Finding a state High School for my daughter

catherineshopper wrote:

Hi all

The time has finally arrived when we leave Australia and come to Malta in a months time. I need to find a state high school for my 15 year old daughter. I was hoping to be in the Balzan/B'Kara area. I went to school at B'Kara primary many years ago.
Does anyone have any suggestions of high schools in these areas that I can look up as soon as I get there? Think I need to find a school before a place to rent so I can be in the right catchment area.

Many thanks in advance
Catherine 

This is a list of all the schools in Malta with contact details, it may help your search.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_schools_in_Malta

Terry

Thanks Terry


I did have that list but was hard to decipher which ones were high schools. I looked them up on the map over the last few months and even emailed a couple of them and never got replies. I figure I will just wait now until I can turn up on their doorstep!!! lol

Thanks again
Catherine

http://www.youth.org.mt/?m=content&id=242
Here is upper-secondary education providers if you are looking for these. My daughter (16) is in Nazzar Giovanni Curmi higher secondary school and she like the school.

How old is she? As they are starting middle schools now. 12-13 year olds.

thanks for the replies...

she was 15 in february. in Australia she has just started year 10 this year. Our school year starts in february. I was just hoping someone may have had some good experience with attending/changing school so late in her schooling. I am just a little worried she will  be behind, as the school she is in at the moment is not that good. I was even considering putting her down a year so she could catch up a little. But not sure if that would be a good idea socially....how do they work out the ages of what year you should be in?? do you have to turn an age before a certain month to decide what year you are in. (if that makes sense) I did my primary school years at B'Kara primary and returned to australia when I was 11years old. I remember for my schooling levels i was a year ahead but because I turned 11 early in January they kept me back a year in Australia.

Thanks heaps
Catherine

Thanks satu1970....

so according to that list ...is there only 2 state secondary schools in Malta to choose from??? and one in Gozo??
surely there must be more???
If only 2 , I suppose it will be easier to choose. Just need to make sure I can find a place to stay in the area.

Thanks again
Catherine

Hi Catherine, I work here in Malta as nanny since last summer and the children I look for go to Verdala (school and high school), is not estate but I know that it's really good. their parents are
very happy.

No they are not secondary schools. I thouht you were looking at a school where she can go after secondery.if she has to do secondary's O-level here it will be hard. I think, it will be better for her, if she can go private school, that teach only english, to do that.

Hi, no there are many state secondary schools in Malta. To be honest, with all the changes happening here, I really don't think it will matter where she goes. If her Maltese is not good, then maybe stick to a more ex-pat area (St. Paul/Mosta or Sliema.)
Next year, they are going co-ed and starting middle schools. For next year only, Form 1's will be at middle school. The following year there will be form 1+2's. The secondary schools will then (after 2 years,) only hold the last 3 years. Demographic areas are split up into colleges. Each college use to have 1 girls and 1 boys school. Now, depending on which of the 2 schools are the better, they will now join and become one mixed school. (gosh I hope this makes sense lol!) E.g. Mosta girls, which is old and run down, will now move to the brand new and well equipped boys school.
My son's birthday is in November and use to be the youngest of the year above. He was put back a year, which is common here, so he is now the oldest in the year below.
She will go into her last year at school when they go back after the summer. It may well be worth starting her in form 4 instead, that way she will have the full 2 years before her final exams. You will probably find, in an ex-pat area, that there are a few children her age in form 4.
Hope this helps!

Hi sorry to jump in on this just trying to get my head around school admissions, so am i right in thinking that my  daughter who turns 11 in November would be starting secondary at school this sept.
I also have a son age 15 turns 16 next April so which year of secondary would he go into?

Hi

I have just enrolled my daughter into school and she turns 16 in february. She was to be put into form 5 but I have put her back a year to form 4 .....as since we left australia early in her 4th form she would have missed the whole year. So we decided to keep her back a year as it will be hard enough  for her to cope with the language etc..... I only got to do all the paperwork last week and now they have testing and exams for the next 3 weeks so they said it would be better if she starts in sept. start the year fresh!! But its a huge gap of her not going to school, I will need to get her motivated to do some sort of schoolwork or study. Although the typical teenager .....she isn't really interested in doing that...lol

Catherine

Can anybody help me with an area to live  please that will be best for all my children attending school my boys are 12, 9 &5 I was looking at sliema but not sure whether to go to St pauls/bugibba are there secondary schools up there or will he have to travel ? ? 
Thanks

They will basically have to travel for all schools. Every village has a primary school but the catchment are for middle schools/secondary schools is very large. For example, if you lived in Bugibba, you would have to walk maybe up to 20 mins or catch a bus for primary school and the secondary school is a few miles away in Mosta.

catherineshopper wrote:

Hi

I have just enrolled my daughter into school and she turns 16 in february. She was to be put into form 5 but I have put her back a year to form 4 .....as since we left australia early in her 4th form she would have missed the whole year. So we decided to keep her back a year as it will be hard enough  for her to cope with the language etc..... I only got to do all the paperwork last week and now they have testing and exams for the next 3 weeks so they said it would be better if she starts in sept. start the year fresh!! But its a huge gap of her not going to school, I will need to get her motivated to do some sort of schoolwork or study. Although the typical teenager .....she isn't really interested in doing that...lol

Catherine

Hi Catherine , have the school confirmed which classes will be taught in English and which in Maltese? I am trying to research state schools that teach mainly in English so I can ensure that when we move to malta we will be living in the right catchment areas?

Izzybenjaz wrote:

catherineshopper wrote:

Hi

I have just enrolled my daughter into school and she turns 16 in february. She was to be put into form 5 but I have put her back a year to form 4 .....as since we left australia early in her 4th form she would have missed the whole year. So we decided to keep her back a year as it will be hard enough  for her to cope with the language etc..... I only got to do all the paperwork last week and now they have testing and exams for the next 3 weeks so they said it would be better if she starts in sept. start the year fresh!! But its a huge gap of her not going to school, I will need to get her motivated to do some sort of schoolwork or study. Although the typical teenager .....she isn't really interested in doing that...lol

Catherine

Hi Catherine , have the school confirmed which classes will be taught in English and which in Maltese? I am trying to research state schools that teach mainly in English so I can ensure that when we move to malta we will be living in the right catchment areas?

Maltese language is used for social studies, religion and Maltese (of course lol!) in primary schools. In secondary schools, the same applies but history is in Maltese too. All other subjects are in English BUT if you are in an area predominantly Maltese, all letters home and most of the lesson will slip into Maltese. So, you need an expat area which is Sliema, Pembroke, Gizira, St. Julians or St. Paul's Bay, Buggiba, Qwara or Melieha.

Hi

Yes ,when I enrolled her and she had to pick her subjects, there were only a couple of subjects that she couldn't elect as they were taught in maltese. Otherwise they assure me the others are all taught in english. Except maltese of course!
We are in Balzan and she is attending St Theresa Mriehel Girls school. Luckily for us its only 2 blocks away so only takes about 4 minutes to walk there. The principal says all kids speak english there, but i am sure they get lazy in the playground and speak maltese. Well it seemed like it when we were there to fill in applications. But my daughter is up for the challenge! We will see what happens.....
I like the area we are in so far. Only been here a month, but close to most things and as we aren't game to drive just yet, we have used the buses and have had no problems at all. I think they are quite efficient and gets you to most places easily enough.

Catherine

That's good Catherine then,
My children use to go to Santa Venra primary and my son got so behind because lessons slipped into Maltese. The lesson itself didn't but then homework or instructions for extra things were said in Maltese...So many times he would come home and say" sorry mum, I didn't know what I had to do!" and the notes were in Maltese so I couldn't explain. As soon as we got back to an expat area things were better. So it sounds like this school was a one off and maybe any area would be ok :-)

Hi

Well I hope so.....Amanda hasn't started school yet, but so far, the principle and all the admin and some of the teachers seem to speak english quite well. But who knows once she starts!!!!  I did get a couple of forms in Maltese, but they did change them for me to english ones. Its going to be really hard for amanda , as she was getting very lazy at school in australia and they didn't seem to chase it up very well. Hoping the more discipline might help..... She just wants to be able to embrace a bit of the culture and learn a bit of the language, so I would be more then happy with that outcome. Our initial plan is stay here for only one or two years...but who knows...... I went to primary school over here and my Maltese language needs a bit of help too!. But luckily for us, my Dad has moved over here too for a while and he still speaks fluent maltese. That helps tremendously.

Catherine

Thanks for all the info I have 3 children but with the other 2 being younger 10 and 8 I'm not so worried about them just my 15 year old we are looking at the following areas to live mosta, balzan, attard naxxar. As my kids are also fluent in Spanish I'm hoping this might be some assistance in picking  up maltese as I'm aware it's loosely based around Arabic and Latin......I can hope anyway!!!!! I did read that from September secondary schools are no longer going to be single sex is this still the case?.....I really hope so telling my son were going to Malta is bad enough telling him it will be a boys only school is not going to go down well as he tends to have a lot of female friends. Did your daughters school offer Spanish as a subject choice?

Lol, I have no idea but because of the system changing it would seem that the secondary schools will stay same sex as it's the middle schools that will be co-ed and slowly change and filter through the system and up through the secondary system but I may be wrong?! I haven't heard that (for example) Mosta girls is closing this year and joining the boys...I don't think there would be enough room??

Oh and as for Spanish, I can say that I had a Spanish speaking lecturer for a bit this year and when she couldn't think of the English word, she said it in Spanish and my Maltese class friends knew what she said (although I don't know if that was because of Maltese or that they speak Italian as well??!!)

I am pretty sure Spanish was one of the subjects listed. Amanda picked French!!
I did ask the school if it was going co-ed after what I had read and he said not for 2 more years for this particular school,anyway.....
Not sure if there are any co-ed schools around for that age yet. I just went with the closest one to where we are living.
Good luck with your move.....
Malta is a lovely sea change!!

Catherine

Hi
We are looking to move to Malta ready for my 13 year old son to start school in September. My sister in law is Maltese and she has advised us to send him to a private school to make sure he doesn't fall behind (he's quite bright & adamant he doesn't want to go to a Maltese school where he 'won't know what they're on about'!) It seems the English GCSE's aren't taught here, only the IGCSE, and although some forums said they start them from what is the uk year 9, from what I can see , thats not the case. He's already chosen his options which included history, but that may not be an option now. Does any one have any experience of this? After many emails I have only had a response from St Catherines, but from the website (and my sister in laws recommendation from their reputation in Malta) seem to be leaning towards San Andrea School. If anyone has any experience of here, I would love to know from an expat - and also of their fees as they are not openly advertised.
As for areas to live in, my family live in San Gwann & they are keen for us to be near as its nice and quiet, but I am used to being able to walk to my local shopping area & not drive everywhere. Of the expat areas mentioned before, are any like this?
Thanks in anticipation - Michelle x

Hi Michelle,
I am not a frequent poster here (and haven't even logged on for the last year!), but did want to respond to your questions about San Andrea.  My daughter is 13 (born in 2001) and has been in San Andrea for the last 6 years.  She has just finished Form 2 (their 'Grade 9').  She will start the O level options in September when she starts grade 10.  As far as history, from what I recall it is 50% Maltese history so that may not have the same appeal to your son. They are able to pick 4 options but 1 must be a science and 1 must be a foreign language.    I found there to be many good choices at San Andrea and it was very tough for my daughter to decide on the 4.  If your son does not do Maltese I don't believe he will be able to pick another option, but the school would have to confirm that.  I would say most of the expat kids do not take Maltese but I believe that could be an issue for getting into the university for 'free' (as O level Maltese is required to get in for free).  Again, that would be for the school to confirm as I'm not completely sure. 

Today is the last day of school, so they may not be overly responsive.  It will probably be much calmer next week when the students aren't there!  As for fees, we paid 1344 a term (3 terms) this last year.  I don't know if the fees are the same for each grade of secondary or if they increase slightly.  But that gives you a rough idea.   If you want to do the transport to school, that is an additional fee.

We live in Mellieha and love it, but to be honest, the extra driving does get to be a pain.  San Gwann is a nice central area with lots around it.   If you want to walk most places, maybe look at Sliema but it has it's issues too (traffic, congestion).   Good luck with your move!

Kim

Hi Kim

That's really helpful thanks. The assistant head from San Andrea actually responded to my email today and said they only have a few spaces available! My son would be in the year below your daughter as he will only be 13 in July (unless the way they sort out ages/years is different from the uk) so should start grade 9. He is very sporty & the facilities look quite good there too. I think I will have to visit the schools before making the decision, although it is a concern if there are limited places left. It definitely seems to be between St Catherine's & San Andrea though.

Mxx

We have enrolled our son in San Andrea and he will be in grade 10. I must say I was very impressed with the school and new head. We will hopefully be back in Malta for him to start at the beginning of term (24 September) as we are having a few issues with shipping! He's a bit nervous as he'll miss the induction day for newbies on 12 September but he makes friends easily, so I'm sure he'll be fine. We will be staying in Bahar ic Caghaq to start with & using school transport, so this should hopefully make things easier. I was hoping to find some other students for him to meet before they start, so if anyone else has kids going into grade 10, please contact me.

Hi Everyone!!  PLEASE HELP!
I am coming to Malta from Canada in July 2015 with my 4 kids.  My oldest will be 16, so my biggest concern.  Here in Canada he is in Grade 10 and High school does not end for another 2 years.  I don't have the financial ability to put him into a school that has fee's so, correct me if I am wrong, my only 2 choices are putting him in a state school (but which grade will he be in and which exams??) or MCAST college (if they will accept him where he does not have a 'school leaving certificate) His marks are all excellent, all exams in grade 10 he has passed with 90+%
What do I do??

Good morning, I have seen your comments and I would like to know what happened to you in the schools and how it turned out. I go to Malta from Spain with my daughters of 14 and 11. I would like a state school to teach in English and when I have the school I look for a house.
I would appreciate your help, from your experience in Malta.
Thanks and best regards
Nativity Carpe