Carrie Lewis, an American who has lived in Barcelona since 2001, applied for a local public primary school for her eldest son when he turned three. Although education is not compulsory until six years old, almost all children start school in the September of the year they turn three. Public provision is universal from this age, which means children are guaranteed a place, though not necessarily at parents’ first choice of school.
At first, Carrie was satisfied with her son’s school. However, over time he did not settle well and Carrie increasingly found the teaching style to be more traditional than she had hoped for. “The teachers were seen as authority figures rather than nurturers,” she said. “It didn’t make sense to me that a three-year-old’s first tentative attempts at writing came home with corrections in red pen.”
It was around this time that some public primary schools started to adopt more child-centered educational methodology. The principles that underpinned the new approach — such as bringing emotion into learning, encouraging participation of families and looking at the school space through the eyes of the children — might not sound revolutionary, but before 2010 they were a break from the norm.
Some families who relocate to Barcelona aren’t aware that Catalan is the main language of instruction in schools in Catalunya.
One of these new public primary schools, Escola Congrés Indians, opened its doors in 2011 and Carrie decided to give it a shot. Despite living outside the district, her son was accepted, as there wasn’t much demand for the new methods. “I think some of the families in the neighborhood were initially put off by the amount of involvement expected from the parents and the fact there would be no homework, so it was not popular at first,” she said. However, now that many have warmed to the idea, as the school is heavily oversubscribed.
Both of Carrie’s sons currently attend Congrés Indians and she couldn’t be happier. The only downside is that the school doesn’t provide them with resources to study English at their native level, but Carrie has tried to compensate with lots of English books at home and summer holidays to the U.S.
“It was through becoming involved with the local public primary school that I connected with the community and began to feel at home.” —Amy Hyde-Smith
“The best thing has been the sense of community and support from Congrés Indians. During my divorce, it helped so much to know that if my kids were acting up because they were having a hard time, they would be understood and accompanied through those challenges,” she said.
Amy Hyde-Smith, another American who moved to Barcelona with her husband and four children in 2015 agrees: “It was through becoming involved with the local public primary school that I connected with the community and began to feel at home,” she says.
Some families who relocate to Barcelona aren’t aware that Catalan is the main language of instruction in schools in Catalunya. Amy had been able to prepare her children to some degree while still living in the States by enrolling them in a Spanish immersion program, which at least made learning Catalan easier when they arrived. While Amy’s two younger children settled well into the primary school, two eldest found entering ESO (educació secundària obligatòria, which corresponds to secondary school, i.e. 7th to 10th grade in the U.S.) quite challenging.
Some families prefer private international schools that offer an education in English (or another language) and may follow a foreign curriculum.
The first thing they noticed was an abrupt change to the style of teaching and learning compared to the primary school. Amy explained, “The problem is that the kids are coming from these progressive primary schools where they’ve been taught to work in groups, ask questions, dive deeper and understand the big picture, but when they get to secondary school the message is to shut up and take notes.”
She was also concerned that children were suddenly expected to be very independent at this level, with little support from teachers and poor communication between the school and parents. Trying to find the right solution for each of them, Amy has ended up becoming something of an expert in the different types of schools and curriculums available at secondary level.
First, she moved both children to a Catholic concertat (partially state-funded school), which was able to provide a more nurturing environment and they were comfortable there for a few years. But over time both her son and daughter felt burdened by the curriculum limitations, which were the same as in the public system.
Amy’s eldest daughter wanted to keep studying a broader range of subjects than was possible with the bachillerat qualification. In the end they settled on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. “The IB diploma program (IBDP) suits all-rounders like my daughter because it doesn’t require as much specialization as the equivalent Spanish or British qualifications. Quite a few international schools offer it, but we managed to find another concertat that offers the IBDP at a more affordable fee than the private schools,” Amy explained.
Some families prefer private international schools that offer an education in English (or another language) and may follow a foreign curriculum. Amy was reluctant to go down this route because those schools have a primary foreign student population as well, whereas she preferred an environment where her children could integrate with the local community.
However, her son had found the relentless memorization and testing regime of secondary school draining, and because languages were never his strength, he had struggled to reach the required level of written Catalan. To help him re-discover his enthusiasm for learning, Amy has enrolled him at a new private center called Barcelona Learning Innovation Community (BLIC), where students develop life and career skills like creativity, collaboration and entrepreneurship outside of a formal academic program. He’s only just started but so far, she feels optimistic.
5 things you need to know about schools in Barcelona:
1. There are three types of school for the years of compulsory education (6-16 years old):
- Public schools are fully state-funded non-religious schools, where children 3-16 years old are guaranteed a place. They follow the Spanish national curriculum, except that Catalan is the main language of instruction. Here’s a run-down on how to apply.
- Concertat schools are partly state funded with top-up fees paid by parents, but run by private organizations such as religious orders or teachers’ collectives. They follow the same curriculum as public schools, but may offer a special educational project such as language immersion.
- Private and international schools are privately funded by fees. They may offer a foreign curriculum and qualifications (see below #2) and classes will usually be in English or another foreign language.
2. The curriculum in all public and concertat schools in Catalunya follows a slightly-adapted version of the Spanish national curriculum (taught in Catalan). Some private schools follow the Spanish curriculum but offer classes in English and some foreign exams as optional extras. Other private and international schools follow a foreign or international curriculum, such as British curriculum, the American curriculum or International Baccalaureate Program.
3. The language of instruction in all public schools and almost all concertat schools is Catalan, which means all classes (except foreign language classes) and assessment is in Catalan. Spanish is introduced as a second language during primary education and almost all children will end up bilingual in Catalan and Spanish. A few concertats offer some classes taught in English, or students can take the international school route.
4. Children start school at a young age: Compulsory education is from 6-16 years, but most children start in September of the year they turn three, which is quite young compared to most countries.
5. The application process for the public and concertat schools is based on a points system and starts in March. Cohorts of children born in the same calendar year start school together each year in September. For private and international schools, apply directly to the school.
Official information on schools and application can be found (in Catalan) on the Concorci d’Educació de Barcelona’s website.
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