Cyprus-Forum.com

[carolh]

If the children are primary age they will be fine in the state schools. They will get extra help and will soon pick up the Greek language and make friends. There are several private English schools, but they are expensive.
I live in Limassol and agree it is the best place for work etc.

[Niki]

Re schools - if the children are 6 or under state system is fine as they pick up the language and culture easily without too much disruption of schooling and they will fit in easily.

If they are older they will have to go back a year to learn the language and if they are near GCSE stage like mine then I would think private school is your only option. It's just not fair on them otherwise at this already tough time.

I have heard many cases of children who do very well at state school although they would probably have to have extra private lessons which will be expensive. Some however don't do as well, depends on the child and the school, there are cases of bullying just because they're kids and that's what kid's do - they can be cruel to others who are different in some way.

Limassol has the best choice of private schools and they are approx £200 - £350 per month per child depending on age which is a lot less than UK fees.

There are websites you can visit to see the private schools and there are many posts on schooling if you do a search on this and other forums.

Hope this helps.

Niki

[dione3012]

thanks very much my only concern is my 5 year old really and this has made me feel a whole lot better.
how do you apply for state school do you just go and see them like you do over here?

[dione3012]

carolh have you lived over there long,and did you find work pretty easily,im in travel myself and have worked as a rep in corfu for 4 years aswell do you think i would find something easily?

[jody]

Hi dione3012

I have 3 little ones(3,5 and 7 years) and they are all in the village school,looked into private english schools for them but they cost a fortune, having 3 aswell there is no way that we would be able to afford it.They have settled in very well and making new friends and picking up the language.

I just went to see the school and 2 days later they started.They really enjoy it,its early starts though they have to be there for 7:30am and finish just gone 1pm.Hope this helps you,if you need to know anything else just ask i may be able to answer a few ?'s.Take care and good luck with the move hope all goes well for you and your family xx

Jody xx

[carolh]

Dione I have sent you a PM.
Carol

[Crivens]

If the children are primary age they will be fine in the state schools. They will get extra help and will soon pick up the Greek language and make friends

My niece is 7 years old in a state school in Paphos. The english schools were quite expensive (American academy is the cheapest I believe at around £2k a year) and an English teacher said the same think about picking up Greek in no time. This totally didn't happen. It is one and a half years later and she understands pretty much no Greek. Maths is fine as you can't really go wrong with numbers, but everything else she is stuffed. Apparently she comes home every night crying, mainly because she cannot understand anything. My sister asked the teachers if they could translate some of the tests to English to help her out, but they won't do it. Don't blame them either. When one or two kids in the entire school are english speaking only (she also speaks Welsh, but lets not kid ourselves...) then why should they bother? It was similar (but easier because bilingual is the law there) when we grew up in Wales.

When they realised it wasn't working they took her to one of the english schools, but she had lost so much time and because she isn't the greatest at tests, that she basically failed the entry exam. Erm....

Ok, so my sister is to blame a bit for living up a mountain in the middle of nowhere in Paphos, plus moving around a lot so my niece isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but unless your kid is pretty clued up, *and* there is at least a smattering of english speaking kids of a similar standard in the same year, then I personally would get them into the English schools. Hang the price. Which is why hopefully my sister stops renting the villa with the pool up on the mountain and comes to Limassol where the rest of us lives (I mean my family and my parents family).

Cheers

[joanna]

If your coming to live in Limassol, St. Marys is a very good school, and im sure the cheapest. My sister went there when we came over form England. A bit on the accademic side. Prices i think started at about 120 a month and went up each year, but you must calculate quite a bit for books and unifroms at the beginnig of the year. Limassol is bigger than Paphos and Larnaca and so you will have more chance of finding work, more amenities and varying prices of accomodation. Around the tourist area and East side things are a bit pricy and cheaper on the west side of Limassol and in particular Polemida (close to the new hospital) and Ypsonas you get more for your money and are more family orientated areas. If your eldest is 5 you could think about sending him to a state school and getting a tutor to help things along a bit. Also you could try learning the language to help him along and to adjust in general.

[Niki]

If the children are primary age they will be fine in the state schools. They will get extra help and will soon pick up the Greek language and make friends

My niece is 7 years old in a state school in Paphos. The english schools were quite expensive (American academy is the cheapest I believe at around £2k a year) and an English teacher said the same think about picking up Greek in no time. This totally didn't happen. It is one and a half years later and she understands pretty much no Greek. Maths is fine as you can't really go wrong with numbers, but everything else she is stuffed. Apparently she comes home every night crying, mainly because she cannot understand anything. My sister asked the teachers if they could translate some of the tests to English to help her out, but they won't do it. Don't blame them either. When one or two kids in the entire school are english speaking only (she also speaks Welsh, but lets not kid ourselves...) then why should they bother? It was similar (but easier because bilingual is the law there) when we grew up in Wales.

When they realised it wasn't working they took her to one of the english schools, but she had lost so much time and because she isn't the greatest at tests, that she basically failed the entry exam. Erm....

Ok, so my sister is to blame a bit for living up a mountain in the middle of nowhere in Paphos, plus moving around a lot so my niece isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but unless your kid is pretty clued up, *and* there is at least a smattering of english speaking kids of a similar standard in the same year, then I personally would get them into the English schools. Hang the price. Which is why hopefully my sister stops renting the villa with the pool up on the mountain and comes to Limassol where the rest of us lives (I mean my family and my parents family).

Cheers

Poor kiddie. The problem I hear is because the teacher's wages are so low they have no motivation. They rely on private lessons for income.

Personally (and I know I'm not an expert) if I couldn't afford the english schools I wouldn't move until the children were past school years. Many kids pick up languages easily but many just don't have this talent and laguages are a natural talent the same as art or sport. It would be tough to make a decision on whether you should take the risk.

The important thing would be to visit schools and see how many english children there are to see how they fit in and how well they're doing.

[sylvia]

a state school is fine. The only drawback would be that they give the kids mountains of homework, in greek. You would have to either know greek or someone who does. My daughter is married to a gc and she speaks greek but she finds it difficult sometimes to help her so my son-in-law steps in or my husband. Its because the greek they speak is not the greek in the homework. hahah a bit of a dialect the cyps have you know. even greeks dont understand them. Paphos, as I said is like a little britain. They have loads going on. I live in a quiet village in larnaca. I used to live in nicosia when the kids were small and they went to a private school because at that time they didnt speak greek. It is safe for kids (this is my opinion of why) because the cypriots are so NOSY if a kid screams the whole neighbourhood is out. I love it.

Look out for a comment about nosy cypriots from karma and the rest of the forum