Hi Fruity - for your friend.. (I have no children, but listen to my friends talk about their’s)... 😊
As far as I know? (Don’t quote me - just a rough guide here!)
The Junior? school just opposite the health center in the village as you come in from Fuengi -
seems to be a ‘typical’ Spanish State school. Loud, boisterous and you have to fight your ground as a kid.
(My Irish friend decided to put her 2 into state school rather than private as it is all she could afford 😉
She (plus hubby!), and her boys are polite, considerate and very well mannered. Sadly it was a shock for all
the family at the boisterous nature of Spanish life/culture. The boys had to toughen up and were sometimes
sent home with a ‘black mark’/report even if they were just defending themselves - as it is the way here (I understand)
that if 2 children (or more) are involved in an ‘incident’, no matter who was the perpetrator, all concerned get a letter!
3 letters and you are expelled??? (Not 100% sure on this, so best to check with actual parents 😉
She joined the PTA to make sure her boys got a fair deal, but this only helped a little, as the Spanish will be Spanish.
There were several teachers in the school who were more than incapable, but the other (Sp) parents did nothing to make complaints.
I understand the ‘level of education’ here is basic at best (unless you go to Uni I think??).
From all the families I know here, if they can afford to, they prefer to send their offspring to one of the many British/International
Schools along the coast.
With regard ‘College’ (12 +??), it seems just as noisy and inadequate. (There is one just on the edge of Mijas Pueblo on the inland side - down below Bar El Nino.)
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Another friend (again one who could not afford private school fees), sent her two youngsters (6 & 8 at the time they came to Spain) to the local State school in Ojen. (Again a very mild mannered middle class Brit family) -And the same happened to her kids as the eg above. (I.e letters for ‘fighting/distruption’.) The poor loves had to really toughen up. The family eventually went back to the UK, but I guess you could say the upside was they were fluent in both languages by the time they did 4 yrs later.
I hope your friends children survive the system here! (I don’t think I would have fared well. It was bad enough in the state system in the UK for me in the 70’s!)
(PS - I have not heard of a school yet that has a great ‘English’ teacher. Although it is taught at all ages/levels, the Brit kids know more than their teachers 😉 lol!
Best of luck!