Trying to speak to San miguel schools

Hi,

We have recently moved to the San Miguel De Salinas area and I know they have a state school there, I think its called Gloria Fuertes however when I call them to arrange for my kids to go there they dont speak a word of english so how can I tell them I want the kids to go there???

Any advice would be great! (please dont say "speak spanish") 

 why not find someone who does speak spanish?

some of us do its so useful in spain

In Spain it's always best to go in person becuase even with poor language skills it's easier whereas on the phone it is impossible.

 Do the kids need to have NIE before they go to a state school?

I believe they do but not 100% certain

Why would you expect them to speak English?  And why should they anyway?

Hi Clive,

Go to the shcool, I don't know your area, is there much of an english community there? If yes, there's a good chance there will be other english kids in the school. When we wanted to register our son in primary school here, we went to the school, they pulled an english child out of class to help us. Remember the school will have an english teacher.

Our son did not need NIE for primary school. His secondary school has asked for it, but have still accepted him without it.

They will need birth certificates, health records showing vaccinations, spanish health card, passport, empadronamento (for the kids) and I think your NIE. In the case of the secondry school they also wanted 2 passport style photos. But they'll give you a list of what they want.

If you turn up at a school with children I'm sure they'll understand what you want. It's not like you'er asking for a dozen red roses and half a pound of onions!

Hope this helps.

Take care, Febe

In Spain - even if you are Spanish or speak fluent Spanish you still have to go in person to get anything done.

Strictly speaking, you have to be resident to get entry to state schools.  It makes sense as they are expecting some sort of commitment that the kids will be there for some time and not just for a few weeks here and there.  So you need to apply for residency for yourself and the kids.  This isn't like the padron where town halls will ignore the rules and accept non-residents in order to try to get more money from central government.  The school answers to the regional government and is likely to be much stricter.  So you should take with you documentation showing that you have either got, or at least applied for, residency.  And of course, the NIE is a prior requirement for residency. 

You need to go in person and it would be wise to take an interpreter even if you have to pay for one.  There will be an English teacher but there is a fair chance that his/her (normally her) English won't be much better than your Spanish.  English as a subject in schools is 90% written.  And they cannot refuse to take your kids if you are in their catchment area provided that they are EU nationals on the register of EU residents in Spain.

Jek,

You may be right re: residency but I have to say that neither school asked for it. They both had printed sheets with what was required. Surley if needed the spanish kids would have had to supply copies.

Regards, Febe

Legally, you have to be resident.  But then legally you also have to be resident to get on the padron.  So I suspect that many schools will take the padron certificate as acceptable evidence of residency.

The position is different for Spanish kids.  They have a libro de familia which records their school history and which they have to take from school to school with them.

For San Miguel Salinas School you need to have residencia/NIE  produce the birth certificate etc etc, the padron is needed for the school bus and comidas, to qualify for this you will have to have a distance certificate indicating you live further than 3kms from the school, you must also be within the San Miguel catchment area.  If you cannot speak Spanish you must take someone with you that can speak fluent Spanish, dont rely on teachers or pupils to do it for you !   The children have to be up to date with injections and also have a medical.  The school or local townhall will be able to give you a list of what is required.

All the local school that we know of stipulate that they do not have to speak in English to your child, so it would be best for your child to have some basic knowledge of Spanish.
 

This message was last edited by Toddie on 02/02/2011.

Unless it has changed recently, there is no requirement that your children be up to date with immunisations.  And, although they might invite your child to be medically examined, they cannot refuse him/her on medical grounds. They are required to accomodate any medical conditions that your child might present. Under the Spanish Constitution, every child is entitled to free education between the ages of six and sixteen when it is compulsory.  Under EU law that same right must be extended to all EU citizens.  It comes back to the same thing - if you are an EU citizen, on the register of EU citizens resident in Spain and within the school catchment area, they cannot refuse admission to your children.

Los Dolses School in Orihuela Costa insisted that the children were up todate with injections, in fact my nieces have just finshed their 2nd course. They also had to have a medical at the local salud before the start of term.  Perhaps each region is different however San Miguel also comes under Orihuela !!   Anyway the best things rather than listen to what others have to say on the matter is to go to the school or Town Hall and they will confirm what you have to do.   I am only giving you up to date information required for Los Dolses School this past year which also comes under the same local Government.  You will also need to get some passport size photos done,  best to go to a local photographer shop and let them know it is for the school id card.

Jek,  I am not saying the child would not be granted a place in the school on medical grounds, all I am saying is the children were required to have a medical before they started the school two years ago,  last week they were also notified that another medical will be required later this year !  They also had to have other injections that were not required in the UK !!  

 All children in this area need immunisations before they enter school.....if you are bringing Children from the UK they will need to bring their medical records.

They will need extra jabs as well but i can't remeber which ones.

I dont know of any school that doesnt do this in the area.

Our son in 2009, aged 11,  had Hep A and B (3 jabs over a few months) and 'varicel.la'  which I is for chicken pox. When we left UK they didn't do that one.

Febe

We took a conscious decision to refuse immunisation for our children; and our decision on whether to move to France or Spain was very heavily influenced by the fact that they would not be allowed in the French state school system if they were not subjected to the immunisation programme but the Spanish authorities imposed no such restrictions.  We moved to Spain in 1999 and all four children went through the Spanish state school system without any problems or objections and the youngest is still there in the third of ESO.  None of them has ever been immunised.

The vast majority of parents submit their children to immunisation without giving it a second thought and so will never question it if a school or other body says that it is required.  I suppose it depends how strongly you feel on the subject.  But I would be interested to know the legal basis for a school requiring a child to be immunised.  I'm not saying there is none - just that I don't know what it is.   But I do know that, if it exists, it came after we got here in 1999.  Which is why I prefaced my last remarks with "Unless it has changed recently".  And until I do have hard evidence to the contrary, I will keep to the view that others who share my views of the negative aspects of mass immunisation are free to send their children to state school in Spain.  But I accept that, in some places, they may have to battle to get it.

jek

Vaccination is for the benefit all.

You only have to look back through history to see what happened before vaaccinations.

If every patent adopted your approach then we would have outbreaks of God knows what.

Your kids are generally safe becuase every other kid had the vaccination.

Faro, you are entitled to your opinion even though I believe it to be founded on nothing other than blind acceptance of government propoganda. 

The logic doesn't work when artificial immunisation replaces natural immunisation and bypasses some of nature's defences; the statistics don't work when you look at time series that show that many diseases were in decline at the time that immunisation was introduced; and they certainly don't work when doctors call measles an upper respiratory infection once they have established that your child has had the jab -  or measles if it hasn't;   the efficacy of the measles vaccine in particular was so poor that children had to be subjected to boosters.  And what's the world's biggest pandemic that arrived some twenty years after the introduction of mass immunisation?  ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME.  And where do you suspect the deficiency in the body's immune system was acquired from? 

If you look back through history you can see the spread of disease.  What you cannot see is any evidence that this was arrested by mass vaccination.  You can see that improvements in water quality, sewage disposal and personal hygiene go hand in hand with improved health.  And you see the same thing in third world countries today.  Nothing kills as quickly or as effectively as poverty.

My kids do not benefit from the immunisation of others because my kids have a more effective immune system than those whose immune systems have been artificially altered.  My kids had measles, mumps and all the other grotty childhood illnesses that provided them with the immunisation that nature intended.

And my kids suffered no ill-effects of the immunisations.  No sores, no rashes, no paralysis, no deaths from immunisations that went terribly wrong but which received little publicity.

Don't believe everything that doctors tell you!!

      It seems different areas/schools have different requirements,you may find the local "casa cultura" has some info on this and will find a place for your child in the local school,this was the route we had to take because the 3 schools in our area were full. but i do think a personal visit to your preferred school is the first step. hope this helps.