Choosing the Right School:

Around this time of year,  a considerable number of parents are faced with the tricky task of choosing a school for their child: be it the very start of their schooling, or a continuation, into secondary or sixth form. The perfect school does not technically exist: what parents look for rather, is a school that fits best with their own sets of values and their family’s  logistics. 

We conducted a small survey amongst friends and acquaintances in the Barcelona area. We sum up our findings as follows: 

Critera for parents with  first time school-goers

Educational offer: the syllabus, the language of instruction, the development of extra curricular activities.

Administrative, teaching staff and pastoral care:  parents want to know the qualifications and background of the teaching staff and how they are selected. 

Information channels: how well -equipped the school is to keep parents informed about the work and tasks their chidren are set. 

Timetable and discipline:  parents are not just concerned about  start and finish times, they are equally concerned about break times and the disciplinary procedure in the case of bad behaviour. Parents with children of  this age may wish to see if the current students are happy and motivated.  

Criteria for parents with primary or secondary school children

Educational offer: parents at this stage would like to know about the teaching methods in more detail and also how the school handles the syllabus, as well as the demands of various examination boards and how it prepares the child for his/her future university career. 

Personalised teaching: at this stage parents are more concerned with the child’s progress within the study programme. Parents will look to the school for teaching support, possibly a speech therapist or child psychologist, to deal with specific learning difficulties. 

Facilities: parents will evaluate the physical space and buildings. They take into account the sizes of the classrooms, the availability of laboratory and music rooms as well as the sporting and artistic  activities on offer. 

Atmosphere: parents of pre-adolescent or adolescent children look closely at the atmosphere of the college. For example they look at what the children do in the playground or possibly when they leave the school building. 

References: parents enquire amongst their friends or acquaintances about the schools that are of interest and evaluate their feedback to help them come to a decision.