Are the school terms in the Algarve really as delightful as people make out

If you have read our previous posts about getting our son into school you will know that the process took us over a year of him being absent from school. This was down to the poor system that they have in Portugal and the need for material that you would never associate with sending your child to the local school.

You live and learn though and realise that it must be done if you want your child to be educated in a t0tally different school. The more I learn about the system in Portugal the more frustrated it makes me. We are in the European Union yet their organisation skills for upholding a school have absolutely no logic whatsoever.

For example in England we have the parents evening during term time so that if your child has any problems it can be rectified and you can get back to your work without any major interruption. But NO that would be too simple for the Portuguese as they like to make things harder…..

So instead they have the parents evening after school has broken up for the summer break meaning that if there is a problem you will be stuck with it until September. Plus the meeting is held in public so if you want to discuss your child’s behaviour or say if you have concerns that your child is being bullied you will have to discuss it in fr0nt of all the parents from your child’s class.

Which unless your child has the perfect is something that most of us would not want to happen!!!!

But what really ties me up in knots is the fact that nobody seems to know when school will return or what books y0u will need when the new term starts. Y0u want to prepare your child for their return to school but you have no way of doing this. We have requested our son’s new yearly books and after paying a deposit for them was told that they had no idea when they would be arriving!!!

Furthermore with chats with the school a new term start date is yet to be arranged!!!

I work from home with my internet business so I need t0 plan when I will be working so that I can enjoy the last week or so with my son before school returns.

I am not asking for a perfect school system just one were I know when he will be attending school so that I can get organised.

Thanks for reading my blog post and I hope you enjoy our expat tips. I love living in the Algarve and sharing my stories with you.

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