The Spanish Educational System
The Spanish Educational System is organised as follows:
Nursery - Preprimary education (3-6 years) - Educación Infantil, EI
Children usually receive three years of nursery education to develop their physical and mental skills. From the age of four they learn to read and write and by the time they complete their EI they will know the alphabet. Emphasis is placed on learning about various aspects of different cultures, the environment and road awareness skills
Primary education (6-12 years) - Educación Primaria, EP
The six years of primary education are split into three two-year periods. If the child has not reached the required standard by the end of any period they may have to repeat the second year of that stage.
Pupils learn Spanish language, maths, Conocimiento del Medio (which includes history, geography and biology), Physical Education, Art and a second language, usually English. Religion is also taught at this stage in most schools, focusing on Catholicism.
There is no streaming in Spain; classes are all mixed ability, and parents can see teachers once a week to discuss their child's progress and problems. Children are introduced to exams from around the third year of primary school, but there are no national level testing exams as is the case in the UK.
Parents need to buy all textbooks and materials, but they save on uniform as few state schools have one. Homework may be given from the first year onwards. School hours vary depending on the school and are usually from 9am to 4pm with an hour's break for lunch.
Spanish schools have a relaxed atmosphere with less discipline than British schools, for example, and the family is expected to help the child with their studies. Some schools, however, prefer to work through to 1.30pm or 2pm without a break and then the children finish for the day.
If your child's school day continues into the afternoon and you are unable to get home for lunchtime, school dinners are available.
Prepare your child for the fact that they will be sizeable lunches, as it is the main meal of the day for Spaniards, and that they will be encouraged to eat it, along with all the Spanish children. This may be traumatic at first for your child, being made to eat strange food with names they don't understand.
Secondary education (12-16/18 years) - Educacion Secundaria
The secondary school system in Spain has seen major changes in the past decade. It has moved away from the traditional rote-learning model and is now more akin to the British comprehensive system.
Pupils attend secondary school (instituto) aged 12 to begin their four years of compulsory education. At the end, they receive a certificate and can either leave or go on to study for the 'bachillerato'.
If a pupil does not reach the required level of maths or Spanish at the end of each year they can be made to repeat the year, which can cause discipline problems when an older child is placed in a class of younger children. Subjects include the usual range and the ethos is now far more geared towards project work and continuous assessment than the old-style endless fact-learning.
Spanish schools have a relaxed atmosphere with less discipline than British schools, for example, and the family is expected to help the child with their studies. Pupils who stay on after 16 can study for the two-year 'Bachillerato' academic course (either Arts, Humanities, Sciences or Technology), or enrol on practical training courses called 'modulos'.
Those who have passed the Bachillerato with good marks and who want to go on to university take an entrance exam in June.
