Schools

Hi,

No school is perfect and each family have different requirements/opinions. My advice would be to make appointments to tour with at least 3 schools. IMO the most popular schools for expats seem to be San Andrea, San Anton, Chiswick House/St Martins. San Andrea and San Anton are literally next door to each other. These 3 are private, independent schools and as such teach in English, but you have to pay school fees. Alternatively, there are State schools which are free and though they do not teach in English by default, they will if there is a non-Maltese student in a class...so you might want to check with the State Schools too.

My 8 yo son and 13 yo daughter go to San Anton since January - overall we're reasonably happy with the experience, but it's certainly not without it's frustrations...but I suspect those are not specific to San Anton but more us adapting to the way things are done in Malta. We know a family that love San Andrea, but we also know a family that moved their child from San Andrea to San Anton...so it really is down to personal opinion.

Fees for private schools will include a registration fee, an annual tuition fee and a refundable bond that you will get back when the child turns school leaving age. Other costs involve (very expensive) School Uniform costs and transportation costs (if you choose that option).

Feel free to PM me for more specifics on our personal experiences.

Tim

You can also check out the thread 'schooling' that was started on the 1 st March this year.
There is lots of info there.
Ricky

My children have attended San Andrea school for the past five years. We are very happy with our children's progress. San Andrea is right next to San Anton School in Mgarr. I have heard that San Anton is also a good school. Last year a family moved from San Andrea to San Anton, however they are considering moving back to San Andrea.

Can any let me know approximate fees for private schooling - I can't find the schooling thread or any school fees on the internet?

Hiya,

I am having the same frustrations regarding finding out school fees.  I will be watching this thread avidly.

Ok I found an approximate price can't remember whcihc school it was though - but I will repost as soon as I get it. Fees worked out to approx Euro 210 per month or Euro 840 per term. There are three terms. So from a South African point of view it is a little bit more expensive then the average private school.

O and then there is the "debenture" of with once off of Euro 1500 or Euro 400 per year for three years. After the three years if you still want to attend the same school you will need to pay the Euro 1500 anyways.

...and then there's the uniform and text book costs...and school transport if you choose. I posted the fees for San Anton (where our kids go) - if you can't find them I'll see if I can re-post them....though the amounts in the previous post sound roughly like the figures I posted before.

Tim

Yes - those were my numbers from San Anton - see this thread:

expat-blog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=24469

or to recap:

San Anton is €1500 per family "contribution" to the Parents Foundation which you get back when your youngest child that you send there graduates - a long time in your case! There is a per year option of €400 for up to 3 years at which point you have to switch to the "contribution" - this amount is non-refundable, and is aimed at people like expats who may not be staying in Malta permanently...we chose this option for this year just to keep our options open.

Per term the Senior sector is about €1700 and the Junior sector is about €850.

Also, we spent about €400 (total for both kids) on uniforms.
Also, we spent about €300 (total for both kids) on books and supplies.
Also, the transportation (which we don't use) is something like €500 per term for 2 kids - this is not a San Anton fee, but directly to the transportation company and would apply whichever school you choose, if you want to use the transportation services.

Tim

Hello all.  I am new to this site and also new to the idea of moving to Malta.  We are a family of 5, with children aged 12, 10 and 8.  We currently live in Vancouver, Canada but have Maltese citizenship.

I have reviewed all of the information posted on private schools but would like to get any positive or negative feedback you may have on your children's experiences there.

My husband will be touring schools at the end of September and I have set up appointments with San Andrea, San Anton and have not heard back from Chiswick or Verdala yet.

I do have a question about what grade my children would attend in Malta.  In Canada they are entering grades 7, 5 and 3 but it seems as though they would be entering higher grade levels there.   Some of the information indicated my eight year old would attend grade 4. Is that the case?

Anything else you can think of to let me know would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Fiona

Hi again.  Sorry, I must have asked my questions incorrectly.

I have read the other posts but am looking more for your and your children's feelings about the school environments.  Are they happy?  Are the teachers and other students helping them adjust?  Is the school a university preparatory program?  Would the curriculum be the same as the US or UK, or is it more difficult?  Are the grade levels the same?  Do the kids like being at school in Malta?  One of the parents mentioned some issues, perhaps not only at the school that his children attend, and I wanted to see if I could get further information regarding what those issues may be.

Another question would be the daily commute.  We are looking to live in the Sliema area.  Would San Anton or San Andrea be a long commute, given traffic? 

May take me some time to get the hang of this, so if I am missing something please let me know.

Thanks,

Fiona

Hi Fiona,

Our kids are 14 (girl) and 8 (boy). They have attended San Anton since we moved here in January from the USA.

I asked my wife for her responses to your questions as, frankly, she deals more with the school that I do - here's what she said...if you want more specific she said she'd be happy for you to email her, please send me a PM and I will send you her email address:

Are they happy?  In general, yes.  They've both made a nice group of friends that they do lots of social things with.  They were very welcomed by all and made friends quickly.  The differences would upset them sometimes; but normal in the adjustment phase.

Are the teachers and other students helping them adjust?  Yes.  The first couple months the head mistress, school counselors, etc. would check in with them to be sure they were doing well and if we had any issues (only minor by the way) they were deal with swiftly.  Again, kids were very welcoming and made them feel at home straight away - small class sizes help a lot with that!!

Is the school a university preparatory program? Not quite sure what is meant by this - Grades 10-12 they specialize in their chosen subjects and at the end of grade 12, after they take their major exams, those grades will either help (or hinder) them in getting into a 6th Form school if that is what they choose which then readies them for a traditional university.  There are also other vocational type schools available if they don't want traditional uni - hospitality school, art school, etc...

Would the curriculum be the same as the US or UK, or is it more difficult? Other than Verdala (the "American" school) most here are based on the UK system.  However, most of my friends here are British and say that when compared with the UK, our schools are much more difficult.  That is just based on sharing info with their friends and families back in the UK.

Are the grade levels the same?  They all seem to do it a bit differently - but they all finish at the same age, roughly 16 (at San Anton, that is Grade 12).  Our 8 year old son was in 2nd grade in the US but put in Grade 5 at San Anton - however the curriculum was at pretty much the same level (like with Maths for example).  My major complaint is that they do not separate in small groups according to ability for maths or reading - one thing I really liked in the US.  So, they all learn at the same level and if they are advanced, they have to kind of challenge themselves on their own outside of school time. On the flip side, if you child is struggling, you need to arrange for tutoring, etc. unless they are "special needs".  This will be true no matter which school you choose.

Do the kids like being at school in Malta? Yes & No!  They like somethings and miss other things they had in the US.

One of the parents mentioned some issues, perhaps not only at the school that his children attend, and I wanted to see if I could get further information regarding what those issues may be.  Can't answer w/o reading what these issues were - they may have been the minor issues alluded to by my husband.  At San Anton, we have had some "teething" problems; but in general are happy.  We have heard of kids being "bullied" at St. Martins/Chiswick House but not at San Andrea or San Anton.

Another question would be the daily commute.  We are looking to live in the Sliema area.  Would San Anton or San Andrea be a long commute, given traffic?  The friends I have that live that way (San Gwann/Sliema/St. Julians, etc.) all pay to have their kids ride on school transport.  I think it would be a tough commute.

Tim (largely quoting Chris)

Hi all,

There was a very good cost analysis about private schooling published today.

See here :

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdet … -education

Thanks for this Ricky - very interesting. In our experience the amounts quoted are pretty accurate - maybe the Uniforms amount is a bit high as I imagine it assumes people buy all new Uniform gear each year...that is not the case with us, and many others we know - for example, buy the blazer a bit big and it'll last a few years.

Tim

Hello, my son 5 years old are in Newark school in Sliema, and he very very happy !!little school, good teachers!

newarkjuniorschool.com/introduction

FYI about private school "contributions"...in this case San Andrea/San Anton.

Below is a direct quote from a letter Mr Joseph Bonello wrote me. I've been fighting the school for almost 5 years now to get it back...now I seriously doubt I ever will.

"In accordance with the Contribution Rules, your contribution is a refundable contribution. However, it is not refundable on demand."

"San Andrea is still in the stage of paying bank loans. These were necessary to support the contibutions received which made up only a portion of the Capital Investment needed for the project. The bank loans remain outstanding for a number of years and there is no indication as yet to when the Foundation will be in a position to start refunding contributions to San Andrea School Contributers."

Sadly I agree with you. The families we know at these schools assume they will never see the money again, and that is in direct contradiction to what we were verbally told when we were in discussion sending our kids to San Anton (which we did). Of course, we have no record of the verbal discussion, so all there is to fall back on is the written agreement, and that of course, makes no promise of repayment in any timescale.

Tim

Hi, have heard St. Michaels in Pembroke is very good.  Also have a look at Verdala International School also in Pembroke.

Verdala is quite a bit more expensive than the other private schools (3 times?), also they follow the US Curriculum and they are often over-subscribed (they were full for my daughter's grade when we approached them)....but the people we know there are very happy.

We looked at St. Michaels too - but personally were disappointed as the main thing they stressed to us during our appointment there was discipline...and whilst we agree that is important, they really didn't seem to talk about anything else....just my view though others may have had a different experience.

We also looked at Newark - and loved the staff at the junior school, but the building itself seemed chaotic to us and there seemed very little in the way of educational aids in the room...it seemed like stepping back in time. The senior school seemed to have very few students and we passed one lesson being taught in the stairwell: 1 teacher and 3 students, so small class sizes whcih is good for education though perhaps not so good for socialization...but teaching in the stariwell???? Again, just our view from what we experienced on a walk through nearly a year ago.

Tim

Hi,

I have a daughter of 1 year 9 months and we are currently looking at some private schools, We saw St. Michaels (which I think they are too stricked on puples), St. Catherin's which we quite like and San Anton, which we really liked and is only a short drive from our home.

Mainely we are between St. Catherin's and San Adrea. Is there anyone who have or had their children in any of these schools and would like to share their experience please? Because we are so confused !!

Thank you very much

Kind regards
Priscilla

Hi Priscilla - not sure how much help we can be...most of us here are expats and so we tend to have different issues like our kids coming in from a different culture/language/school system and everything that entails. I believe you are Maltese and your child is too young to know any different so a lot of the things we might struggle with are probabaly not an issue for you.

I'm not clear if you are talking about San Anton or San Andrea - though immediately next door to one another they are completely separate schools.

My kids are older but at San Anton. Some things I can say:

Drop off and pick up are difficult - 2 schools using the same small road with inadequate parking! It can make your 2 trips a day to the school a bt more stressful than you moght wish for. Other schools may have similar issues.

The Private Schools have an up-front "refundable" deposit that you pay and get back some time after your child is of school leaving age...don't expect to get it back (despite what they tell you). Treat it more like a donation and you'll be happier!

We've found communications from San Anton to be an issue - they just don't seem to be very good at it...not enough information and not in a timely manner...leaving us missing out on things or having to scramble at the last minute etc...quite annoying, especially in this day and age when it's never been easier to communicate! Probabaly won't be an issue for you until your child is older - and maybe they will have sorted themselves out a bit by that time.

Hope that helps.
Tim

Dear Tim,

Thank you very much for your reply. I ment San Andrea. But your information was still helpfull to me.

I wish that if I start my daughter in one scchool she stays so it is still good to know about 'problems' I might get in the future .

From the description of school San Anton school it seems that they have good communications with parents, but you never know until you are there!

Thank you very much

Best regards
Priscilla

Hi All,
First message here.

I moved to Malta 6 months ago and went through this exercise. I was recommended basically the same names listed in this topic but basically San Anton and San Andrea... I got San Anton's reply the day after and am still awaiting for San Andrea's response.

So far, very good! My son and daughter are very very happy... funny enough i have my youngest in San Andrea day care since San Anton's day care was full.

I know the last post here was awhile ago, but I just found these forums and wanted to reply, especially since priscillam166 asked specifically about San Andrea.

My kids have been at San Andrea since September 2008 and we are very, very happy with the school.  Currently they are in grades 4 and 6.  That would correspond to 2nd and 4th grades in America. The teachers have all been fantastic and it is a warm environment.  The school is so positive and makes learning fun.  My kids stay after school a few days a week for extra-curricular activities and I love watching how much fun they are having when I pick them up.

Someone mentioned still waiting to hear back from San Andrea and I actually had the same experience with them.  I was trying to set up visits while we were still living in Paris, so I was doing it via email.  I never heard back from San Andrea and was irritated by that (and almost just dropped them from consideration).  In the end I called to set up an appointment and am glad I did.  So if anyone else is having the same problem, you may just need to call if you don't hear back.  I don't know if that's gotten better or not.

In the end we were between San Andrea and San Anton.  For us, there were a few small things that made us chose San Andrea, but I know we would have been just as happy with San Anton.  From what I can tell, the schools really are similar.  I think alot of the Maltese pick one over the other based on which school their friends and families are already in.

Both schools have a large number of foreigners.  My kids have both Maltese friends and expat ones and I like that. We plan on living here for a long time (hopefully!) and wanted our kids to be with alot of Maltese children.  It is optional for them to learn Maltese, but they have been.  In fact, they are even taken out for smaller group lessons since they are more beginners and don't have Maltese speaking parents at home.

Someone here asked where to live in relation to the schools.  We live in Mellieha which is considered a little 'remote', but we love it.  It takes 15 minutes to get to the school.  My kids are actually on the school transport and like it.  The transport picks up kids from all over the island.   If I lived in Mosta, I would put my kids in one of these two schools for sure.  It would be wonderful to be 5 minutes away!

To all those looking at schools, good luck!  It wasn't that long ago that I was in your shoes.

Kim

Hello. We are a family from Roumania and we want to move to Malta. Our daughter is 12 yers old. We think, for the moment, to send her to a public school. If we are caming to Malta in 1 month with her, what we should do first? It is easy ro register a kid in a public school? And which is the best area for finding a good job and also a good public school? We want to move in a quiet area.
Thanks for help!

Here are details for registering a child from another country at one set of Public Schools in Malta (the Naxxar/Mosta/St. Pauls Bay/Mellieha area):
http://mrcmalta.wordpress.com/faqs/faqs-4/

I recommend you contact them on the phone number listed to get more details and perhaps contact numbers for other areas.

Your main consideration for schooling for your child may be language. Does your child speak English? The Public Schools in theory teach most subjects in English, but in practice expats have found that is not always the case and it seems to be largely location and demographic dependent (despite assurances at the satrt of a school year). Otherwise the Public Schools teach in Maltese. The Independent schools teach in English, but are not free.

Good luck.

Regards
Tim

Lacra wrote:

Hello. We are a family from Roumania and we want to move to Malta. Our daughter is 12 yers old. We think, for the moment, to send her to a public school. If we are caming to Malta in 1 month with her, what we should do first? It is easy ro register a kid in a public school? And which is the best area for finding a good job and also a good public school? We want to move in a quiet area.
Thanks for help!

If you decide to move to Gozo...my 12 year old daughter will be happy to take her under her wing. I do recommend private school for foreigners though...especially at your daughters age. I sent my kids to both and they were much happier at private. They struggled a lot both socially and academically in public school.

It is a hard decision to move, but if my daughter makes already a friend so easy it is the best!!! Unfortunately for the moment we can aford to register her to a private school. But who knows, maybe in the future. First of all we must find a job. How is life in Gozo? It is hard to find a job?
Thanks for your help but first of all thanks for a "frendly hand" in taking this decision.

Hi Lacra,

If you have other questions, i would suggest you to start a new topic on the Malta forum. Thank you.

Lacra wrote:

It is a hard decision to move, but if my daughter makes already a friend so easy it is the best!!! Unfortunately for the moment we can aford to register her to a private school. But who knows, maybe in the future. First of all we must find a job. How is life in Gozo? It is hard to find a job?
Thanks for your help but first of all thanks for a "frendly hand" in taking this decision.

I think finding a job all depends on your talents/qualifications. Expats from this site have posted some great job search sites but I've found keepmeposted.com.mt one of the most useful. They send me emails everyday of all different types of jobs in Malta. Maltapark.com has just updated their site to include a job section too.

Although Gozo is quieter, you'll probably have better luck finding a job in Malta. A lot of people find it worth doing the commute ...so if you decide on Gozo...let me know. Ill do all I can to help you out. Either way...good luck!!

Hi,

You could also try Verdala International School situated in Pembroke.  They do the IGCSEs and the IB.  They teach in english and has quite a good reputation. They do have waiting lists for some years but it is worth a look at.  Good luck.

andcog wrote:

Hi,

You could also try Verdala International School situated in Pembroke.  They do the IGCSEs and the IB.  They teach in english and has quite a good reputation. They do have waiting lists for some years but it is worth a look at.  Good luck.

True, but they also cost considerably more than the other Independent schools and Lacra has already said, I believe, that cost is an issue. Worth bringing up though.

Tim

Verdala is full anyway. I was told that it is even useless to try it via the waiting list.

Thanks for you help. We hope that in august we come in Malta for one month and try to find all the details about schools. Yes, the cost of a private school is an issue, but we must find the best school for our daughter because she is very good at school and we always wanted for her the best education. If the cost are not very expensive maybe we decide for a private school. In the same time perhaps we find a public school very good and near to the place we will decide to establish.
From where we should start to find a great school with low costs?

for those interested in alternatives for the 3-5 year old groups.
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=91059

Hi there,

Just been through this as have been looking for a school for our 5 year old. I visited Verdala, St Micheals, Chiswick House and QSI. We didn't look at San Anton's, San Andreja's or St Edwards as they are too far from home.

We travel an awful lot and this is the 5th country we've lived in since he was born. We will be staying here for a max of 4 years. My husband and I also both work in the education sector.

I can only give you feedback from our personal perspective and what we felt was best for our son.

Verdala is very expensive and for the primary years programme it's not what we wanted. However, the Upper School looks good, especially with the IB programme.

St Micheals Junior School is a very nice school, sports heavy curriculum BUT if your child will not take Maltese there are no other languages on offer until they're much older, Junior 6 I think (but I would check that) they'll have extra English classes instead. A lot of my friends have kids at the Kindergarten in San Gwann and they are really pleased with it.

QSI is up in Mosta and is the American programme it was too far for us and have had lots of experience with this type of school in Asia.

Chiswick Housethis is our choice. Junior school well run with good facilities. If your child doesn't take Maltese from Junior 1 they can start with Spanish.

It depends what fits in with you and your lifestyle.

I think the thing to remember here is that you don't have to put your child into a "school for life" you can change as and when you want to. I've met one Maltese woman who changes her children's school every year.

Yes the refundable deposit is one to watch out for. Make sure you don't automatically pay it and then find out you only get it back when your child is 16.

At Chiswick you pay either a deposit which is refundable when your child leaves the school FOR THE FIRST THREE YEARS ONLY, if they attend for longer then three years, then you must change it to the other type of deposit which is returned when they're 16.

All the school fees you can get directly from the schools by phoning them. I've found that communication by email by all schools has been bad but by phone people are wonderfully helpful everywhere.

Watch out for hidden costs though. Some schools have books and materials included in the price and some don't, yes uniforms are expensive but don't buy stuff to last one year, some things like blazers can be bought super big and hemmed up.

Also remember that you'll be part of the school community and you'll be having to deal with the other parents and teachers, make sure as much as you can that you're on the wavelength as them or it could be a nightmare.

If you want more info please PM me, good luck but choose where you feel comfortable with.

Hi,
I know this is a very late answer, but I see someone recommended St Catherine's High School to you and I would like to give a student's opinion of the school to anyone thinking about sending their kids here.

First of all St Catherine's is a Catholic school like most schools in Malta, we are expected to pray(more like chant) in the morning and before every lesson. Other religion's are accepted, but are expected to stand with the others and watch them pray. I am not religious myself, more spiritual, I have no problem with watching people pray, but I have seen other younger non-religious people forced into praying like my brother who got told off for not repeating the prayers.

Second of all one of the school values is 'providing encouragement and opportunities for learning'. In fact the only student counsellor in my school told one of the students that her chances of becoming a doctor (her dream job) were zero. Her dreams were crushed. I do not believe that anyone should be told what they can and can't become especially coming from a student counsellor.

Third of all it is a family run school so every teacher is linked in some relation. Which is not a problem, except for bad teaching...it's hard to fire a family member right? Even more easier to hire one.

Then there's the atmosphere of the school, most student's are scared of the teachers especially the senior staff who are the most ignorant close minded people you could possibly meet. I remember one of them shouting at a girl because she forgot her tracksuit bottoms she said 'Do not think about coming to school if you are going to forget something'. It makes no sense to stop your education if you just forget something, it's completely stupid.

Also no student opinion is appreciated or allowed. In fact the school council stopped because none of the teacher's were willing enough to make an effort for the student's voices to be heard.

The school is very old and no modern teaching ways are implied, what so ever. We simply learn out of books. Except in art, our art teacher is a very wise woman who believes in modern teaching, she simply teaches us to live and think creatively which is great and she is the only person stopping me from leaving the school.

We are forced to get good grades, if not we are shouted at and we have to stay behind a year. We are learning out of fear, literally.

My opinion is some what biased, but I can a sure you the majority of students will agree with me.

Feel free to check the school out for yourself and make your own opinion, but I feel mine is slightly more valid as I am a student.

Hi Blondie,

welcome to the forum.

Thanks for your very detailed and vivid description of St.Catherine's from a students point of view. It certainly gives parents something to think about and look into when choosing a school for their children.

Thanks
Ricky