stories and in the end I decided to rely on gut feeling about my children. All kids are different and you know their personalities and strengths and weaknesses. No two kids will react to the same thing identically regardless.

We opted for private for the older one (BSA in Alicante) and Spanish nursery for the little one. My 10 year old would not have coped with such heavy immersion and I do not regret it for a second. He loves his school and has settled well and we really feel we get our monies worth. The school is very disciplined and I never see bad behaviour, untidiness, unruliness at all. The teachers are approachable and the kids polite. The facilities are excellent and far better than I have ever seen in state schools here.

My little one on the other hand will go the state school route. She is a confident little thing and has settled well into her nursery. I am very pleased with the state schools here and I hope she does well in them, I just know they were not right for the eldest one.

You really must judge your kids. Good luck its a terrible thing having so much responsibility.

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

We put our son in a Spanish school when he was only just 13, he was lucky because his cousin (who had been in Spain for 3 years) was also in the same year. Unfortunately things did not go well, communication was a bg issue, the teacher he had was rude and didn´t want him in her class, there were much older children in his class 14 & 15 year olds (they are kept back here if they don´t pass the exams) and everyday he was offered cigarettes and marijuana. Within 3 weeks he became withdrawn and so we had to move areas to one with an International school - all is well now. I think you should do your homework on the schools in your area, the brits aren´t always honest (as we found out later), there are good and bad schools here as in the UK, my nephew moved from the school too, to another Spanish school and he´s much happier.

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

A certain degree of trepidation?? Our children were just 2 and 5 when we first arrived in August last year.

That first morning - when we left the children at a foreign school for the very first time was awful! We knew no-one, and not even the teachers spoke any English! The tears, the screams, clinging on to the car door shouting "I don't want to do this!!!!". :blink:

And that was just the wife! :D

Seriously, I have absolutely no idea how the kids did it - talk about "throwing them into the deep end". We were distraut with worry... but we worried for absolutely no reason and our children are the happiest they have ever been!

They have fantastic friends, the teachers are incredible - and the relationships the teachers build with the children has given them a confidence they've never had before.

Schooling was the biggest worry we had moving over here. Ironically, it's turned out to be the easiest part of the whole experience...

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

I would just add a word of caution about putting your children in the Spanish State system. If your children are very young, they will settle easily and make friends and everything may be fine, BUT, unless you are going to teach them yourself, there is a danger that the children will be functionally illiterate in English. If you are planning to return to the UK, consider how they will cope with the national curriculum.
Like British state school, the spanish system has some good and a great many awful schools. On the flip side, the International schools are often nothing of the sort, and are simply private spanish schools, with VERY wealthy kids.
We´ve experienced both, and my kids have done okay, but it is not all rosy, and I have spoken to pà rents who have claimed that their children are perfectly happy, when in fact they are just hanging out in the playground with a bunch of other expats. Also, secondary education is very different here..check what your child might like to do in future if you have older children. Either way, Good luck:thumbs_up::thumbs_up:

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

This is a very good point - and especially for us parents who have to work to remember... the importance of finding time for English lessons!

The English taught in Spanish schools is probably little different from the Spanish taught in English schools ("the pencil is red"). In fact, after one English lesson my daughter commented that she hadn't understood a single word of the English spoken (mainly due to the teacher's accent!).

The Internet helps, and we made sure we bought plenty of English books to read when we came over here. :thumbup:

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

We had a Parent/Teacher interview last week so just as an update,
Our son aged 12, has been at his school for 10mths now, his teachers were very happy with him academically, and the way he had setled into school, but, were concerned that as a quiet child he did not offer to communicate in Spanish in the classroom or with classmates, although they thought he understood alot. They tried seperating him from the only other British boy in the class as they tended to play together, speaking only English the result, he has been chatting away in the playground and with friends using more Spanish this week.
He has commented that at school in some respects he knows English better than the English teacher. We encourage him to read and write in English at home so as not to lose the correct grammer.

Re: schools in spain...help!!
 

I found this site to be useful - lots of stuff to print off and use

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/index.htm