Hello

Can anyone help us! We are in the process of sorting out our move to spain and are looking for people who can tell us their experiences of their children who have attended spanish schools and how they have coped or would people recommend sending their children to private english international schools! Any responses would be a help. Also do you know of any websites that are straight forward in the listing of schools other then the NBCSS!!!!

Thanks

Jane

Hi Jane,

I don't know the Malaga situation, but as a Mom of a 6 year old with 4 years of English education in Madrid and now in Spanish school, I can give you a few tips:

For lists:
(1)Try DICES.ES for a list of some schools, not complete as schools must pay to appear.
(2)Try ELMUNDO.ES for a list of the 130 "best" schools in Spain. Its a very complete annual survey.
(3) The websites of the US and British embassies in Spain list all of the English speaking schools available in Spain.

For Spanish schools, go to the town halls of the neighbourhoods were you might live and they can give you the list of all schools. Then, you must just go around and talk to the directors of the school. In Madrid, the "colegios concertados" tend to be good. You have a better chance of getting in since you are coming mid-course and they must save a few slots of "inmigrants" coming in.

English and English schools average 1,000 per month, while concertados (private, but subsidised by the Government) tend to cost only around 300$ per month. Some public schools are good, it depends on the neighbourhood and the student body. In Madrid, they often are guetos for inmigrants and "problem" children, but not always, so also worth looking and asking.

If I can be of further help, let me know.

and good luck!

Hey Val, thanks for popping in and helping out with Jane's question.

One day I will learn from your advice as well

One thing, I looked for www.dices.es and there is nothing there, I think the correct URL is www.dices.com . Please confirm that this is the site you are referring to.

Saludos,
jer...

Hi Jane!
Here�s my twopennyworth if it�s any help!! I moved to the Canaries with two children aged 13 and 8. Feeling guilty at uprooting them, and not wanting to disrupt the 13 yrs old education should we decide not to stay here, I put both of them in the International English School, which promised "give us your children and they will be bilingual in six months". We had moved from Cambridge where they were both in an excellent (and very small) private school and the 13 yr old was showing real potential. I presumed that the standard of private education would be the same here!! I was so wrong and sooooo naive!!!! Our daughter stayed in the English system and took her IGCSE�s and got very average grades. I moved our son at the age of ten to the Spanish education system and, although he had a very hard first six months learning the language, he is now fully integrated into Canarian life. The older child is a competent Spanish speaker, but my son is a real "local". With hindsight I should have put both children into the Spanish system as soon as we arrived here.

Obviously, this is only my experience, and it will depend on the ages of your children, but I would say if they are young the Spanish education system is the best place for them. I have found the teaching excellent.

pd Notsew - give your thoughts on this please!!!!

Hi everyone,

Jer, thanks for the correction, the school directory is indeed in DICES.COM.

Val

Hi,

I think a lot of the private international schools that follow the British curriculum, attract Spanish parents and the directors of the schools therefore gear the curriculum accordingly. It seems to me that the schools are not always up to date with what is going on in the UK, if the teachers haven't had the requisite training or recent experience of the British curriculum. Therefore, maybe an idea to check what the teachers' qualifications are, if considering a private international school.

Over the last few years, I must have applied to every British school in Spain that advertised a vacancy which I was qualified for. I was offered one post and when I got there, apart from the fact that the school hadn't recruited enough students for the course I'd been contracted to teach, the teachers were moaning about their pay and conditions and were in the bars getting drunk along with tourists. Hardly a school that one would want ones children to go to. This school wasn't on the Costa Del Sol; it was in the Canary Islands (not Lanzarote).

On the Costa Del Sol, I think I've probably applied for 2 posts down there. I'd heard it's best to call a potential employer after submitting an application, so I plucked up the courage and called. Well, I wish I hadn't. Couldn't get through to anyone at one of the schools, no-one came back to me etc., the Director of the other one says "oh, didn't we write to you, just a minute, oh I must have thrown your application in the bin". Great statement after I'd listened to the tune "Let It Be" for ages, whilst hanging on the phone!

It's equally frustrating being a parent. My son is 13, I'm planning on moving to Spain from the UK too and am equally concerned about his education. Two schools which offer the I.B. haven't replied to my emails;(these schools are not on the Costa Del Sol). I know it's common not to get replies from emails, but I would have thought if one is a potential customer....?

Therefore, I am beginning to think a Spanish school is best, no matter what age the children are.

PS
For a get a list of schools try the following 2 databases:

http://www.mec.es/centros/
Click on the map of Malaga (region).
Check the type of school you're looking for.
From the drop down box select private/public/todos
Submit and will bring up a list of all the schools in Malaga region, according to your selection.

then
http://www.averroes.cec.junta-andalucia.es/
Click on "centros"
From the drop down list select the province.
Check the box to show schools that have web pages, either their own or on the Averroes server, or leave blank for complete list.
Click on the search icon.
In the case of the province of Andalucia, the email addresses of the schools are usually prefixed by the school code.

Does this help?

re my last post, should have read region (not province) of Andalucia.

Anyhow, I have a question to ask Val, because I really don't know where to move to and all this research that I've been doing for so long now is "doing my head in", well that's an East London phrase, now isn't it?

I have to say that I hadn't previously been contemplating a move to Madrid, but sometimes I get fed-up with all this coastal/resort stuff and think it would be better to move somewhere, well, more sustainable. Also, Jer's pics!, well this whole website really.

Anyway, the international school in Madrid that I liked the look of is absolutely full and I very much doubt that I could afford the fees anyway. So what would be the best area to move in Madrid, in terms of proximity to a private Spanish school?

Thanks, any help appreciated.

PS I am also looking for a job!

Hi sooz!!!
Had to laugh at your post re Canary Island school!! Could have been Lanzarote, as when we went for our first interview we were met by the cook coming out of the kitchen with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, which stayed there whilst she showed us round!! Turned out she was one of the few qualified teachers in the school!!

I cannot tell you about the experience of my kids at Spanish schools as I don't have any. However I can tell you of my own experience at Spanish schools.

I came to the Costa Blanca from the UK (surrey) with my family aged 10. My parents had the same dilemma as Jane. However in those days the number and quality of international schools was lower. They chose the Spanish state school route for my brother and I.

The main advantage over the international schools was that I speak Spanish at a level where most think I am Spanish and just have a strange name. Secondly and just as important are the life-long friends I made at school, these of course
integrated me so much into the Spanish way of life I cannot stay away. Today there are more and more immigrant students in schools but I don't think they could ever dilute the system.

In my school days there was EGB, BUP and COU. BUP was the old Spanish baccalaureate and COU the university entrance course. Although my stronger subjects were sciences and maths the system made sure you had a balanced education if you liked it or not. I have not had much use for my knowledge of subjects like Latin or philosophy since school but it is nice to know you are prepared to have a chat with a roman emperor.

Following school I chose to go to university in the UK. Every one I applied to was keen for me to attend, my qualifications being more than enough for any course I was interested in. After a degree and a masters and a few years work in the UK I moved back to Spain. I now work as an R&D engineer in the Madrid office of a large multinational where of course my knowledge of English helps working with others around the world and the Spanish to integrate with my 'colegas'.

If I even have children I would not think twice about sending them to Spanish state school.

Cheers,

Ian

Thank you to sooz, ian val, madsue! for all your replies dont feel so alone in my worries now and feel more enlighten!

See you spain!

Jane

Hi Sooz and all other interested parties!

As for your question on private Spanish schools. Well, here there are public schools and private subsidised schools called "colegios concertados" which are mostly, but not all catholic schools.

As for finding and getting into the "right one", well the best way is to find where you'd like to live and then go around and see/talk to the school directors. This is not as easy as it seems, as lots of competition to get into some of these schools.

There is a "points system" for getting into these schools. You get points for: proximity, being under the poverty level, having three or more kids, and a few other things.

I had only the proximity points, but got Sam into a very good school by being open minded: (1) his school is in a working class neighbourhood (Spaniards are quite class concious and a large % of them are trying to get into the same schools, for example the Jesuits, etc.); (2) its a strict catholic all boys school, so not "in style"; (3) the director gave me a point (they are allowed to give out 1 point to whoever they want) after I had an interview with him.

Also, you may have a better chance of getting in if you arrive during the middle of the course as an immigrant. My advice is: don't give up, come and look around, and be open minded. Some of the working class neighbourhoods have some great schools.

Also, as for looking for a job. The British Council (you can find the web through the British Embassy Web) now has a joint bilingual program in Spanish public schools! I think this is available now in 40 Spanish public schools and they hire only British trained teachers. Also, getting your son into one of these publish schools could also be interesting.

Finally, spainalive.com has some info. on international schools.

Good luck! If you need more info., feel free to contact me at my email also if you want to, or to discuss in more detail here.

Also, I often see help wanted ads for the private school "Brains". Its supposed to be a good school and is a bilingual school (but following the Spanish national curriculum.

Bye for now,

Val

One more thing...try "www.spainexpat.com" for more info. on international schools plus lots of good links into the embassies, etc.

Val

Hi,

Within the web: www.britishcouncil.es, you will find a bit of info on the bilingual program in Spanish publish schools and information on who to contact to apply for a job. Its sounds good! Its a full bilingual program, preparing the kids for Spanish and English university and now available at 42 public schools. The list of schools isn't there, but there's a contact for getting more info.

Good luck!

Valerie

Thanks tons Val!!! You get a load of multimadrid points from me

There is also a good list of international bilingual schools in Madrid at www.madridinsider.i8.com/work/englishschools.html

Saludos,
jer...