School Registration

[Kastym]

Hi, Can anyone help me here? we are moving to Alhaurin dela Torre/Malaga area in 6 months time and I have heard many stories about school registration (state schools); our main worry is that we have been told that we have to register our kids before they break up for summer holidays, as we will be arriving in October after school breaks up this will not be possible. The embassy has assured us that they will be given a place regardless but what we have been told and what actually happens are often two different things. Also, what is the children' allowance in Spain, we have been given the forms to fill in but no-one seems to be able to give us a definite answer, we have three children aged from seven years to nine months. Any help will be really appreciated. Thanks.

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by Kastym

Hi, Can anyone help me here? we are moving to Alhaurin dela Torre/Malaga area in 6 months time and I have heard many stories about school registration (state schools); our main worry is that we have been told that we have to register our kids before they break up for summer holidays, as we will be arriving in October after school breaks up this will not be possible. The embassy has assured us that they will be given a place regardless but what we have been told and what actually happens are often two different things. Also, what is the children' allowance in Spain, we have been given the forms to fill in but no-one seems to be able to give us a definite answer, we have three children aged from seven years to nine months. Any help will be really appreciated. Thanks.

don't worry about the school registration - you will get a place for your kids no matter when you arrive - it might not be in the school of your choice though, if it's full - but you can't register until you live here, so there's nothing you can do about that

I'm not sure what the childrens' allowance you're talking about is - unless it's an allowance for familia numerosa (big family) which you are with 3 kids

you get help with school books (although in my region no-one got the payment this year) & various other benefits & discounts

you might want to have a peek at the 'useful links' sticky thread near the top of the Spain page - there is a post (page 1??) with lots of info & links about education in Spain.

[Magnum03]

Hi Kastym,
Welcome to Spain and the forurm.
We live in Alhaurin de la Torre and have just enrolled our son in a school here.
When you arrive in October, you will be assigned a place in a school for your children. You are guranteed a place. Most likely you won't have a choice, since the classes will be filled already. This leaves you with the not-so-good schools.
If you want your children in a specific school I sugest that you ally yourself with a firm spanish lady, that can argue your case with the school of your choice, but only if there is room in that school.
Alternatively you can choose a privet school, they will most likely have room, since some spanish parents no longer can afford to have there children there.

Magnum

[Kastym]

The useful links sticky is full of information, well worth a look. Thanks for the welcome, Magnum03, won't be long till we are there as well. However, can anyone shed some light on the zone system for schools and is there a way I can find out which school/schools my kids would be eligible for, we will be living in the campo, but our postal address is Alhaurin dela Torre, do the ayuntamiento post a list of certain schools for certain areas, or do you just have to go an speak to them. My daughter has dyslexia, is she likely to get the help she needs. I tried to make sense of the educacion.gob.es web site but it was a little beyond me, OK it went way over my head.

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by Kastym

The useful links sticky is full of information, well worth a look. Thanks for the welcome, Magnum03, won't be long till we are there as well. However, can anyone shed some light on the zone system for schools and is there a way I can find out which school/schools my kids would be eligible for, we will be living in the campo, but our postal address is Alhaurin dela Torre, do the ayuntamiento post a list of certain schools for certain areas, or do you just have to go an speak to them. My daughter has dyslexia, is she likely to get the help she needs. I tried to make sense of the educacion.gob.es web site but it was a little beyond me, OK it went way over my head.

As has been said your children will get a place at a school although it may not be the one you wanted. Perhaps it will be at the not so good schools, but perhaps not - there may be a new school that isn't full yet or a school that perhaps wasn't doing so well, but now has different teachers. Teachers can get changed around a LOT, so schools can change a lot too from year to year.

Your daughter should be given help for her dyslexia at school, but there are a lot of cuts being made at the moment due to the terrible crisis that Spain is living through and things like extra help for kids who need special attention may well go. It may be that you'd have to provide that for your daughter on a private basis, but I don't know for sure.

I too have no idea what you mean by allowance for children??

How come you're coming to live in Spain?????

[jojo]

We lived in the campo in Alhaurin de la Torre (El Romeral). We just went to the nearest school, a primary school in a village just up the road called Torrealqueria, and asked if our daughter could attend. They gave us forms to fill in and she started the following week!

I havent a clue about allowances for children. We were lucky as our UK child benefit was continued because my husband commuted and still worked and paid taxes etc in the UK. We wouldnt have been eligible for anything in Spain, I dont know even if they have such a thing??

Jo xxx

[Magnum03]

If your going to live in El Romeral, I would recomend the local catholic school, it doesn't cost much and has a good reputation. I have heard from other expats, that the one in Torrealquiria is one of the not-so-good schools the Ayontamiento will send your kids to, because "it has only got 16 pupils in a class". I haven't been there my self. Don't wan't to offend anyone, just sharing information.

In Spain you get a tax deduction for each child and an additional for children under 3.

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by Pesky Wesky

As has been said your children will get a place at a school although it may not be the one you wanted. Perhaps it will be at the not so good schools, but perhaps not - there may be a new school that isn't full yet or a school that perhaps wasn't doing so well, but now has different teachers. Teachers can get changed around a LOT, so schools can change a lot too from year to year.

Your daughter should be given help for her dyslexia at school, but there are a lot of cuts being made at the moment due to the terrible crisis that Spain is living through and things like extra help for kids who need special attention may well go. It may be that you'd have to provide that for your daughter on a private basis, but I don't know for sure.

I too have no idea what you mean by allowance for children??

How come you're coming to live in Spain?????

that IS a very good point about schools changing - the same happens in the UK although to a lesser extent because the teachers don't move around so much (when we lived there, anyway)

here, of course, it seems that the majority of teachers change schools on a yearly basis - so it's possible that a good school could go downhill & vice versa year on year

the primary school my 2 went to here managed to earn a bad rep for a short time - nothing to do with the actual school - the chair of AMPA had a feud with the directora & managed to cause all sorts of problems - 'no smoke without fire' was the opinion of so many

my girls were there at the time & I became involved with AMPA to find out what was really going on for myself - & I'm glad I did - they were both happy & did brilliantly there

the directora retired at the end of last school year & her 'deputy' took over...... he sadly died a month ago - as far as I know that hasn't caused any changes at the school - but what if next year they appoint a new head who doesn't like/want to support foreigners? The school has always been brilliant with foreign kids & embraced the 'internationality'.............. but I know that at another school in the town it's totally the opposite - foreign kids are given little if any help & some have been known to spend all day every day in a corner essentially ignored

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Magnum03

If your going to live in El Romeral, I would recomend the local catholic school, it doesn't cost much and has a good reputation. I have heard from other expats, that the one in Torrealquiria is one of the not-so-good schools the Ayontamiento will send your kids to, because "it has only got 16 pupils in a class". I haven't been there my self. Don't wan't to offend anyone, just sharing information.

In Spain you get a tax deduction for each child and an additional for children under 3.

At the time, the Torrealqueria school was horrendous - well it was for my daughter. the British kids there didnt like her because they deemed her "posh" ????? (by comparison, maybe!!), the Spanish kids there didnt like any of the British kids. So my daughter was caught in the middle. There was one teacher who helped her a little - he was the PE teacher and obviously cared, but he left and the teacher who taught the classes English was American and would constantly tell my daughter off for her poor pronunciation of english words. Ruby was reduced to tears for pronouncing "CHemist" as "Kemist" and its not "DOG", its "DAWG"!!! So we then moved her to the school at the other end of Alhaurin de la Torre - Cappellenia. This was better, but by then my daughter hit her awkward phase and simply refused to speak Spanish or do any work there! In the end, she started bunking off so we decided to put her into the international school in Benalmadena with my son - where she flourished!

IMO the best school by far in the Alhaurin de la Torre area is MIT School - Bilingual School MIT

Jo xxx

[Magnum03]

Originally Posted by jojo

At the time, the Torrealqueria school was horrendous - well it was for my daughter. the British kids there didnt like her because they deemed her "posh" ????? (by comparison, maybe!!), the Spanish kids there didnt like any of the British kids. So my daughter was caught in the middle. There was one teacher who helped her a little - he was the PE teacher and obviously cared, but he left and the teacher who taught the classes English was American and would constantly tell my daughter off for her poor pronunciation of english words. Ruby was reduced to tears for pronouncing "CHemist" as "Kemist" and its not "DOG", its "DAWG"!!! So we then moved her to the school at the other end of Alhaurin de la Torre - Cappellenia. This was better, but by then my daughter hit her awkward phase and simply refused to speak Spanish or do any work there! In the end, she started bunking off so we decided to put her into the international school in Benalmadena with my son - where she flourished!

IMO the best school by far in the Alhaurin de la Torre area is MIT School - Bilingual School MIT

Jo xxx

Our freinds had a similar story - both kids ended up refusing to learn spanish, they moved to Guadelmar and found a good school there.
La Cappellenia, Taralpe and one down town (can't remember the name) have good reputations.
If I was living in El Romeral I would go for the local catholic school. This is one of they few catholic schools you can actually get your kids in to.