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If
you are living in Portugal one of the major tasks has to be
finding your children quality education so that they can
excel in every possible way. I have a son who was seven when
we arrived for our new life in Portugal and from the start
it was hard work sorting out but now he is in school it is a
lovely feeling.
The education system is very different to England for
starters they don't start education until the September
after their sixth birthday. This gives them more time to
have a social understanding among their friends and results
in them mixing with children a lot better. Instead of in
England were they just have one maybe two years in nursery
they are having three. This also allows them to have
established the ground rules of school without feeling out
of place like many do.
There is no
such thing as an obesity academic in Portugal and children
are put through their paces with much more exercise than
they currently have in Britain. For example on an average
day they will have two hours playground time and the lessons
that would normally be fitted into this time will be carried
out after school instead.
The discipline is amazing and you will NEVER see a child be
cheeky to their teacher. Therefore stopping them from having
the option to run wild and this good behaviour rolls on to
at home.
The level of homework that a primary school student has is
often level to older children making them get into a routine
at a much earlier age. In many ways the education system is
similar to post code lottery school in England without you
having to buy an expensive house to achieve it.
Unlike with England a child will be expected to pass the
school year otherwise they will be expected to repeat it
until they pass. This gives the children greater motivation
and they actually want to learn along with being grateful
for their school place.
Not many teachers will speak English so it's important that
you learn it. We haven't learned Portuguese fully yet and we
communicate via a computer translator and it has allowed us
to pick up so much of the language already.
I totally advise against taking your child to an
international school in Portugal. Firstly they charge double
what you would pay for a private school in England. Secondly
though they stick with the English education timetable so
your child will not be educated in their new country system.
This will mean that they will not know Portuguese and will
be refused entry into a local college or university when
they are of that age.
Paperwork works slow in Portugal just like it does in other
countries so don't expect to have your child in school
within a week and plan several months in advance. For
example there are a lot of injections that a child is
required to have otherwise they will be refused entry into
the school. This even includes TB which a child in England
doesn't have until secondary school which they have on birth
in Portugal.
A child will
also be required to have a medical certificate along with
tax number and passport so plan it well. We didn't realise
how the system worked when we moved here so ended up having
to wait until the following school year before our child
could start school. This resulted in us having to home teach
our son for nearly 15 months. |
