One of the challenges of English speaking expat families is finding, not just the right school for their children, but an English instruction school at all in Spain. In general English is still not that big in Spain, but some Spanish regions like Madrid are trying to bridge the language gap. However, if a child is already English speaking, they will find the English levels of the newly inaugurated bilingual schools very low. The only other option is to find private or international schools. These schools also offer Spanish.

The only schools in Spain using English as the teaching language are foreign and international private schools. If your children attend public schools, they will be obligated to study all subjects in Spanish. In Madrid there are several private and international schools whose medium is English and the purpose of this article is to inform about the similarities and differences between education systems. An alternative solution might be to find colleges that offer accredited language instruction courses online. In another article we will treat the process of enrolling into a school as well as the fees.

Spanish Schooling System

Firstly let’s get to know the Spanish schooling system: Public schooling is compulsory and free of charge for all children from age 6 to age 16. However, in some autonomous regions books must be paid for, and in particular, in Madrid books are paid for. There are special needs schools available as well as schools for artistic learning and linguistics. All students receive vocational training in high school. However, as mentioned earlier public schools are predominantly Spanish instruction schools and the integration of foreign students is promoted through specific programmes and language bridging courses.Private Schools: There are state-owned private schools as well as of course privately owned ones. State-owned private schools, also known as concertados are normally cheaper than privately owned ones. Private schools are usually found in posh neighbourhoods of Madrid and feature a wider variety of both educational and extramural activities. For the purpose of this article’s intention to reach expatriates we will focus on Anglo-Saxon international schools. There are numerous international schools in Spain and most are concentrated in Madrid. Each follows its own curriculum and possibly calendar year, with some only observing school holidays of their native countries. British schools usually follow British GCSE and A-Level examinations, American schools do the American high school diploma and college entrance examinations like ACT, SAT, achievement tests and AP exams while others do the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the Spanish Bachillerato. International schools provide either primary education or complete schooling from nursery or kindergarten to high school. The great advantage of all these schools is the fact that their staff is often made up of nationals from their native countries. The equivalence between the Spanish schooling phases and English phases is as follows:

• Guarderia in Spanish stands for Nursery school and it caters for children between the ages of 0 and 3.

• Escuela Infantil in Spanish stands for Pre-school and it caters for children between the ages of 3 and 6. For further information from the Spanish Ministry of Education about pre-school education click here (Google translated from Spanish to English)
• Primaria in Spanish is for Primary school and it caters for children between ages 6 and 12. Please note that in Spanish schools, there are 3 cycles each of 2 years each wherein children are evaluated and can only pass to the next cycle if they make the grades. See below for the Spanish grading/point system. The primary curriculum includes natural and social sciences (conocimiento del medio natural, social y cultural), the European Spanish language (Castellano), literature, as well as regional languages from these autonomous regions of Spain also known as lengua cooficial (co-official language as in Catalan in Calalunya, Galician in Galicia, Euskera in the Basque Country) mathematics, physical education, plastic and visual arts, and a foreign language and optional Catholic religion (when a child starts school the parents will be asked whether they want their child to attend religious classes). Another foreign language may be added in the third cycle.
• ESO which stands for Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (Obligatory Secondary Education) is colloquially called el instituto in Spanish.It is for Secondary school and it caters for children between ages 12 and 16. The 4 ESO years are consist of cycles of 2 years each. During ESO teenagers begin their preparation for the baccalaureate or vocational training. In the second year of the second cycle, pupils choose two of the following four options: natural and social sciences, music, technology, and plastic and visual arts. The Catholic religion is an optional subject for all four years; non-Catholics may choose study periods instead. A second foreign language can be chosen during the second cycle. As with primary education, a pupil can be required to repeat a year if they do not meet the required standards at the end of the school year. Children may only repeat the year once.

Here follows the points/grading system in Spain:

Children are graded in the following manner:

• Insuficiente (IN) – Insufficient
• Suficiente (SU) – Sufficient
• Bien (BI) – Good
• Notable (NT) – Very good
• Sobresaliente (SB) – Outstanding

Happy school finding and look forward to the second article about enrolling children in Madrid.

Sources: www.angloinfo.com,www.diariodeburgos.com and http://www.educacion.gob.es/

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