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 Within 3 weeks he became withdrawn and so we had to move areas to one with an International school - all is well now.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