# schools in gran canaria



## janey2k (Oct 28, 2012)

Hi we are looking to move to Gran Canaria in about 2 years time. I have 3 children age 16, 9 and 7. For the next 2 years my younger children will be taking spanish lessons as I would like them to have a good knowledge of the language. My question is regarding schooling for the the younger 2, has anybody put children into spanish state school at the age which they will be 11 and 9? This is really worrying me at the moment and I would appreciate any advice from people who have been through this.

Thanks
Jane


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

janey2k said:


> Hi we are looking to move to Gran Canaria in about 2 years time. I have 3 children age 16, 9 and 7. For the next 2 years my younger children will be taking spanish lessons as I would like them to have a good knowledge of the language. My question is regarding schooling for the the younger 2, has anybody put children into spanish state school at the age which they will be 11 and 9? This is really worrying me at the moment and I would appreciate any advice from people who have been through this.
> 
> Thanks
> Jane



My co mod Xabiachica has done this ( I cant remember the ages of her girls, but they were around 7 and 9 I think?????), so she'll be able to answer you, probably in the morning now - she needs her beauty sleep lol!!! From my experience and knowledge, 11 is possibly a bit too old. Hormones, friendships, different teaching styles and lessons and of course language issues will make it hard. My daughter was 10 when we arrived in Spain and did not get on in a Spanish school at all - in the end we sent her to an international school. The 9yo could go either way. The younger the better tho! The other question is will they be going to the same school, baring in mind that the older one maybe put into a "secondary school" and the younger into a "primary"


Jo xxx


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## janey2k (Oct 28, 2012)

Thanks, thats sort of what I was thinking so it is worrying. Ive looked into british school but it is so expensive not really sure which way to go x


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

janey2k said:


> Thanks, thats sort of what I was thinking so it is worrying. Ive looked into british school but it is so expensive not really sure which way to go x


my girls were actually 5 & nearly 9 when they went into the Spanish system

the older one by then had been at an international school here for a year & had some Spanish friends - she had worked really hard on her Spanish that year & her teacher in Spanish school when I met her during the first week said she was close to fluent already - I had also been having 4.5 hours of Spanish lessons a week for a year, hours & hours of self-study on top of that & chatted to anyone & everyone in Spanish at every opportunity & was at conversation level, so could help with homework - which makes a huge difference!

we decided to move them when we decided to stay here & we very aware that if we left it any longer the older one would have real problems getting up to speed with the language

it's a well-known fact that around the age of 9/10 something 'switches' in the brain which stops children learning languages by 'absorption' & they have to start studying it in order to learn it

your 9 year old would imo be borderline for going into the Spanish system - s/he (with the bit of Spanish already learned ) could well be OK but you'd need to be prepared financially for the possibility that it doesn't work & s/he would need to move to international school

I would never put an 11 year old into the Spanish system though - I have known one or two manage - but they have always repeated one or two years in order to catch up with the language - so they don't 'graduate' (which is usually at 16) until 17 or 18 - or they leave at 16 with no qualifications at all - which is far more common 

at the ages of your children, I wouldn't move here unless I knew I could pay for their education - just in case I ended up having to


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## Rach-mer (Aug 31, 2013)

Hi all does any1 know the names of public schools in mogan south gran canaria? And how to contact the schools ect? Also the process for enrolling children into Spanish state school? 
Any help is much appreciated : )


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Rach-mer said:


> Hi all does any1 know the names of public schools in mogan south gran canaria? And how to contact the schools ect? Also the process for enrolling children into Spanish state school?
> Any help is much appreciated : )


Here is a list of primary schools in Mogán
GOBIERNO DE CANARIAS: CONSEJERA DE Educacin, Universidades y Sostenibilidad

I've seen a couple of newspaper stories about the secondary school which are a bit scary...


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