Alicante Schools

Alicante Schools are free from age 4 on. Enrollment for September generally begins around March. If it’s too late and the school you want your child to get into is full, the authorities are always required to find an opening at a public school for your child.

There are three types of schools, public, private, and mixed ("concertada"), meaning the schools receives some government funding, and you pay less than you would at a private school.

Nurseries: The childcare workers are required to have a degree. We’ve found the quality of care to be quite good.

Alicante Schools

ARRANGEMENTS FOR FOREIGN PUPILS

Many schools have a specialist teacher to help immigrant children of all nationalities learn Spanish. Normally, the younger the child, the more quickly they learn the language and integrate.

It is quite common for secondary pupils to be placed in the class a year below their actual age in order for them to learn the language and cope with normal school work.



AVAILABILITY OF SCHOOLS

All but the very smallest villages have their own primary school, and there is widespread coverage of school transport. Small village schools are grouped together under the auspices of their local teacher's centre for the provision of specialist teachers for subjects such as music, English, etc. Most larger villages and towns have a secondary school.



SCHOOL TERM

Similar to the English three term system, but with slightly shorter holidays at Christmas (December 23-January 7) and Easter (one week), and longer in the summer.

The English half-term holiday does not exist, but there are frequent odd days and long weekends relating mainly to religious holidays and regional and national holidays.



SCHOOL HOURS

Primary school hours at present are 9:00 to 12:30 and 3:30 to 5:00, or full time classes from 9:00 to 2:00, depending on the school politics, except during June and September when they work mornings only, 9:00 to 1:00.

Some schools have a dining room and provide lunches, but many do not. There is also an early morning regime for the children of working mothers in many schools, who can take their children before classes as early as 7:00 where they have breakfast and do sport or leisure activities.

Secondary schools work from 8:15 to 2:30 throughout the school year.

In both schools, there is a break that normally takes half an hour, starting at about 11:30.



RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

A non-evaluable religion class is taken in all schools in accordance with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and Islam or Protestantism in the schools where there are important minorities.

Parents are asked when they enroll their children whether or not they wish them to take religious education, taking Civism lessons or Religious Culture, where the history of the religions is studied.



HIGHER EDUCATION

As an important part of the greater EU, Spain continues to provide international educational opportunities to university students around the world.

There are a number of exchange programs between the USA and Spain, mostly for undergraduate students, and of course there’s the infamous Erasmus program for the EU member states.

Alicante Schools

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