CAVE KIDS . . . SCHOOL LIFE

"School, the best days of your life"

Enrolling your child in school

Getting your child into a new school can be a daunting experience for all concerned and in Spain this is no different. If you as parents have little or no understanding of the Spanish language, the process can appear even more daunting but in general, this needn't be the case.

Although the process of enrolment may vary from region to region and may depend on the age of your child, the key is to be prepared and have everything ready in advance.

Children in Spain generally start school during the year they turn three, so for us as our son was three in January, he started school in the September of that year.

The following information is based on our own experiences and is intended only as a guide.

March is usually the time to begin the enrolment process. The first time you do this will be the most time consuming but in following years your child will come home from school with the relevant paperwork to be simply filled in and returned.

For first time enrolments the school will open places between the first and thirty first of March and you have between these two dates to complete the process. The school will publish a list of what is required for enrolment and these lists will be made available in places like the town hall, the school itself or in our case, the newsagents.
The list will also tell you the hours when you can go and present your paperwork to the school. If the school is a large one, remember to go early and have everything in duplicate just in case.

Usually you are expected to take (for first time enrolments)

• Two passport sized photographs of your child
• Photocopy of your child's birth certificate. The full birth certificate with parental information is best
• Photocopy of your child's registration at the doctors
• Baby book or immunisation record
• Photocopy of parents passport, NIE number or residency card
• Photocopy of child's passport or residency if relevant

Once at the school you will hand all documentation in to the school secretary and you will be asked to fill out an enrolment form. This is usually straight forward and you will be asked for information such as your child's full name and date of birth, your address and contact telephone number. Don't be alarmed if they ask a few personal questions such as your profession or if your child is still in nappies or uses a dummy as this is where your child's school record begins.

During this interview you will probably be asked what your religion is and if you wish your child to study religion as per the school curriculum. Again we can only advise on our own school, but we opted for our son not to take part in Religious Studies as the only religious studies available in our school is Catholicism. Instead of Catholicism our son has extra activities in language or maths which we feel at the moment is more important for him. You can, of course change your mind as your child progresses through school.

Once this stage of the enrolment is completed, you will be given a copy of the enrolment form and asked to come back again in a few months, usually June to complete the process.

It is very important that you keep this appointment as you will have to sign another form which finalises the enrolment process and failure to do so could result in your child losing his place.

During the summer you will be informed of when your child's first day is and often there is a meeting before the end of term where parents are advised of what they can do to prepare their child for starting school. Some of the advice may seem a little patronising but it helps each child to come to class with at least a certain level of certain skills and expectancies.

For example each child should be out of nappies, at least during the day and be able to ask to go to the toilet even if they need help once there. You may also be asked to speak to your child in a certain way, or encourage certain routines such as hand washing before meals, they may even advise you on how many hours of TV your child should be watching. This again is intended only as a guide so don't be offended if you don't agree with some of the advice!

When school begins

Usually for young children attending school for the first time, there will be a process of settling in. The usual school day is from 9:30 am until 2:00 pm with one or two afternoons of school from 4:00 pm until 5:30 pm. Older children often start at 8:30 am. Again, this is only a general guide as the system does vary from place to place. In the beginning for new starters your child may only attend for a couple of hours a day in the first week to enable him to get used to the routine - it is a big step for both children and parents. Our son loved school so much, however that he didn't want to leave after his first morning and has never looked back.

School is not compulsory until your child enters 'primaria' at about the age of six although every child enjoys their 'infantil' years from 3-5. Because school is not compulsory until the age of six, there is vary rarely any financial help available. Although schooling is free, the materials requested can sometimes come as a shock. In his first year, our son needed in addition to his text books, pens, pencils, a rubber, a cushion, plastercine and even a hole punch among other things. All in all we spent about €120 in that first year.

After the age of six when compulsory schooling begins, school books are often subsidised and in some cases, free and there are even grants available if, like us you need to travel a reasonable distance to school every day. Some local councils put on a school bus service or in our case, the local policeman collects the two children in our village every morning and then drops them home again at lunch time which is a great help. In some schools there are facilities available at lunch time so on certain days your child might be at school from 9.30 until 5.30 - quite a long day!

Children adapt to school life very quickly in a foreign country, especially the younger ones. Language is no barrier for children, so it is really nothing to worry about. In general Spanish children are pleased to have a 'foreigner' in the class and will bend over backwards to help and make friends.

So far we are very happy with the standard of education our son receives in school although you sometimes wonder how the school fits everything in given the amount of holidays the children have.
The summer holidays alone can be from the end of June to the middle of September. As in the UK, Christmas and Easter breaks are about two weeks. There are no half term breaks but the amount of national and local fiestas soon make up for that!

We are also very lucky in the fact that our son's class is very small, only 18 and that is with two year groups put together. Further up the school, the largest class has 16 children with the smallest class having only 8. As in other small rural schools, there is no 'setting' within classes although the children do see a variety of different teachers for specialist subjects such as sport, English, French and music.

All children in general enjoy their school life and 'foreign' children will find they benefit enormously from attending school here, not just because of their new language skills, but they will make friends in the village and learn about the culture of where they live. Just remember that after as little as six months in school your child will have such a good command of the language it will leave you staggered. Look up those swear words now so you are at least prepared for that - yes even at three!