Spain’s state schools have undergone profound changes in the last decade and standards, which were low, are now the equal of those in most of the rest of Europe. State education is ultimately the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Science (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia), although the 17 autonomous regions now have responsibility for their own education system (including higher education).
State education is free, but parents must usually pay for school books, which are expensive, although they’re provided free in many regions (Andalusia, Aragon, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Galicia and La Rioja) and many town councils partially or completely subsidise purchases in certain cases, school supplies, and extra-curricular activities such as sports and arts and crafts. Pupils usually go to local village ( pueblo) nursery and primary schools, although attending secondary school may entail travelling long distances (buses are usually provided).
For most Spanish children, school starts with nursery or pre-school ( preescolar), from around the age of three or four (places for three-year olds are available in many regions). Compulsory education ( escolaridad obligatoria), termed the basic general education ( Educación General Básica/EGB), begins at six years of age in a primary school ( escuela primaria) and lasts for six years. At the age of 12 (equivalent to Year 8 in the UK and sixth grade in the US), pupils move on to secondary education ( educación secundaria obligatoria/ESO) for the next four years. When they’re 16, and if they’ve completed the four years, students are awarded a graduado en educación secundaria certificate and may attend a higher secondary school (or the same school in some cases) to study for their baccalaureate leading to university entrance. Less academically-gifted pupils who haven’t successfully completed four years secondary education are awarded a school certificate ( certificado de escolaridad). At 16, students may attend a vocational school ( formación profesional) providing specialised training for a specific career.
A general criticism of Spanish state schools made by many foreigners is the lack of extra-curricular activities such as sport, music, drama, and arts and crafts. State schools don’t have school clubs or sports teams and if children want to do team sports they must usually join a local club. However, sports and other activities are often organised through parents’ and sports associations. Fees are low and activities usually take place directly after school.
Attending a state school helps children integrate into the local community and learn the local language, and is highly recommended if you plan to remain in Spain indefinitely. Although it may not appeal initially, given the choice many foreign children prefer to attend a Spanish school and become part of the local community. Note that while it’s fairly easy to switch from a state school to a private school, the reverse isn’t true. If you must move a child from a private school to a state school (e.g. due to financial reasons), it can be difficult for a child to adjust, particularly a teenager. Having made the decision to send a child to a state school, you should stick to it for at least a year to give it a fair trial, as it can take a child this long (or longer) to fully adapt to a new language, the change of environment and the different curriculum. If you choose to send your child to a Spanish school you should learn to speak Spanish well enough to communicate with your child’s teachers – few Spanish teachers speak English.
There are also special state schools in Spain for pupils with special education needs, e.g. learning difficulties due to psychological, emotional or behavioural problems and slow learners. However, pupils are taught in special education units or schools only when their needs cannot be catered for in a mainstream school.
In Spain, children must attend a state school (primary or secondary) within a certain distance of their home, so if you have a preference for a particular school, it’s important to buy or rent a home within that school’s catchment area. Town halls and provincial Ministry of Education offices can provide a list of local schools at all levels. In some rural areas, there’s little or no choice of schools, while in Madrid and other cities there are usually a number of possibilities. Naturally, the schools with the best reputations and exam results are the most popular, and therefore the most difficult to gain acceptance to. You should plan well ahead, particularly if you wish your child(ren) to be accepted at a superior school.
There are many considerations to take into account when choosing an appropriate school in Spain, not least the language of study. The only schools in Spain using English as the teaching language are foreign and international private schools. A number of multilingual international schools also teach pupils in the English and Spanish languages.
If your children attend any other school, they must study all subjects in Spanish. For most children, studying in Spanish isn’t such a handicap as it may at first appear, particularly for those aged below ten. The majority of children adapt quickly to a new language and most become reasonably fluent within three to six months. However, not all children adapt equally well to a change of language and culture, particularly children aged ten or over, many of whom have great difficulties during their first year. Children who are already bilingual, such as Dutch and Scandinavian children, usually have little problem learning Spanish, while American and British children tend to find it more difficult. Spanish children are generally friendly towards foreign children, who often acquire a ‘celebrity status’ (particularly in rural schools) which helps their integration.
Some state schools provide intensive Spanish lessons (‘bridging classes’) for foreign children, although this depends on the school and the province or region (e.g. the regional government of Andalusia operates a scheme for non-Spanish primary pupils, some 6,000 children from 122 different countries, although the scheme is at present implemented only in Malaga and Almeria). It may be worthwhile enquiring about the availability of extra Spanish classes before choosing where to live. Foreign children are tested and put into a class suited to their level of Spanish, even if this means being taught with younger children. Children who don’t read and write Spanish are often set back a year to compensate for their lack of Spanish and different academic background. Once a child has acquired a sufficient knowledge of spoken and written Spanish, he’s assigned to a class appropriate to his age.
If your local school doesn’t provide extra Spanish classes, your only choice will be to pay for private lessons or send your children to another (possibly private) school, where extra Spanish tuition is provided. Some parents send children to an English-speaking school for a year, followed by a move to a bilingual or Spanish school, while other parents believe it’s better to throw their children in at the deep end, rather than introduce them gradually. It all depends on the character, ability and wishes of the child. Whatever you decide, it will help your children enormously if they have intensive Spanish lessons before arriving in Spain.
An added problem in some regions is that state schools teach most lessons in a regional language such as Basque, Catalan and Galician, although parents may be offered a choice of teaching language. For example, in Catalonia and Valencia (including the Costa Blanca) children aged between 3 and 12 are generally taught most subjects in Catalan except for Spanish which is taught for a few hours a week. Learning a regional language can be a huge problem, not only for foreign children, but also for Spanish-speaking children. However, immersion courses in the local language are usually offered to Spanish-speaking children. If you live in an area where education is dominated by a regional language, you may need to consider educating your child at a private school.
State schools have an annual quota for pupils and places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The enrolment period usually lasts for two months early in the year e.g. February to March or April to May, although it varies from region to region. Individual schools will provide exact dates. The process of enrolment depends on the age of your child, but may require an interview and in rare cases an examination. To enrol a child in a Spanish state school you must provide the following documents:
If the child is going to start a Spanish secondary school in the third year of ESO (around age 14) you must also present proof that your child’s education record has been verified by the Spanish Ministry of Education. The process is known as homologación or convalidación. You must complete the official form provided by the Ministry, which is available from Spanish consulates and embassies abroad, from regional departments of education or directly from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, C/Alcalá 36, 28071 Madrid ( 902-218 500, http://www.mec.es). The form is downloadable from the website in the section on Títulos Oficiales and Homologación (the form is referred to as the modelo oficial). You should also submit your child’s school record book and/or exam qualifications, plus his birth certificate.
If possible, this process should be completed before arriving in Spain, as a child may not be accepted at a school until the official papers (confirming verification) have been received and stamped by the Spanish Department of Education. The process takes around three months, although if you show a school proof of the Ministry’s receipt of the verification documents, your child should have no problems being accepted.
School hours vary from school to school, but are usually from 9am until 4pm with a one-hour break for lunch, although an increasing number of schools don’t have a lunch break and finish classes at 2pm. Lessons are usually divided into teaching periods of 45 minutes. Some schools offer school lunches, although many children bring a packed lunch or go home for lunch if they live nearby. Most schools provide a subsidised or free bus service to take children to and from their homes in outlying regions. Some schools are now opening early (e.g. at 8am) and providing activities after school until 5 or 6pm in an attempt to make childcare provision easier for working parents.
The academic year in Spain runs from mid-September to mid-June, with the main holidays at Christmas, Easter and the long summer break. Spanish schoolchildren have very long school holidays ( vacaciones escolares) compared with those in many other countries. The school year is made up of three terms, each averaging around 11 weeks. Terms are fixed and are generally the same throughout the country, although they may be modified in autonomous regions to take account of local circumstances and special events (such as local fiestas).
Some provinces (e.g. Malaga) also include a week’s holiday in the middle of the spring term (usually in February), known as ‘white week’ ( semana blanca). Pupils transferring from primary to secondary school are sometimes given an additional two weeks’ summer holiday, which usually includes an ‘end of school’ trip ( viaje de estudios) with fellow pupils. Schools are also closed on public holidays when they fall within term time.
School holiday dates are published by schools and local communities well in advance, thus allowing parents plenty of time to schedule family holidays. Normally, you aren’t permitted to withdraw a child from classes during the school term, except for visits to a doctor or dentist, when the teacher should be informed in advance.
Spain has a long tradition of state-funded pre-school ( educación infantil), with over 90 per cent of children aged three to five attending for at least a year before starting compulsory schooling. The term pre-school embraces play school, nursery school ( guardería), kindergarten ( jardín de la infancia) and infant school ( escuela infantil). Note, however, that the provision of public and private pre-school facilities varies considerably with the town and the region, particularly regarding state schools.
State pre-school education is divided into two cycles: First Cycle ( primer ciclo/ciclo 1º) for children aged one to three and Second Cycle ( segundo ciclo/ciclo 2º) for ages three to six. Attendance is voluntary and free in public centres in many areas.
There are also many private, fee-paying nursery schools, usually taking children aged from two to six, some of which are part of a primary school. Arrangements are generally flexible and parents can choose attendance during mornings or afternoons, all day, or only on selected days. Many schools provide transport to and from homes. Fees are generally low and schools are popular, well organised and good value.
Note that some nursery schools are more nurseries than schools, and simply an inexpensive way for parents to obtain supervised childcare. The best pre-schools are designed to introduce children to the social environment of school and concentrate on the basic skills of co-ordination, encouraging the development of self-awareness and providing an introduction to group activities. Exercises include arts and crafts (e.g. drawing, painting and pottery), music, dancing, educational games, perceptual and motor activities, and listening skills. During the final years of nursery school, the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic are taught in preparation for primary school. There are plans to teach English from the age of three or four in state schools throughout Spain. Children are also taken on outings and it’s common to see groups of small children ‘roped’ together (for their own protection), being shepherded by a teacher.
Nursery school is highly recommended, particularly if your children are going to continue with a state education. After one or two years of nursery school they will be integrated into the local community and will have learnt Spanish in preparation for primary school. Research (in many countries) has shown that children who don’t attend pre-school are at a distinct disadvantage when they start primary school.
Compulsory education ( escolaridad obligatoria), also called ‘basic general education’ ( educacion general básica/EGB), begins at the age of six in a primary school ( escuela primaria) and lasts for six years. Primary school is split into three cycles: First Cycle ( primer ciclo/1er ciclo), years 1 to 2; Second Cycle ( segundo ciclo/2º ciclo), years 3 to 4; and Third Cycle ( tercer ciclo/3er ciclo), years 5 to 6.
The primary curriculum includes natural and social sciences ( conocimiento del medio), Spanish ( lengua) and an autonomous language (if applicable), literature, mathematics, arts ( dibujo y plástica), physical education and a foreign language (usually English or French), which is compulsory from the second cycle, although many state schools now offer English from the age of six. Catholic religion is optional and when your child starts school you’re asked whether you want your child to attend religious classes. Alternatives may include extra-reading, ethics or theatre studies. Under the new education reforms ( LOE), all pupils will have daily reading time and pupils in the third cycle (years 5 and 6) will also study a new subject, Educación para la Ciudadanía (Education for Citizens), covering moral and social values such as sexual equality and care of the environment.
In most schools, pupils have three evaluations ( evaluaciones) each year. If a child fails to achieve the required standard set for a particular cycle, he may be required to repeat the previous year unless he can show considerable improvement in the autumn (many private and state schools offer ‘recovery’ classes during the summer holidays to help pupils catch up). The opinion of the teachers, tutors, inspectors and the sector’s psychological and pedagogical team are taken into account when deciding whether a pupil must repeat a year. Pupils aren’t required to repeat more than one year during their primary education.
Compulsory secondary education ( enseñanza secundaria obligatoria/ESO) was created in 1990 for pupils aged 12 to 16 and completes their compulsory education. It provides pupils with more specialised training than their previous education and prepares them for the baccalaureate (see below) or vocational training. The four years of compulsory secondary school are divided into two, two-year cycles, the curriculum containing compulsory and optional subjects. Compulsory subjects during the first three years include a common curriculum of six subjects (seven in regions with an autonomous language).
Compulsory subjects are natural sciences, Spanish language and literature, geography and history, mathematics, physical education and a foreign language. Students can choose the remaining two subjects from Educación para la Ciudadanía (moral and social education), art, music, IT and a second foreign language. In the fourth year, six subjects – Spanish language and literature, mathematics, social sciences, a foreign language, physical education and ethics and civic education ( educación ético-cívica) – are compulsory and students must choose three of the following subjects: biology and geology; fine and visual arts; physics and chemistry; IT; Latin; music; a second foreign language; and technology. Students in regions with an autonomous language must also study the regional language and literature. The Catholic religion is an optional subject in all four years.
As with primary education, a pupil can be required to repeat a year if he hasn’t passed the end of term exams (pupils who fail three or more subjects in the end of term exams must repeat the year) or the autumn repeats, and pupils aren’t required to repeat more than two years in secondary education. The LOE intends to make provision for small groups to help pupils who struggle academically – all pupils currently study the same topics at the same level.
Upon completion of ESO, pupils who have achieved the set standards are awarded a ‘graduate of secondary education’ ( graduado en educación secundaria) certificate enabling them to study for the baccalaureate or undergo specialised vocational training (see below). This certificate is a basic requirement for most jobs in Spain. All pupils, whether or not they’ve achieved the course objectives, receive a document stating the school years completed, the marks obtained in each subject, and recommendations regarding their academic and vocational future.
Under the LOE, Pupils aged 16 to 21 who have repeated two years of ESO study and failed to pass a further year are eligible for the Professional Qualification Programme ( Programa de Cualificación Profesional) whose aims are to provide these pupils with a further opportunity to gain their ‘graduate of secondary education’ certificate or to gain other professional qualifications to allow them to get a job.
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