# Family moving to Rome -advice on schools, where to live, practical hints?



## jaja

Hi everyone, we are a family of 6, currently living in australia and we will be moving to Rome this Summer ( as in European Summer). We have 3 primary aged children who we would like to send to international school as I don't think we will be living in Italy for ever. Does anyone have any advice on:

1) Best international schools in Rome ( considering we are Australian and they have gone through the Aussie curriculum here)?
2) Where to live for families - close to international school but still with a feel of living in Rome ( not in an expat bubble)
3) Banks - that have low fees but you can use the account when traveling abroad?
4) A good Italian materna for the little one, who I would like to learn Italian, hence won't be going to international school.

any advice would be more than welcome!!!!


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## NickZ

jaja said:


> 3) Banks - that have low fees but you can use the account when traveling abroad?


When you say abroad you mean?

If you can handle an Italian online website ING is going to be one of the better choices.

If you need a brick and mortar contact then see if Intessa is still offering the conto zero. If you stick online it's pretty close to free but if you need a human then you can always go into the local branch.


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## jaja

Thanks for the information. Abroad - would be mainly Europe and Australia. I had heard that sometimes the Italian banks didn't have credit cards.
Ing sounds good - but can you withdraw cash anywhere?


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## NickZ

I think they all give prepaid cards. ING IIRC gives you a free one. The others tend to charge €10 to issue the card. You then top up the card transferring cash from your account to the card. They are more like cash then a credit card but are accepted by anybody that takes the type of card (Mastercard or Visa)

Most of Europe won't be a problem. I think with Intessa you need to advise them if you travel to certain high risk countries but the majority of the EU is considered "safe" when it comes to card use.

You can use the ATM card to pay at most larger shops. You can withdraw cash at ATMs. Free to pay at the shops but there can be a fee with some ATMs.


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## jaja

Thanks for the bank info.

Anybody have any opinions about international schools in Rome? I know it is always a personal thing but just a general view - as in such and such a school snobby etc

Cheers


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## sim0670

jaja said:


> Thanks for the bank info.
> 
> Anybody have any opinions about international schools in Rome? I know it is always a personal thing but just a general view - as in such and such a school snobby etc
> 
> Cheers


Have you considered living near to Firenze, there is an international school located there. A friend of friend teaches English at the school and I believe there is a an asilo attached to it for the little ones. Not sure about fees though?

Living in Florence you are only 3 hrs from Rome on the fast train and Florence is central for all other site seeing when you want.

We live out of Florence, half way to Pisa and it is no where near being an expat bubble, far from it. There are places to live if you want that kind of life. 

Our son attended a private asilo when he was 2, it was the best kick start he could of had regarding learning Italian. Full emersion and we had some great days out with the parents. He is now 7 and in mainstream school. He still speaks and reads in English which we were afraid he might loose. But he says he enjoys speaking both. 

Sorry, I went off the point but it might help you.


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## jaja

Thanks for info. Sounds nice where you are but Rome is our only possibility due to hubby's work.

Does anybody know where the Aussies go to school?


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## Lonely

jaja said:


> Thanks for info. Sounds nice where you are but Rome is our only possibility due to hubby's work.
> 
> Does anybody know where the Aussies go to school?



You won't find many Aussies in Italy


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## sharonsmu

jaja said:


> Thanks for the bank info.
> 
> Anybody have any opinions about international schools in Rome? I know it is always a personal thing but just a general view - as in such and such a school snobby etc
> 
> Cheers


Southlands English school in Rome is great, my children went there up until 18 months ago but hubbys job brought us back to the UK. Very good family feel, my children did very well and are both top of the class now they are back here in the UK. Infernetto and Casal Palocco are very affluent areas only 20-25 mins from the centre and 10 minutes from the beach. Suppose it depends on your life style, I preferred to pop in the centre when it suited me and not have to live amongst the town centre traffic and noise, but thats personal. There are great sports facilities near by, Babel and Kiflow in Infernetto are both very new gyms/sports clubs offering excellent gymnastics at Kiflow and amazing football coaching at Babel and lovely pools both indoor and outdoor. Casal Palocco also has great sports facilities with Eschilo uno being very popular. There are great shopping areas and really good places to eat on the door step and the ice-cream, oh how I miss the ice cream from Mauro's gelataria....
I'm not sure on how close the Australian school system is to the English or whether the American system would be better suited to you, but I can say my children were very happy at Southlands, the teaching was of a great standard and you have the advantage of having the safety net of having expats around if you need the help when settling in but you have the opportunity to mix with the locals as high percentage of the children are Italian. The Italian mums in my sons class were particularly lovely and became my great friends where as in my daughters class it was more the expat crowd, which is great for information and 
having instant friends who know how hard it can be locating to Italy as it is red tape fiasco.
A lot of the staff from the UN send their children to Southlands. Have a look at their website. If you are looking for places to rent I would recommend looking at Hotel Triangoli as they have residences to rent fully furnished if necessary and with security, as the crime rate in Rome is quite high particularly burglaries. Its better to bare this in mind when you are looking for where to rent rather than finding out after, I personally wouldn't rent anywhere without an alarm. If you have any more questions give me a shout. Oh, There are lots of Asilo nido's in the area but I didnt need to use them but an Italian friend of mine does run one in the area.


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## jaja

Thank you so much for your Email. We have moved around the world quite a bit but this is the first time they will be entering the International School system. It is all quite daunting!

I will have a look at Southlands. I did rule it out as I thought it was too far south but I might have to reconsider.

Thanks again for you post.


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## filmboomer

Hi. When we lived in Rome in the late 50's, I attended Notre Dame International School (it was for boys only until progress caught up with it and they no longer barred girls). The school was excellent, if small, but in the intervening decades has become an excellent school for the international set. 
Highly recommended!


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## jaja

filmboomer said:


> Hi. When we lived in Rome in the late 50's, I attended Notre Dame International School (it was for boys only until progress caught up with it and they no longer barred girls). The school was excellent, if small, but in the intervening decades has become an excellent school for the international set.
> Highly recommended!


Thank you but I believe that school has now closed down. Shame!


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## filmboomer

*Such a shame*

Thanks for the update. That's two schools I attended that have closed forever...very sad.


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## filmboomer

Oh...Overseas School of Rome was the other school there when I attended NDI. It wasn't much but maybe it's changed for the better.


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## Ginnytelfer

Hi there - I am in a similar situation of possibly moving to rome from Australia for hubby's job. We have two primary aged children. I think job will be south east of Rome and would prefer to live outside of city. How are you getting on?


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## jaja

Hi we are actually up on the northern side of Rome and chose a school on the Cassia which we are really happy with. We looked at a lot of schools and were quite disappointed with the facilities in a few of them . We were looking for a school with grounds and some of them don't have them. 

I am not sure about the areas if Rome where you want to live. I do know that the traffic is terrible so it is an advantage to live close to school and/ or work. We chose to live closer to the school which has been so far a good decision ( especially with primary school children) . 
The best thing is to choose the school and then work out where to live. 

Good luck with your move and let me know if you need any other information. We have gone through all the admin on our own so have a pretty good grasp on how it all runs.


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