# Advice on moving to Denia - lots of questions :)



## monique77 (Sep 9, 2016)

Hi everyone,

We will be moving to Denia next year with two children age 5 and 7 and I would appreciate any advice from you lovely people who already live in the area  

1. What is it like living in Denia? What are the best areas to rent a flat/villa? Places to avoid? Things to do for the kids? We would like to be close to the beach and amenities, ideally walking distance, although we will have a car too if we need to get to more remote places.

One of the biggest concerns is choosing the right school for our children. After going back and forth between international and Spanish schools, we have decided that the best option for our children would be to put them into a Spanish private school Alpha y Omega as we want them to learn the Spanish language, culture and make Spanish friends. We would ourselves learn Spanish and would like to integrate into Spanish culture and ideally have a mixture of Spanish and English friends. 

2. Does anybody on here have children in the Alpha y Omega school? What are your experiences? How would you compare it to the Spanish state schools? What's the number of pupils in the class? What is the cost? Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of these info on the net.

3. What's the weather like there in the winter? I've heard it can get very cold and even frosty, especially at night and that the houses are not very well insulated and some have no heating? 

4. What's the internet speed like? We have our internet based business so the good internet connection is quite important. If anyone works from home using the internet, what are your experiences?

Thank you everyone for taking your time to respond to my questions. I look forward to moving to Denia and hopefully meeting you all


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## monique77 (Sep 9, 2016)

monique77 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> We will be moving to Denia next year with two children age 5 and 7 and I would appreciate any advice from you lovely people who already live in the area
> 
> ...


Is there anyone who can help me with my questions as I haven't had any response. Maybe I should change my post to be more general regarding Costa Blanca, Spanish state schools, winter weather etc. ???


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

*Spanish state schools vs spanish private schools*

Firstly, let me say that I don't know Denia very well and certainly don't know the school you mention.

You say it's a Spanish Private school - is that a concertado or a truly private one? Why did you not choose a state school? If you intend on making Spain your home, then I think (good) state schools are the best option.

Generally, although I understand new builds are getting better, houses in Spain are built for hot weather and not the cold. They have little or no insulation. As a consequence, in the summer you just have to close all shutters during the day and open them at night. In the winter, they are simply cold so you need good heating. This can be a multi-fuel burner (open fire), central heating, air con, or just portable gas heaters - but you will need heating most winters.


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## monique77 (Sep 9, 2016)

*Spanish state schools vs spanish private schools*

Hi everyone,

Our children are 5 and 7 and they don't speak any Spanish. One of the biggest concerns is choosing the right school for our children. We think that the best option for our children would be to put them into a Spanish school as we want them to learn the Spanish language and culture. However, we are contemplating between the Spanish state schools and the Spanish private schools. 

1. What are the differences between Spanish state and private schools apart from the obvious, which is cost?

2. Do you think that they would get more support in a private school as we've heard many English children in state schools had to repeat a year?

Any help on the above would be much appreciated. Thank you


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## monique77 (Sep 9, 2016)

Thank you for your response. We thought that the Spanish private school may be a better option as our children don't speak any Spanish. We also don't speak any Spanish as yet, so it will be hard for us to communicate with the teachers as apparently they don't really speak English at state schools. In addition, they will have to learn valenciano, which makes it even harder. I have also heard that many English children in state schools had to repeat a year and this is what we are trying to avoid. We were hoping that they would get more support in a private school. However, I am not sure what the differences between the state and private schools are, apart from the obvious one, which is cost. We would certainly consider the state schools if there are little on no differences.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

monique77 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Our children are 5 and 7 and they don't speak any Spanish. One of the biggest concerns is choosing the right school for our children. We think that the best option for our children would be to put them into a Spanish school as we want them to learn the Spanish language and culture. However, we are contemplating between the Spanish state schools and the Spanish private schools.
> 
> ...


Hello Monique 77,
I can understand that your children's education is a prime concern of yours.
Private schools don't necessarily have better facilities, teachers or resources than state schools so make sure you look carefully at opinions. 
Repeating a year happens all the time all over Spain in private and state, Spanish children or other nationalities. It's a different way of doing things, a different way of looking at things.
As for support it would very much depend on each individual school I think. If your children don't have any learning difficulties and have a stable supportive homelife they shouldn't take more than a few months to adapt and gain some degree of fluency in the language. Obviously encourage as much contact with the language as possible through friends, activities, stories etc. Within a year they should have gained accuracy.
One of the big differences I think could be the time tables. The private schools in my area don't finish until 17:00!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

OOps! Also be aware that many areas of Spain are bi lingual ie Catalan/ Spanish, Valenciano/ Spanish, Basque/ Spanish...


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

> Originally Posted by *monique77 *One of the biggest concerns is choosing the right school for our children. After going back and forth between international and Spanish schools, we have decided that the best option for our children would be to put them into a Spanish private school Alpha y Omega as we want them to learn the Spanish language, culture and make Spanish friends. We would ourselves learn Spanish and would like to integrate into Spanish culture and ideally have a mixture of Spanish and English friends.
> 
> 2. Does anybody on here have children in the Alpha y Omega school? What are your experiences? How would you compare it to the Spanish state schools? What's the number of pupils in the class? What is the cost? Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of these info on the net.


'''


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

monique77 said:


> Thank you for your response. We thought that the Spanish private school may be a better option as our children don't speak any Spanish. We also don't speak any Spanish as yet, so it will be hard for us to communicate with the teachers as apparently they don't really speak English at state schools. In addition, they will have to learn valenciano, which makes it even harder. I have also heard that many English children in state schools had to repeat a year and this is what we are trying to avoid. We were hoping that they would get more support in a private school. However, I am not sure what the differences between the state and private schools are, apart from the obvious one, which is cost. We would certainly consider the state schools if there are little on no differences.


I know several families with children in Alfa & Omega. It has a very good reputation. It's a truly private school.

However, if your main reason for choosing it is to avoid Valenciano, that won't work. It's law that a certain number of hours are studied in Valenciano in all schools in the region. That includes International/British schools.

As for repeating a year - it isn't ideal, but can & does happen to children of all nationalities, including Spanish. IMO it's better to repeat & learn what you need to, than to keep going up year after year without learning anything!


I don't know for sure, but I would imagine that repeating is a possibility at Alfa & Omega too.

One thing to bear in mind is that Alfa & Omega only teaches up to age 16. The kids I know who have gone on to do Bachilerato have done so in state school, so need a high level of Valenciano by then.


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## DoogieWoogie (Sep 11, 2016)

*Welcome!*

/SNIP/My own children went to Spanish state schools in Denia and picked up the language within weeks. If you apply for places at Spanish state schools the children will be allocated to a school and you may have very little say in the matter. Once they are in the system you can try to have them transferred to one of the three highly regarded primary schools i.e. Carmelitas, Paidos or Maristas. These schools only teach children up to the age of 16 when they take their ESO exams. They then transfer to a different school to study for Bachillerato (the Spanish equivalent of A levels). This is much broader than the UK system covering up to 11 subjects and requires some serious studying! My daughter stayed in the Spanish state system for her entire education but my two sons eventually transferred to a private international school in order to take A levels as they both had difficulties with the amount of studying required to successfully complete Bachillerato. As with anything opinions vary. I know parents who were very happy with Alpha I Omega but I also know parents who transferred their children into the Spanish state system as they were not happy with certain aspects of Alpha I Omega. Although a lot of Spanish teachers in the state system do no speak English there will always be someone at every school who does. In fact it is now mandatory in Spanish state schools that the children are taught in English for a number of hours per week. Good luck, I'm sure you and your children will love Denia!


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## monique77 (Sep 9, 2016)

DoogieWoogie said:


> /SNIP/ If you apply for places at Spanish state schools the children will be allocated to a school and you may have very little say in the matter. Once they are in the system you can try to have them transferred to one of the three highly regarded primary schools i.e. Carmelitas, Paidos or Maristas.
> 
> I know parents who were very happy with Alpha I Omega but I also know parents who transferred their children into the Spanish state system as they were not happy with certain aspects of Alpha I Omega.


Thank you. What is the process of putting my children into one of the schools you've mentioned? Is there a long waiting list? Would I need to live close to the chosen school to have a chance of getting my kids into it?

What were the reasons why some of the parents you know transferred their children from Alpha y Omega?


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## monique77 (Sep 9, 2016)

xabiachica said:


> If your main reason for choosing it is to avoid Valenciano, that won't work.
> 
> One thing to bear in mind is that Alfa & Omega only teaches up to age 16. The kids I know who have gone on to do Bachilerato have done so in state school, so need a high level of Valenciano by then.


Thank you for your response. No, we are not trying to avoid Valenciano and I am aware that it is compulsory in this area. I've heard a lot of good comments about Alfa y Omega, that's why we are considering it. I'm still doing a lot of research and I'm not dismissing the state schools. I just don't know much about them as there is very little info on the net.

I thought all schools teach up to the age of 16. And then children go on to do Bachilerato. Is that not the case? Or were you trying to say that Alfa y Omega does not teach high level of Valenciano and kids may have difficulties going on to do Bachilerato. Please clarify. Thank you


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## Smurf183 (Jan 22, 2018)

monique77 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> We will be moving to Denia next year with two children age 5 and 7 and I would appreciate any advice from you lovely people who already live in the area
> 
> ...



Hi Monique, Did you get to Denia and how did things go for you?
We are looking to move to this region in the next 6 months or so, currently in talks with my current employer about working remotely once I can have decent broadband.
My wife is in a similar position so once these are sorted we can make the move.
We have a 3 year old girl as well so will be looking into the schools etc too if you had any advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks in advance


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## spainbound21 (May 30, 2020)

monique77 and Smurf183 how were your moves? I'd love to connect with a few questions. My husband and I are considering a move in about a year with our 6 year old son.


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