Hi I was nearly ten when I went to Greek school i was put back a year which hasnt affected me in the slightest, and i didnt speak a word of greek and i am fluent now. the education systems over here are a lot different than england and in my opinion they are much better. I loved greek school the locals were really helpful as were the teachers and i made great friends too. I did get bullied occassionally but nothing like the bullies are in england. I went to the gymnasium which is the middle school and sat my exams not knowing they were the equivalent of gcse's. My mum sent me to england to do my alevels there as the system over here for alevels isnt as good as they lack in variety and choices etc.

I arrived in England with my Cypriot certificate at one of the leading colleges in leeds and they said they had just got a new system in which converts foreign qualifications and I was told that anything that was c or above was equivalent to a gcse. Meaning in total I had sat 18 gcse's, which is compulsary and I had 13 A's, 4 B's and a C.

My English is fine and I had a major advantage in england as I spoke Greek and I also had nealry double the gcses they had there. I thought I was going to struggle to get into a college yet it helped me a lot. It also enabled me to take 6 Alevels rather than the suggested 3 or 4 and I took 2 Alevels un assisted without any teaching in Greek and Ancient Greek mythology, which on the off chance I had already done here as Gcse material. The standard of maths and all the sciences over here in the Greek schools are 2 years ahead than england, which means to gain my alevels I was just repeating what I had already done which was fantastic and meant I finished with excellent grades.

The universities are always looking for someone that stands out and I did because of my grades and because I spoke Greek but I was English which they found interesting, I got placements at all 5 universities I applied to within a few weeks. I would recommend Greek school to anyone that has young children, it is truly the best thing my mum ever did, the locals respect me more for it, it has also made my life over here much easier, no language barrier and I love being able to converse in both languages without any difficulties.

Being introduced to 2 different cultures has also helped me shape my own ideas and thoughts and made me more independent. the first months are he hardest but within 6 months she should be fluent. good luck to you and your family