Need help on primary school

[Shazba]

Can anybody help me????

My husband, daughter (8 years) and I have just been out to Albox and are looking to move there in a few months. We have got a house in Aljambra and my husband has found a job. All we need to decide on now is which school to send my daughter to.
We went to see Virgin de Saliente but couldn't get idea of what it was like as they wouldn't let us look around the school as kids were working.
Does anybody know if this school is better than Velazquez or Fenoy? We know all about registering but just don't know which school would be best as we have had mixed reports about Velazquez and Saliente.
I am finding this the most stressful part about moving abroad as obviously i want what is best for my daughter.

Please, please can anyone help????

[digifidd]

Hi
We moved out to Albox when my two girls were 2 and a half and 5 years. They both started at Velasquez.

The little one got on really well as she started there at 3 years old and so by the time we left, a year and a half later, she was getting quite fluent and able to chat quite happily with the Spanish neighbour (in local dialect and accent).

The 5 year old had a harder time, for a number of reasons. She is quite a bright cookie and very "English". Her English was quite advanced and she found it quite difficult to adjust considering she had had to leave all her friends in the UK. She likes the Spanish language but is quite sensitive and found the overall harshness of the Spanish system too much.

Her teacher at her English school had been very fluffy and caring. It came as a big shock.

By going to Velasquez, she was thrown in at the deep end (she had done some Spanish before we went out there but it's not the same as having to converse most of the day) and we got her extra lessons (in town)to help her cope. For the first few months, she was virtually ignored in class by the teacher and given things like Playdoh or colouring to do.
Eventually, I managed to get the class books for her and had to spend lots of time in the evenings helping her understand her homework.

The up side was that it helped me get up to speed very quickly with Spanish.

On the social front, she found it hard as she was either bullied or ignored by the Spanish girls/boys which further put her off trying. Some of the local English children weren't much better and were quick to pick on her.

As she has asthma, it came as a shock to find her teachers smoking in her lesson!! They even took to throwing blackboard rubbers - I know, it wouldn't be allowed in the UK.

There is not a lot of nurturing there, unless you get an especially patient teacher, which the younger one did. My 5 year old was unlucky as the teacher she got was due for retirement and not interested in helping.

By the end of the academic year, she was doing better than her Spanish neighbour of equivalent age (who went to Virgen del Saliente down the road). So dont expect a really high standard of education in that part of Spain - it is very rural! The local lingo is just that, very colloquial and even a Spanish guy from Barcelona told us that Andaluz was very lazy Spanish. (in his words, not proper Spanish).

There were some English girls, but they fell into 2 camps, those who spoke Spanish and those who didn't (whose parents weren't too interested in integrating). My daughter naturally gravitated towards the English speaking ones (for comfort as much as anything), but did have one good English friend who spoke enough Spanish to get by, but was not keeping up in class.

Our daughter was quite confident before she left for Spain, now she is a touch more introverted. For her it was a culture shock and socially very isolating. However, you know your daughter better than anyone, so if you think she is robust enough confidence wise, it can be an asset getting them to learn another language.

For us, Albox wasn't the intellectual centre of Spain and it was reflected in the standard of teaching. Sorry if that sounds snobby, but like you we wanted a good school and found it wanting. My 5 year old could correct her English teacher during English lessons!!

As you can tell, we are now back in the Uk and for us and our daughters it was the right thing to do. Luckily they were young enough to slot back into the UK system seamlessly. We kept up their English reading and writing whilst doing the Spanish work.

The Virgen del Saliente school was considered the better of the three in the centre of Albox, but was quite difficult to get into. I dont know what it is like now. May be someone can say it schools are inspected like in the UK.

Our eldest is now 8 years old (9 in October), so if your daughter wants to email her, she can tell her how she felt about moving to Spain and her experiences.

I should say that we came back in 2006, so I dont know if standards have improved, it would be a good idea to speak to some of the mums at the gate. I found that I could recognise the British ones.

Obviously, a lot will depend on your current level of Spanish and if you can help your daughter with homework.

The best of luck with whatever you choose. I hope our experiences dont increase your stress level, it is after all just one experience of many.:)

digifidd@yahoo.co.uk

[josefine]

Hello,

I have two children at the Virgen del Saliente and they are currently doing very well there. My children were born here and hence I have no comparison to make with the English education system as they have never been to school in the UK. I have seen lots of English children come to the school and they tend to integrate very well with the other English !! I do recommend an intensive Spanish course prior to starting school or they really are in at the deep end.
The teachers tend to vary with their standards and you can be unlucky to get one of the old school as my son did last year and quite frankly, he would have learnt more reading some books at home on his own than what he learnt from the lady who taught him (she has now retired thankfully and he has a new young male teacher who is great )
The school is good and should improve soon when they carry out general reforms and update the buildings this Summer. There are vacancies for an eight year old, you would just need to register at the school now to get a place starting after the Summer. If you need any help with this process, please do not hesitate to let me know. If you want to have a general chat about the schooling system you could call me on 625 474 558,
Jo