Hello we have just moved to Peschiera and would like our children to attend a local school in September, can anyone advise me on the documents I will need and if there is a cut off date to do this. The children are 8 and 10 (We have moved from the UK)

Vaccination records - translated if for a state school, Codice Fiscale for at least you and husband, possibly for kids if it is a state school. Some schools may ask for academic records also translated into Italian, but I think this is the least likely required document!

Also I'm going to assume you haven't residency yet. As you will be unlikely to get it in the next few weeks you are probably better looking at the private catholic schools, there is less paperwork needed to enrol and I think the state schools can insist on residency papers, although education is a right of every child and all that.

For a private school I just needed mine and hubby's codice fiscale and a photo-copy of my daughters vaccination records. If they aren't up to date the school can refuse to enrol your kids!

Have you already found a school? If you haven't you may be lucky to find a spot for them now. The schools all close end of June - some of them will have holiday clubs running, normally the Catholic schools where the nuns live on site. If you do find a space you may not be able to be too choosey about where you send them. Hoping this isn't the case!

Just re-read your post re my above comment! The cut of was end of March for inscription. So get looking now, you may be lucky but you will have to be fast and you will almost certainly have to go to a private school unless the local schools are undersubscribed.

I want to add to what Alyson said and clarify a few things:
1st: this is the second time I have seen Alyson (who seems to live in Florence) and also others living in Florence mention not finding a space in public schools at all. Of course schools fill up, but you must know your rights. You have the RIGHT to go to a LOCAL/NEIGHBORHOOD public school. You must assert this right. I don't know what is going on in Florence, but they must find a way.
2nd: All I needed to enroll my son was his report card from the US which said he was promoted to the next grade, sent that to the American Embassy in Rome via fax, and for FREE they sent me a letter of equivalency in Italian and certified by the American Embassy. Once again, the Trieste school tried to force me to pay for record translations, etc... by LAW, and agreement between the US and Italy, schools must accept this Embassy letter and cannot demand more! I don't know the the UK- Italy agreement, I imagine its similar.
I also needed his codice fiscale and vaccination records, but I didn't have to translate the vaccination records since they are already in some kind of internationally recognized format.
I know school districts vary, but think about it logically: your child must by law attend public school, so space must be made and your child accommodated. Many times "full" means lots of kids are enrolled but rarely that the school is legally to its max!
hope this helps and good luck.

Jenna, I guess what you need to know about Florence is that there are schools and schools. Some of the state schools are dire, so of course you can get a place in those after inscription has finished. But who wants to?! So if you have missed inscription you go to the private schools, which also fill up quick but are more likely to find a place as they want the money.

That's why I talk about getting things done during the inscription period. If you don't care what kind of school your kid goes to fine, but if you do then here, you have to act quickly. This is from my experience. My daughter ended up a school a mile from our house. It's a good school and I like it but everything else close by was either full or not to my choosing. If I'd known then what I know now we would be at the school 5 minutes down the road, not 20. The one around the corner I wouldn't send my daughter to if they paid me.

Also, I don't "seem" to live in Florence I "do" live in Florence!

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Also, I don't "seem" to live in Florence I "do" live in Florence!

Hey Alyson: sorry, badly stated, I just didn't want to assume that everyone on certain threads was from Florence...
Point well taken about the quality of schools, absolutely!!!

It's okay, I just felt all sim-ish and not real for a bit! As if I wasn't really there....

It really can be that bad here in the centre, the outskirts and countryside are much better, I have been told. It does seem to be a uniquely Florentine problem - I picked up on it from people here on the board who are in Florence, then from friends here and then experienced the scramble myself, it is crazy!

What's Turin like?

quote:

Originally posted by alyson:
Some of the state schools are dire, so of course you can get a place in those after inscription has finished.

Sorry, but state or comune owned schools do not have the RIGHT to turn down children. It's simply illegal. A private school can do it, for whatever reason, but no public school can.

quote:

Sorry, but state or comune owned schools do not have the RIGHT to turn down children. It's simply illegal. A private school can do it, for whatever reason, but no public school can.

I think what is comes down to is: 1. knowing your rights, and 2. knowing how to assert those rights in an effective and non-confrontational way. Many expats are probably coming from the experience of arriving in Italy, having little or no Italian language skills, and when they hear "no" or "we are full" they think that is the end of the story- not a wrong assumption by any means, but in Italy you must know how to haggle even when it comes to public schools! I am not looking forward to this aspect of Italian life in many respects, but in others I really enjoy it as a part of life.
As for public schools in Turin I have heard really good things but I am not up on the particulars... too bad for me, I guess I'll find out in the next couple weeks!