good schools? St pauls bay? Mosta? Mellieha?

Ckey New member

4POSTS

9 years ago

HI
Me and the family, husband and 3 children 8, 11 and 14 are moving to Malta this summer. We are still looking at different areas. We have been over to look at places and decided that it is too busy round Sliema and those areas and are now looking at places round St Pauls bay. We find that there is a great mix of old and new and it is hard to know what areas are ok or not. It will be the schools that will decide where we are moving. I would love it if you could share experiences when it comes to schools. In St Pauls bay I understand that there are expats in the primary school. What is the school like? Do the kids like it? My eldest girl will go to Mosta secondary school if we move to St Pauls bay. Any opinions and experiences about this school? Could also move to Mosta but need to know a bit more about primary schools. Would like to live closer to the sea though... Difficult decisions! Any information is useful. Thank you. Caroline

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Momojojo27 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

Did your child start mosta secondary as we have our 13 year old who is due to start in September as that is our catchment area we have been told mellieha primary will be for our 4 year old although I would prefer from reading if he could go to St Paul's because there seems to be more expats there from what I have read do I get a choice or no ???

coxf0001 Serial expat

783POSTS

8 years ago

Hi. Mellieha has lots of expats and your 4 year old will be fine there. You wouldn't be able to send to St Paul's if you live in Mellieha. It will go by a the address on your Id card. Also St Paul's is busting at the seams with near on 1000 primary school children! They also start school 1 hour earlier. You'd be getting your 4 year old up at 6 for school in St. Paul's! As for Mosta, There are two schools. Which one would it be?

Momojojo27 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

The school in mosta is mosta secondary zokrija, I gave emailed but had no response that's the school in our catchment did our 13 year old daughter was wondering how she would cope in the lessons would she understand

I have been in touch with mellieha primary they seem lovely.聽聽So it's just to sort secondary school and nursery places.聽聽 Such a nightmare when uku gang know anywhere and we won't have a car got a while 馃槨聽聽 Thank you for your help

co1590 Member

3POSTS

8 years ago

Hello,
We have moved to Malta recently, we have enrolled our children in St. Paul Bay Primary school. Do you know any good stationery store, one with good discounts, in Malta?
Thank you,
Cornelia

Vagrant Active member

96POSTS

8 years ago

There was supposed to be a new infant and primary school opening in Qawra this September but, owing to corruption in the system having caused the head of the department involved to quit, this has now been put back till 2019 ??? The overcrowding issue is supposed to be addressed by this, but at present, we just have a big hole in the ground and a mobile site office. Depending on the age of the child, this may or may not be of use when you need it. In the mean time, even the Maltese say "this is Malta", so don't hold your breath.

coxf0001 Serial expat

783POSTS

8 years ago

There are loads. As for discount, there isn't really. Different shops are better for different things Lidl and Tal-Lira are quite good for essentials (pens/pencils/copy books) but in all honesty, you are better off going to just the one shop. Give them the list from the school and they'll get it for you. There is one up near HSBC bank in St. Paul's. Paul's Arcade near the Karanne hotel, Charlies stationary near the square and many more. These shops will know exactly what the school wants so you'll have less chance of getting it wrong!

co1590 Member

3POSTS

8 years ago

Hello,
What I've heard is that they stopped the work because it's summer and they don't want to trouble the tourists with the noise. And the construction work will begin in autumn.

coxf0001 Serial expat

783POSTS

8 years ago

#10

Vagrant wrote:
There was supposed to be a new infant and primary school opening in Qawra this September but, owing to corruption in the system having caused the head of the department involved to quit, this has now been put back till 2019 ??? The overcrowding issue is supposed to be addressed by this, but at present, we just have a big hole in the ground and a mobile site office. Depending on the age of the child, this may or may not be of use when you need it. In the mean time, even the Maltese say "this is Malta", so don't hold your breath.

What a shambles all that was!聽 I think the present school does really well considering the influx of聽 people.

coxf0001 Serial expat

783POSTS

8 years ago

#11

Momojojo27 wrote:
The school in mosta is mosta secondary zokrija, I gave emailed but had no response that's the school in our catchment did our 13 year old daughter was wondering how she would cope in the lessons would she understand

I have been in touch with mellieha primary they seem lovely.聽聽So it's just to sort secondary school and nursery places.聽聽 Such a nightmare when uku gang know anywhere and we won't have a car got a while 馃槨聽聽 Thank you for your help

Are you sure it;s Zokrija? It certainly is the better of the 2. My son has had his ups and downs there.聽 I've haerd worse reports from friends about Lilly of the Valley, which is the other one.

co1590 Member

3POSTS

8 years ago

#12

Thank you very much coxf0001

Momojojo27 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

#13

That the one the lady from the education department told me she would be after I gave her our address is there any way of finding out which school it is and how to try to contact them now ??

coxf0001 Serial expat

783POSTS

8 years ago

#14

Momojojo27 wrote:
That the one the lady from the education department told me she would be after I gave her our address is there any way of finding out which school it is and how to try to contact them now ??

I don't know. It's a new system and I know that they split the St. Paul's catchment between the two schools. Maybe that was a one off. Now that it's been settled for a couple of years, then maybe they have certain catchments go to certain schools. If she said Zokrija, I would stick with that. It's the better of the 2 schools. It's also newer and has better facilities.

Make sure you phone in the morning and maybe leave it a couple of weeks as they will be off for 'shutdown' (something that happens here in Malta around this week.)

Momojojo27 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

#15

Thank you for your help and advise really appreciate it

nathalyalouise New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

#16

Hi Newbie,

My family and I are planning to relocating to Malta in July 2018 (once the academic year has finished in the UK).

We are looking to move to Xemxija so I will be registering my girls at St Paul鈥檚 primary.

It is very encouraging to hear your children enjoy attending the school. We were in Malta a few weeks ago visiting schools and we did pop in to St Paul鈥檚 primary. The admin staff that I spoke to were very helpful and the school had a nice to feel to it. My main concern was the size of the school.
Currently my girls attend a small primary and i鈥檓 worried that they will find such a big school very daunting. I know the schools in Malta in the whole are bigger then the UK but even by Maltese standards St Paul鈥檚 seems to be big.

What has your experience been and how have your children found it?

Also why is the latest on the proposed new school in Qwara? I鈥檓 assuming this will take the pressure of St Paul鈥檚 Bay primary once it is built?

Finally my youngest two would have been due to start reception in the UK in September 2018 but due to being November birthdays will be going in to year 1 in Malta. Did this affect either of your children and if so did it affect their learning in anyway?

Sorry for the barrage of questions but the success of our move really will hinge on the girls settling and so I would really like to make sure I find the right school for them.

Thanks for your help.

Nathalya

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nmb1812 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

#17

Hi ladies
We are relocating from the Uk this year also we are looking to move to Qwara as other half will be based there with work. We have 3 boys aged 6,4,3 does anyone know the catchment area for St. Paul鈥檚 bay primary at the moment they鈥檙e at a catholic school which was the only good school in our local area however I find that they push the religion onto the children way to much so won鈥檛 be putting them into a religious school again 馃槙 how do you apply for the school etc, our middle boy will hAve his place in the uk for September can I still get him into a school over in Malta, other half will be sourcing the accommodation and schools whilst I sort pregnancy and dogs getting into Malta any help would Be great 馃榾

newbie2014 Active member

29POSTS

8 years ago

#18

Hi
The catchment for SPB school is currently Qawra, SPB, Bugibba, Burmarrad, Wardija, Limbordin and Xemxija. There has been no movement on the new school in Qawra for years and nothing happening in the foreseeable future ad far as anyone can tell.

Applying for school is easy, you will need to have a tenancy agreement already in place before they will accept an application but once you have that both parents go to the school with the kids passports and their own ID, sign a few forms and you're in.聽聽They only take applications on a couple of days a week so best check in advance.聽

School will close on 28th June and there will be no admin staff in there again until around September so if you don't apply before end of June you will need to wait till nearer the time school starts again at the end of September.聽

With regard to the religion thing, you can opt out of religion as a subject but there is still an element of it which the kids pick up on as it is a Catholic culture here and prayers are said in assembly and in class, it's not too intense though, it's certainly not pushed onto the kids either.

Feel free to ask me any questions, always happy to help!

nathalyalouise New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

#19

Just wanted to say hi as we are planning on a move to Malta in September. We are looking to base ourselves in Xemxija so will also be looking at St Paul鈥檚 Bay for school. I have three girls aged 6, 4 and 4 so looks like our children may be in the same school year depending on Birthdays.
What I have found out is that the year they are put into depends on births year so my 6 year old born in 2012 will be going into year 2 which is what she would have been in the UK but as she is a Jan Birthday will now be one of the oldest in the year. My twins were born in Nov 2013 but where as they would have been going into reception in UK they will be going in to year 1 in Malta so there will now only be 1 school year between my girls.
It is good to know that there will be other newbies at the school gates in September!
Also we have tried to sort accommodation in advance but have been told because of the way the rental agreements work that they can鈥檛 actually confirm what property is available for rental until 4 weeks before oour proposed move date!

nmb1812 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

#20

Thank you for all the information it鈥檚 really useful, hopefully it will be a smooth sailing process 馃榾

nmb1812 New member

9POSTS

8 years ago

#21

We have 3 boys age 6,4,3 and one on the way. Will definitely look into which school year they will be in. My partner is going over in may on his own to sort accommodation out for us as we are bringing our dogs too and we figured it was the best way to do it. What makes you move to Malta ? My eldest son is super excited that he can live in the sunshine and be by the beach, have you told your eldest about your move ?
It鈥檚 exciting stuff 馃榾 xx