I've heard a lot about the school and wonder where it compares with in the UK schooling system, is it a little, you know er! toffee nosed and old school tie sort of place, or is it a normal school where students learn things and don't spend the rest of their lives wearing the badge and forever looking for their schoolmates in social circles? Just wonderin' like, y'know

Hi Pato, we are moving to Carvoeiro within the next couple of months and our 7 year old is going to go to the international school. We were shown around the school last year by the head John Butterworth and we were extremely impressed. Having been frustrated with schools in the UK for the last few years we are so looking forward to Hollie getting a more personal education. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. Hope this helps.

I don't think ties are part of the uniform My knowledge is limited but my granddaughter goes there and they expect them to work. That said, it does seem to be a nice friendly school offering lots of opportunities.

What a question! All I will say is that some people like it, some people don't like it as a school! From my experience its not that much like a private school in the UK.

Had private education in Algarve but a mate of mine went to the International and didnt get on very well there so his parents put him into the state school in Lagoa and he fared much better.

I have a few friends who have children there but they're not overly impressed with it, but they feel it's better than sending them to a local school where half the time the teachers don't bother to turn up. I'm so unimpressed with the education system here that when my boy is due to start school I will be taking him to be educated on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, from all the research I have done the schools there are outstanding. It's a place I know very well and he'll have a great quality of life there. I feel I'd be failing him as a mother if I allowed him to be educated here.

That will be a bit of a trek each day Helen.

If I get up at the crack of dawn I should just about make it!!

Helen wrote:I have a few friends who have children there but they're not overly impressed with it, but they feel it's better than sending them to a local school where half the time the teachers don't bother to turn up. I'm so unimpressed with the education system here that when my boy is due to start school I will be taking him to be educated on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, from all the research I have done the schools there are outstanding. It's a place I know very well and he'll have a great quality of life there. I feel I'd be failing him as a mother if I allowed him to be educated here.

Hi Helen, the problem is that Mull may be too remote from everyday life, it's a life that not everyone can hack, surely there must be something better in Portugal than this area of the Algarve for an education.
My initial question may have seemed flippant but what I really wanted to know was "does the old school tie syndrome apply in the schools of the Algarve and Portugal in general" I know the Brits bring it over from the UK and love to act as colonialists it's part of our makeup, they're usually found in golf clubs and such, I love to sit and listen and watch them. I hope you don't have to move away because you must love the area after choosing to settle here in the first place.

I know many people with children at the state schools all over the Algarve and I don't know anyone who isn't happy with them. I don't think there are many schools where the teachers don't bother to turn up. It certainly has never happened at my children's schools since they have been going there.

Both my daughters have had a state Portuguese education starting with preschool in Lagoa and finishing secondario in Portimao.
They had no trouble getting accepted at Univerisities in England, and are now both studying at universities of their first choice. What more can I say.

well in the depths of time I went there and it was bloody awful - but i think it's a lot better these days
sorry biffa for all that wasted money

You know here they do PSHE - which is all about sex and drugs - in the UK schools it tends to be theory but at the EIA in the 80s we only did practicals!

Jaylay wrote:Both my daughters have had a state Portuguese education starting with preschool in Lagoa and finishing secondario in Portimao.
They had no trouble getting accepted at Univerisities in England, and are now both studying at universities of their first choice. What more can I say.

There you go, praise indeed, no need to go to Mull, it can be done here.

This is the third international school my children have attended and it is, by far, the worst. My DH commutes, and our dissatisfaction with the school is the main reason that we are moving to where he is commuting from.

It is profit driven to a very high degree. There is no teamwork with the parents. The staff is extremely defensive. They have about 25 per class and can not (or are not willing to) give enough individual attention. There is not enough supervision in the orchard or elsewhere. The older kids mix too freely with the younger kids.

At 16, the vast majority of bright kids go elsewhere.

Some of the teachers are excellent, some are much less so. They are also losing at least 3 teachers this year.

If we were staying, my kids would be going to São Lourenço. Sure, their facility is not as nice, but the headmaster is engaged and not complacent. Plus, they are building a new facility.

Now having said that, some English parents love it. You do say this, however, ``Brits bring it over from the UK and love to act as colonialists´´. There are a lot of colonialist types there and IMHO, not enough mixing of nationalities. Many of the English (esp.) practice self segregation.

If I had known then what I know now, my children would never have been enrolled.

Globetrotter wrote:This is the third international school my children have attended and it is, by far, the worst. My DH commutes, and our dissatisfaction with the school is the main reason that we are moving to where he is commuting from.

It is profit driven to a very high degree. There is no teamwork with the parents. The staff is extremely defensive. They have about 25 per class and can not (or are not willing to) give enough individual attention. There is not enough supervision in the orchard or elsewhere. The older kids mix too freely with the younger kids.

At 16, the vast majority of bright kids go elsewhere.

Some of the teachers are excellent, some are much less so. They are also losing at least 3 teachers this year.

If we were staying, my kids would be going to São Lourenço. Sure, their facility is not as nice, but the headmaster is engaged and not complacent. Plus, they are building a new facility.

Now having said that, some English parents love it. You do say this, however, ``Brits bring it over from the UK and love to act as colonialists´´. There are a lot of colonialist types there and IMHO, not enough mixing of nationalities. Many of the English (esp.) practice self segregation.

If I had known then what I know now, my children would never have been enrolled.

MMMMMmmm!! that confirms my suspicions and that's sad for you.