School Years in Marbella Spain

On the subject of schools in Marbella, I have never seen or known of so many children that seem to be in the wrong year.

Obviously there is the Spanish System but there is also the UK System which is followed in most of the International Schools.

Kids could start as young as 2 years and 9 months in a Spanish School! This is incredibly young.
Spanish systems go January to December. English System is September to August.

When I was enrolling my daughter originally into the Spanish System, they were very very strict about years and if you are born in 2003 then you started school in 2006 etc.

But in International Schools (many of them) Im finding kids 6 months younger than kids in the year above. So say a kid of 6 turning 7 years is in year 3, whilst a kid of 7 and a half is in Year 2.

When I see the kids lined up in the year above my daughter, many of them look incredibly younger, and most of them are Spanish Children. Spanish seem to put their children in early as I have seen kids starting in the first year coming to school in pushchairs and dummies. There are a number of English and other nationalities too.

Whilst some of these kids may be bright and it may be the right year for them, others struggle and will continue to struggle. Many even repeat years.

Kids even as young as 5 or 6 understand their friends repeating a year and can be extremely hurtful calling them a baby because they may not be able to play anymore in the same playground etc. This can really affect a childs behaviour and ability in school.

Another reason for kids starting early is because of "Convenience"...if you already have 1 child in the school and a sibling in nursery, its much easier to have both in the same school.

And, with Private Schools being a business, are they really going to say no at times like these?

Personally Id say make sure your child is in the right year and if you do put your child in early, speak to the teachers about their ability and make them repeat a year as early as possible, either in Early Years or Reception (Personally Id say Early Years or the very first year).

Our children will have many years to struggle once they start exams and working....dont let them struggle during some of the most precious times of their little lives.