La Guardería Matrona Angeles Cabra
Municipal de Cómpeta
The Cómpeta Guardería (nursery) sits on the short road opposite the post office. The bright, colourful classrooms contain paraphernalia for nappy changing, plus open cupboards of toys and a chest of drawers with space for each kid’s stuff. There’s also an end-room for presentations (such as the Three Kings and Graduation) and a big salon upstairs (for parties). There’s a kitchen and a canteen as well as child sized toilets. Behind the classrooms there’s a roomy patio, with a floor of some odd substance that looks like tarmac but feels like soft mats, very suitable for toddler tumbles. This patio is full of toddler-sized toys: a wendy house, a little slide, little ‘motos’ and rockers.
My daughter, Rebecca first went to the nursery in September 2006. This was a bit of a cheat because she was supposed to be 1 and or be able to walk and she was not quite either. But Becky’s early entry saved my (and possibly her) sanity.
It’s more laid-back, or perhaps more careless, than a British equivalent. For instance, no one asked to see the vacination certificate I had. The staff to child ratio is quite low, about 1 to 5 and none speak foreign languages, which can be a problem for foreign parents.
But I think it is an absolutely cracking facility. I’ve seen the activities they’ve organised in Rebecca’s ‘workbooks’, on the dvd of photos and film clips they sold this summer, and in the things Rebecca talked about. They did painting, drawing, colouring, playing with plasticine. They have obviously mastered the art of controlling a classroom of kiddies in the presence of paint! There were toddler aerobics (!), face-painting, dancing, singing, dressing up. After Spain qualified for the European Cup Final, Becky came home with a Spanish flag on her forehead, chanting “Es-pa-ña! Es-pa-ña!” As well as football fanship, Rebecca had lessons in table manners, toileting and teeth-brushing, in colours and seasons, in being quiet as well as being noisy (though ‘sleep-time’ was one about the only activity she failed in. Which doesn’t surprise me). There was planting seeds and seeing them grow, and an animals (snails one day, a duck the next). In other words, heaps of positive stimulation and activity, with some useful basic skills thrown in.
I know that some other parents weren’t keen, that the nursery hasn’t worked for everyone. Getting a place isn’t straight-forward. You have to apply to the Ayuntamiento. Applications can be made between certain dates, usually starting in April and ending May, as decided by the Junta de Andalucia, but finding out what these dates are before hand appears to be impossible. You need multiple photocopies of documents showing your identity, residence, work situation and financial situation. In other words a typical bureaucratic bore.
There have been changes with the change of townhall staff and also growing experience, which may have come too late for some parents. In September 2007, there was actually a meeting with printed notes on what parents needed to send with their child, and basic rules (like if the kids sick keep him/her at home!) and a request for basic information, like who would collect the child. And while the Christmas fiesta 2006 seemed a riot of disorder, not helped by the requirement for parents to buy a €3,00 present for the kings to give their child. Lots of the parents cheated, the present giving became competitive and there were tears, tantrums and jealousy…and not just from the kids. This year in contrast the whole show was more structured. The nursery asked for the money for the presents and bought them themselves.
Several friends were shocked when Rebecca came home several times with bite marks. But before you imagine a ‘survival of the fittest’ policy, bear in mind that Rebecca probable gave as good as she got; we were told she tended to start fights by snatching toys, which fitted with my dear child’s “mio, mio” take on the world.
Another friend waited till her kid was two before starting him. Unfortunately the staff put him in with the younger class, with the idea it would be less intimidating, but the child hated it. It was a shock for him to be without Mum for the first time, but by the age of two the language barrier exists, and was an additional shock. He didn’t settle; he cried his eyes out every day. Funnily enough, this little boy now goes to school and loves it.
Some Spanish parents we know withdrew their child because he picked up one bug after another. It is easy to say it will boost the immune system, or that they all have to go through it sooner or later. But if your child is particularly suseptible and you are the one who has to nurse through bad nights and grouchy days, it’s a nightmare.
I have to admit I’ve found some of the special occasions a bit trying, though they were also very charming. For Christmas, Carnival, Andalucia day, Graduation and similar events, parents must put the kids out in certain specific costumes, provide snacks or decorations and attend to provide individual child management. It’s not really a lot, but a trial for the skint and disorganised (us), especially as the instructions were often posted on the door of the Guarderia about 5 days before the event. But how can we complain? I’m sure they don’t have the collosal insurance British nurseries require, but even so, it’s staggeringly cheap. It went up by 33% in 2007, to €40 per month. That’s for educational child care every weekday from as early as 8.30 am to 2.00 p.m.! Some friends we have in Chester were paying £31.00 per day for nursery care! And that was with a discount, for having two kids in at the same time!
The Cómpeta nursery has been an absolute god-send to us. Rebecca didn’t just learn a lot, she was happier, and noticably better behaved in the afternoons for the play, socialising and stimulation she got in the mornings. She always seemed happy to go and happy on return. So ¡gracias Nazaret, Rosa-Luz, Ana, Mari-Teresa y todo! We’ll be introducing Rebecca’s sister in a year’s time: see you then.
