Europa School, Culham, experiences

[KellyABC]

We're applying for Europa entry reception 2023. Just wondered if anyone had any experiences of the primary school that they are happy to share? So hard to get a reall feeling for a school with one visit. Thanks in advance!

Hi, we are also really considering sending our 4 children here but unsure what to do as one is already a year 7, other year 5 and the smaller two are not in school yet. Are you a bilingual family?

Hi there, just wondering if you did get your child into reception at Europa and what the experience is like so far? We are considering for Sept 2024. Thanks!

I think this is a good school if you live in Abingdon, but if you are Oxford-based I would not consider it as the commute is too far, the roads are more and more congested, so your kid will spend over 1 hour per day on a bus. That is if you live in East and South of Oxford. If you live in North Oxford or Botley, then you are looking at much longer commuting times, possibly double. Instead, if you are interested in languages, I would send kids to the many Saturday language schools in Oxford, for secondary school students, you can also enrol them to the Oxford University department for continuing education. They run at least Spanish classes on Saturdays. I teach MFL and looked at Europa curriculum, their attainment levels in languages are heavily reliant on external tutoring and home schooling anyway.

We loved the concept and seriously considered it but weren't impressed when we looked around. We were also put off by the fact that the parent also needs to be proficient in the language which we aren't at all. I I have friends whose DC are very happy there. However, from what they say it only suits the academically able/ neurotypical children. Children with SEN or who are struggling are managed out. Both our DC have special needs so I'm glad we didn't go for it. Hard to make a decision about what would suit when your child is 3 or 4.

@YasmineTc
Very unlikely that you'll get a place for your child in Year 5. Some are admired in Y7 but yes they will need to be bilingual. Also worth mentioning that there is no guarantee that you will get into the class with the language that you already speak i.e even if your child speaks French you could end up in the German class

Their requirements for 6th form are GCSE grade 5 in MFL. That’s far from bilingual. There’s no requirement to be bilingual beforehand as this would be contrary to the statutory requirements on non selective state schools, which is what they are. To be honest the number of pupils who come out of this school with ANY qualifications is very low. I’d advise extreme caution and a high degree of critical analysis before sending your kids there. Also there’s not much point in learning German nowadays as Germany has failed in big tech and their economic model is collapsing - unless of course you want to learn German for personal reasons. French still interesting as widely spoken in Middle East and Africa and Spanish is the second global language after Chinese, so still relevant.

@Cass505
I'm not sure where you're getting your information from. I'd understood they offer the international baccalaureate which is a very highly regarded qualification.
The entry requirements for sixth from are entirely different than the lower school. Children are taught in their language for half the week. Obviously you need to already speak the language at a very high standard to join the school later than reception.

I get the information from their own website. If people read it closely, they would find all the data and triangulate it with other data. Furthermore, I actually have friends who went to this school themselves, hence triangulating against empirical research. Their own 6th form requirements on their own Europa School website say GCSE Grade 5 for admission. That is not bilingual, but rather lower intermediate level. Regarding IB, that is not a bilingual qualification, but English language diploma. You can do bilingual IB as an option, but last year, according to Europa School website, only 3 (? - quoting from memory here, so do check) students obtained it - and surprise, surprise in languages that Europa do not teach, such as Danish and Swedish. No student took the bilingual diploma in French, Spanish or German.

You need to distinguish between marketing and reality. This is essential to ensure you do not fall in the trap and your kid ends up leaving this school at 15 with no qualification or at 16 with 2 x GCSEs.

By the way, also interesting to look at the data on their website about the number of students who actually sat the IB and compare it to the 90 pupil intake. You will be surprised to learn how few make it to the end. Any other state school would be closed.

PS - here are their results from 2022: 39 students sat IB, their intake is 90 students! That year only 49% took the bilingual IB, meaning that the others do not study for a bilingual qualification despite studying these languages from Reception. By European standards, I can tell you as a European who speaks multiple languages, that this is a pedagogical, systemic failure.

https://europaschooluk.org/wp-content/uploads/Result-bulletin-BAC-2022.pdf

@Cass505
Why are you going on about being bilingual? The OP was asking about the primary school. They will not accept out of year admissions to the primary school without the child having a high level of skill in the language being spoken. In most cases this is due to a parent being a native speaker and brining up the child bilingual.
I also have several friends with children at the school and also know people who are on the waiting list for the primary.

State primary schools in the UK - Europa included - are not allowed to select students based on ability or background, and that includes the language ability/ having a French/German/Spanish speaking parent. That would be simply unlawful, and I am very certain Europa do not do that. In fact the Admissions are managed by Oxfordshire Council including into higher years except for 6th form.

As for the bilingual IB diploma, I do mention it because that’s ultimately the only reason why parents choose this school, hence important to know that only 19 students out of 90 pupil intake achieved it in 2022 after attending this school. To be very honest, when you do a standard A-level in any foreign language and get a B, you’d be also bilingual. I know this because I myself teach MFL and typically my students get 7-9 at GCSE and A* to B at A level.

In any case, good luck with it. As I said, I believe it’s a good school if you live nearby, but you have to keep an eye on your child’s qualifications and avoid an all too common scenario at this school of kids leaving without any qualifications at all or with 2 x GCSEs. To be honest even if they end up getting IB, they will have lifetime problems with just 2 x GCSEs, because in this country you need GCSEs to enter any postgraduate professional training including teaching for instance. It is therefore an educational experiment you’d be part of.

When I said that I know people who went to this school, I mean actual students who have long graduated from the European School when it was still run by the European Commission. A lot of the same teachers are still there. The situation with qualifications - albeit it was the European baccalaureate rather than the IB back then - was the same. Always. Including the low ratio of graduates compared to the intake.

I am a Europa school parent and can highly recommend it. My children have been very happy there, and have received a solid education. The bilingual education in the primary section is excellent and the school community is very international and inclusive. As previous posters have said, the school is required to follow normal state school admissions procedures - it cannot and does not select children based on parental language ability.

Some of the information posted here about the IB is very misleading. One of my children took their IB there this year. The cohort was 39 pupils. Their grades exceeded the national average and several gained places at prestigious universities, including Oxbridge.

Thank you, but as mentioned earlier with posted link, the info was taken from Europa School website that clearly states only 49% graduated with bilingual diploma, that makes it 19 students out of 39 you mentioned and in a school that has 90 pupils intake in reception. That’s not a hallmark of a successful school. I imagine those 19 students would have succeeded at any school. Glad it worked out for your DCs. Still, wait once they start applying for postgraduate professional courses, eg law, accounting, teaching, and they will be asked to provide GCSE certificates in English, Maths, and Science, they will be sitting equivalents or going to Oxford College as many ex-Europa students did. Nothing wrong with that, but what’s the point of spending all those years in a school that doesn’t let the students do it in the time when they are at that school? Just an opinion.

I really don’t want to derail this thread as the OP was about primary, but your information is out of date and misleading. Here is the information from the website regarding IB:

• 100% pass rate
• Average Points Score: 36 points (global average: 32 points)
• 35% achieved 40 points or above
• 49% Bilingual diplomas

it is true that only 49% took the bilingual IB, the remaining 51% took the standard IB and all students passed with good grades.

Students do not take just 2 GCSEs - at 16 they take the well-respected International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme.

Sorry for going off-topic OP but I didn’t want to let this misinformation pass unchallenged on such a public forum. This is a really good school where staff work incredibly hard. Like all state schools it struggles with lack of funds and like all schools it is not perfect. I can only speak from personal experience and say that it has been great for both my DC. My youngest is still at the school, has been there since reception and has really flourished.

Re out of year admissions; Obviously it is not going to be possible for a child with no language ability to enter a situation whether they are suddenly learning for half the week in a different language. I have more than one friend on the waiting list for the primary school. They have all been on the waiting list for many years and their children are now in KS2. They have been told that their child needs to have a high level of skill in the language.

If the school told them that, they would be acting unlawfully. If that would be the case, I would avoid such school. No matter how they try to spin their results, they are mediocre compared to other state school. My children are trilingual and it is a given that they will gain at least one bilingual qualification. You certainly do not need Europa School to achieve that if that’s at the expense of standard 7-9 GCSEs and 3-4 A-levels.

PS to answer your question whether kids can integrate a bilingual school without any knowledge of the language, the answer is yes. Kids and teenagers can absorb a language very quickly ie they can become fully bilingual within 1-3 years if they are immersed completely in a foreign language environment. Hence I question the pedagogy and promise made at Europa of bilingual education if only 19 students out of 90 year group gain the bilingual diploma. I must say it is also worrying that their results from 2023 sessions are not readily available on their website (I believe that’s a statutory requirement), the results discussed here are from 2022 session during which all grades had been inflated due to alternative assessments during the pandemic. 35.9 average they had in 2022 is equivalent to ABB at A-level.

@Cass505
Why is it acting unlawfully? It's not part of their selection criteria but obviously it makes sense that a child is going to need to be proficient in the language if they are joining the school in KS2. Not letting the parent know this is setting the child up for failure

It is unlawful because they are giving you the wrong information. State schools in the UK are not allowed to select based on ability. By the way Europa itself stresses this to prospective parents so I’d be very surprised if they were saying something else to parents during in person meeting. If any individuals did, they would probably deny it. It is their job to educate pupils of all abilities. If they cannot do this, they should not be running a school using taxpayers’ money.

@Cass505 is right. If a state school has a place and a child would like that place, it must be given!

@Cass505
As already stated, It does not form part of the admissions criteria but quite obviously a 8 or 9 year old child is not going to be able to easily catch up on 5 years of learning in a different language for half the week. It would be ridiculous to not communicate to the parents that their child will struggle unless they already speak the language to a high level

Yes but a state school has to take anyone!

I teach and we have had several children with no English join mid year. We manage and we have to! I also have a child in Year 3 who hasn't ever been to school. He can't read or do basic maths yet. We can't turn him away because he's not at the expected standard. We can't turn children away because they don't speak English. My job, and all teachers jobs is to work with all children at the correct level for them. It's not lawful to discriminate based on a lack of ability in that way.

Arguably a child immersed in a bilingual school will pick up the language very quickly. Just like children abroad do.

I've never said that they turned them away. Yes they have to accept anyone but their advice is still that it will be extremely difficult to catch up if not already proficient in the language and joining in KS2. I'm not sure why anyone would argue against this or choose to make their child's life miserable by being so behind

The law is very clear that they have to give the place if a child wants it. You said that your friends were on a waiting list for years. That’s bizarre, quite frankly, as all schools in Oxford and Abingdon have a high turnover due to high international mobility. Either way, the conditions given to your friends regarding requirements to speak another language do not add up as according to Europa’s own data only 19 students graduated with bilingual IB diploma, hence speaking a second language at a high level (ie beyond any other state school) is NOT a requirement.

@Cass505
Do you have much personal knowledge of the school? I do and I know more than one person who has been on the waiting list since reception for their DC now in KS2.
As already stated it is not a requirement but for anyone looking for advice on their DC entering the school after reception, they should be aware that they are a) extremely unlikely to get a place and b) will be putting their child in a very difficult position if they do not already speak the language to a high level. I do not think it is unlawful for the
school to make parents aware of this fact.
They were very clear at the open day we attended of the commitment involved for both parents and children in learning a language to the standard that they offer.