hi every one,

this is our experience of getting our three children into a BG school.

our children are twins aged 8 and a girl aged 10.

Firstly we went to visit a few schools with a translater, just to get a look around them.

after choosing the school that we liked the best, we asked the Directer (head master/mistress) what we needed to to to get them enrolled.

we were told that we needed the childrens last school report,birth certificates translated and notorisied, then to visit the educational director in Burgas to get the application forms.

well we were told that she spends only two days in Burgas and the rest of the week in Sofia, so we had a Bulgarian friend ring the office, and we were told to go to the school and to tell the school director to ring her...then the children could start school right away

so today weve done just that, the children start school tomorrow morning(tuesday)

we also got the applications forms from the educational director, these must be filled in in Bulgarian and each has a tax of ten leva.
once they are submitted it can take up to two months to process, but no body seems interested in being offical....it makes a first.

things that we have been told by several people during this process is that we must go to sofia get the children enrolled....what a crock of SH1T% as all this can be done in your nearest city.

things that the school will provide are free lunch as the children are under 12 and also they get 150 hours extra Bulgarian lessons each per year free....wish i could sit in on this...lol.

also if your british you do not have to pay any fee for your childrens education under EU rules!!!!!

our children speak no bulgarian, and the school have told us that its not a problem...i wll let you know how they have faired later.

bobski.

Well done bobski sounds like you had some fun and a bit of a run around but you got there in the end look forward to hearing more as time goes by

Hi bobski ... hope all goes well for the kids on their first day.

Keep us posted!

Goodluck to the children, be great to hear how you they get on!

Well done Bob I hope they enjoyed their first day and all went well look forward to you getting back with good news

hi guys,

there first day is done and dusted.

both myself and the wife were worried, because this could of been make or break for us over here if the kids hated school.....but all went well the kids absolutley love it and cant wait to go back tomorrow...winner!!!

there are so many stories coming of our kids, that i could not even begin to tell you about them all.

some of the BG kids came to school with BG to English translation books so they could try out there english...children came from other classes to meet them, and during playtime they were mobbed by the other children all wanting to be there friend.

the school have told us that to have just 1 english child in the school is a great thing for them ...so three in one go must be a very big thing.

all in all the first days gone very well, thanks for your kind words guys.

and i will try to keep you updated on there experinces of a BG school.

bobski.

Well done to all the kids if it were adults it would have been a fight I think we can learn a lot from our children if only we were to stop and think

Excellent news! Glad everything went well, must have been a relief for you.

hi Bobski

can you tell us a little more. is the school in your village or do you have to travel to Bourgas? Did you try out a city school verus a village school?? what are their hours?

Hi All

Just wanted to share my experience with you...especially Bobski

My 2 boys age 6 and 9 started main stream school last September. and within 3 months they are both now fluent in reading and writing which is far better than I am.

My boys LOVE school which makes life so much easier.

I would like to just perhaps give you a little bit of advice if you do not mind. Although they are fluent in reading and writing........they do not understand everything that they are reading and writing...if you understand that. They do not have the BG vocabularly as yet.

We too were told that they would have free BG lessons....to date this has not happened. We are at fault really as we should be pushing for it. We do infact attend 3 hours a week with a BG teacher anyway.

Be prepared to pay every now and then for books, etc. This was not just my children but all the children in their class. We also had to pay a nominal fee I think it was 3lv each if in the event they had an accident and needed a plaster or very minor treatment.

One last thing....I am not sure what grade your children are in but my boys were put into first grade....together..... which I thought was an excellent idea. My only problem with this is that they do not study any other core subjects as such. My eldest who is very good at mathematics is actually studying at 3rd grade level and is being taken in to this class twice a week. It is rather hit and miss in terms of regularity. They DO NOT study English as they are better than the actual teacher. This is also a problem as they need to continue even though this is their mother tongue. I think what I am saying is I feel it is up to me now to "
home school"
for want of a better word the additional subjects

All the very best to your children. Please do keep us posted. If you would like your children to communicate with mine........compare notes perhaps..... then please feel free to PM me and I will give you our skype.

Regards

Good to hear kids are all set in to there new way of life.

really good to hear your children have settled in, am sure they will have a better child hood in Bulgaria better weather ,more time to play and a safer enviorment .
My two boys cant wait to move over

Any updates on how the children are doing now

sarah

We have friends with a 14 year old daughter,within a week she was in a Bulgarian school,fantasic,and no problems at all,if you want it,then it will happen

I thinks this is all good news for the younger folk and it's good to see an integration which is what we all need I think we can learn a lot from the younger generation