coffee and chat javea

[chris]

hi could any one help put me in contact with any one living in the javea area, preferably, with children at a spanish school that we can meet up with between 29th of june to the 13 th of july. We have two children age 5 and 7 so would love to speak to people with young children about their experinces with the spanish education system, also would love the children to meet up with english children, who attend a spanish school so that my children know that they will not shrivell up an die because they are at a spainsh school !!!!!!!!

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by chris

hi could any one help put me in contact with any one living in the javea area, preferably, with children at a spanish school that we can meet up with between 29th of june to the 13 th of july. We have two children age 5 and 7 so would love to speak to people with young children about their experinces with the spanish education system, also would love the children to meet up with english children, who attend a spanish school so that my children know that they will not shrivell up an die because they are at a spainsh school !!!!!!!!

Yes I can do that, someone who fits your exact requirements. You will need to pm me if you want me to do so.

[Jogirl]

Originally Posted by chris

hi could any one help put me in contact with any one living in the javea area, preferably, with children at a spanish school that we can meet up with between 29th of june to the 13 th of july. We have two children age 5 and 7 so would love to speak to people with young children about their experinces with the spanish education system, also would love the children to meet up with english children, who attend a spanish school so that my children know that they will not shrivell up an die because they are at a spainsh school !!!!!!!!

Hi Chris, We are moving to Javea at the end of July with a 5yr old girl and a 9 month old baby and with regard to schools (good/average/bad etc) it would be great to get some recommendations for good schools in the area. Obviously in the UK there are league tables but is there a similar Spanish system? I know I'm being a little cheeky here but if you do get any recommendations please can you pass them along. Many Thanks, Jo

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Jogirl

Hi Chris, We are moving to Javea at the end of July with a 5yr old girl and a 9 month old baby and with regard to schools (good/average/bad etc) it would be great to get some recommendations for good schools in the area. Obviously in the UK there are league tables but is there a similar Spanish system? I know I'm being a little cheeky here but if you do get any recommendations please can you pass them along. Many Thanks, Jo

I dont think there are league tables in Spain. The touble is that you're moving when the schools are broken up and altho there maybe staff around, you may have to wait til school starts again to get a feel for what they're like???

I hope you all get sorted tho

Jo xx

[Jogirl]

Originally Posted by jojo

I dont think there are league tables in Spain. The touble is that you're moving when the schools are broken up and altho there maybe staff around, you may have to wait til school starts again to get a feel for what they're like???

I hope you all get sorted tho

Jo xx

Hi Jo

I'm sure I'm being too "English" about the whole thing and all the schools will be perfectly fine, especially as she is still so young.

Thanks for replying, the above posting was my first and you are my first reply.

[chris]

hi jo girl have done a bit of reasearch on spanish schools over the years and this is some of the info i have picked up, some good, some bad depending on your point of few.
The spainsh dont have league tables because there are less differences between schools in different areas, than the uk. It is more standardised than the uk system. The schools that do have a lower grade are the ones that have alot of british in them because the language difficulties not only hold up that child but the whole class on occasion. The spanish system has more discpline than the english system personally i think this is good, the children are expected to behave, (unlike the uk primary schools who seam ill equiped to deal with dissruption) They are more friendly with the children, and the children will kiss their teacher goodbye something that you would lose your job over in the uk, another good point. Children are generally taught acdemic subjects and not practical ones, when doing arts and crafts it is practical in the uk, but written theory in spain, same with sports, most of the time you dont actually do it just write about it, bad point i think. At 14 if the child is not acdemic they go into practical subjects like hair dressing carpentary, leading up to the equivalent of the uk's NVQ, a good point i think. There is a legal requirment that classes are not over 24 and they have a teacher assistant in each class, next year my child will have 34 to a class with the help of an occasional assistant. A country with an education system that produces more proffesional qualfied people per head of population in europe isnt doing to bad, mind you it does not mean they can get jobs after which is why you are seeing an influx of dentists and nurses in the uk and other countries at the moment. Giving your child the chance to learn in the spanish system gives them so many more options in later life, than a child taught soley in an english school. Children start at 6 in spain so depending when your child has her birthday she may start in september, if not get her into a spanish creche. Good luck hope this helps some. when i move over in september we must get our girls together (sorry for the length of reply)

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Jogirl

Thanks for replying, the above posting was my first and you are my first reply.

I'm sure you'll get more replies! There are quite a few of us here who have kids and have hit various problems, crisis and indeed success. So any questions just ask.

Jo xxx

[Jogirl]

Originally Posted by chris

hi jo girl have done a bit of reasearch on spanish schools over the years and this is some of the info i have picked up, some good, some bad depending on your point of few.
The spainsh dont have league tables because there are less differences between schools in different areas, than the uk. It is more standardised than the uk system. The schools that do have a lower grade are the ones that have alot of british in them because the language difficulties not only hold up that child but the whole class on occasion. The spanish system has more discpline than the english system personally i think this is good, the children are expected to behave, (unlike the uk primary schools who seam ill equiped to deal with dissruption) They are more friendly with the children, and the children will kiss their teacher goodbye something that you would lose your job over in the uk, another good point. Children are generally taught acdemic subjects and not practical ones, when doing arts and crafts it is practical in the uk, but written theory in spain, same with sports, most of the time you dont actually do it just write about it, bad point i think. At 14 if the child is not acdemic they go into practical subjects like hair dressing carpentary, leading up to the equivalent of the uk's NVQ, a good point i think. There is a legal requirment that classes are not over 24 and they have a teacher assistant in each class, next year my child will have 34 to a class with the help of an occasional assistant. A country with an education system that produces more proffesional qualfied people per head of population in europe isnt doing to bad, mind you it does not mean they can get jobs after which is why you are seeing an influx of dentists and nurses in the uk and other countries at the moment. Giving your child the chance to learn in the spanish system gives them so many more options in later life, than a child taught soley in an english school. Children start at 6 in spain so depending when your child has her birthday she may start in september, if not get her into a spanish creche. Good luck hope this helps some. when i move over in september we must get our girls together (sorry for the length of reply)

Hi Chris, thanks so much for replying, you have obviously done a lot of homework on this subject and I really appreciate you sharing your findings. My husband is in Javea at the begining of July to take a look around some schools and hopefully secure a place for our daughter. I will let you know how things go and what we discover.

I would love to meet up, hopefully we will be in Javea from Late July/early August.

[SteveHall]

Hi Chris,

I have written extensively on the Spanish school system over many years and have interviewed teachers, headmasters, governors and parents.

I think the best way to add to this discussion is to comment on your opinions.

"The spainsh dont have league tables because there are less differences between schools in different areas, than the uk. It is more standardised than the uk system".

**NO. The Spanish do not have league tables because it is not part of their psyche. The concept of PC and competition in this area is totally alien to them. There ARE HUGE differeneces between schools - the Spaniards just accept that and throw more resources at resolving the issues than messing around with tables that will be manipulated.

"The schools that do have a lower grade are the ones that have alot of british in them because the language difficulties not only hold up that child but the whole class on occasion."

**WHERE DID THAT COME FROM???? (a) outside the expat areas there are very few schools with British children. IAC as we have both said, there IS NO grading scheme.

Qualified? Are you talking about the out-dated and much-abused system of funcionarios? That system owes much less to a quality education and a range of opportunities than a feudal system of patronage. Put simply, if you plug away and pass the open exam you are guaranteed a job for life. This is HIGHLY valued in Spanish society - much more than league tables - and explains why the Spanish civil service is universally-acknowledged to be so appalling.

"Children start at 6 in spain so depending when your child has her birthday she may start in september, if not get her into a spanish creche. "

Parents are not obliged to put their children into school until age 6, but most attend ‘infantil’ or Infants School from ages 3-6. From an academic/educational point of view I would think it absolute FOLLY not to get expat kids in as soon as humanly possible so they can start learning the language naturally.


Most of your other points I would agree with to a greater or lesser extent. Thanks for your input.


Good luck to you all in Jávea. It's a beautiful town and a friend of mine runs the local expat "drop-in" centre, Oasis. I am sure you would be most welcome there. Another friend is the president of the local football club CD Jávea where his main focus is on developing the kids. BTW You keep saying "Spanish" - do you not know that Spanish is NOT the main language of the street in Jávea and that the whole language issue is a huge hit potato there? Are you going to be able to support the children in homework in three languages?

[chris]

hi steve, your comment about the competion in the school system was wonderful to hear and not one i have read about before, the competion in the school that my children attend is fierce and your sort of made to feel a bad parent if you do not get in a private tutor to do extra maths, it will be very good for the children to not feel a failure if the only get 5 out of 10 in their spellings which makes my daughter cry, shes only five for gods sake so that will be something very positive to look forward too.
As for schools with a "lower grade" i was referring to expat community schools that have a lot of english children, that do hold up others in the class because of the language barrier, with the best will in the world even with private tution, an english child is never going to be fluent in spanish until they have been in the education system for a little while although they are not graded these schools are generally behind educationally than schools in rural areas that have little or no english children. The same can easily be said for english schools that have a high population of other nationalities. I will compleatley agree with you that expat children need to be in a schooling system asap and wish i could have come over a few years ago but that was not possible as my 16 year old was doing his GCSE's.
Yes i do understand that spanish is not the main language of javea but valenciano, which i have been told is a hy-bred of spanish and french,
As for your comment on wether i am going to be able to support my children in 3 differnt languages, no im not! im sure we will do fine when it comes to the very basics beyond that we are all gonna struggle but we will all find a way forward given time.
Can i ask you the addresse of this drop i centre and the opening times would really like the opportunity to discuss properly various different issues about spain, you do not always get a full understanding of some things on a few lines in a forum your help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
We will be over their looking for accomodation from the 29th of june to the 13th of july if you wanted to meet up for a coffee that would be great, regardless of how much reasearch you do, there are always blanks, which do need filling in, thank you for your help chris