# reconnaissance mission!!!



## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

Hi all, we are moving out the end of August with our 3 kids. Hubby and I are coming over end of June on a reconnaissance mission, just wanted to ask other than meeting with the schools is there advice anyone has for things to look into in this 2 week period??? 

Thanks Nikki


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Nikkinoo said:


> Hi all, we are moving out the end of August with our 3 kids. Hubby and I are coming over end of June on a reconnaissance mission, just wanted to ask other than meeting with the schools is there advice anyone has for things to look into in this 2 week period???
> 
> Thanks Nikki


are you planning to visit state schools?

make sure you do that as soon as you arrive, if indeed schools are prepared to let you visit at that time - the school year finishes around the 21st June - in fact in my daughters' school there are no classes after around the 14th, so the majority don't go in

many staff will be there for a weeek or so until the end of the month, but if you want to see things in action, bear that in mind


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Nikkinoo said:


> Hi all, we are moving out the end of August with our 3 kids. Hubby and I are coming over end of June on a reconnaissance mission, just wanted to ask other than meeting with the schools is there advice anyone has for things to look into in this 2 week period???
> 
> Thanks Nikki


Remember, the schools will close down at the end of June for summer.

You could open a bank account, so you can transfer funds to it before your main move. It will be a non resident account, but can be changed to a residents one later.

You could do some property viewings to start to get an idea of where you might want to live. 

Not sure if you can get your NI numbers without the kids being with you -maybe someone else will know.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

brocher said:


> Remember, the schools will close down at the end of June for summer.
> 
> You could open a bank account, so you can transfer funds to it before your main move. It will be a non resident account, but can be changed to a residents one later.
> 
> ...


they could probably get their own NIE numbers - some banks want those for non-resident bank accounts now - although at some extranjerías there's a two week-ish wait for the number

but yes, the bank account ready with regular transfers now will make registering as resident easier when they move

tbh - until they know _exactly _where they'll be living there is little point looking at schools - it's unlikely they could secure places for September at this stage in the year without a fixed address lined up


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> they could probably get their own NIE numbers - some banks want those for non-resident bank accounts now - although at some extranjerías there's a two week-ish wait for the number
> 
> but yes, the bank account ready with regular transfers now will make registering as resident easier when they move
> 
> tbh - until they know _exactly _where they'll be living there is little point looking at schools - it's unlikely they could secure places for September at this stage in the year without a fixed address lined up


Rather depends on whether you are looking at state school or International schools.

For state schools, you won't really have a choice, you'll be assigned a school according to wher you live. 

If it's International school, then it's probably worth getting over in time to have a good look round. Your choice of school will probably then influence exactly where you choose to live.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

brocher said:


> Rather depends on whether you are looking at state school or International schools.
> 
> For state schools, you won't really have a choice, you'll be assigned a school according to wher you live.
> 
> If it's International school, then it's probably worth getting over in time to have a good look round. Your choice of school will probably then influence exactly where you choose to live.


yes, that's why I asked - istr that it's state schools though


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

brocher said:


> For state schools, you won't really have a choice, you'll be assigned a school according to wher you live.


Actually here you can choose up to a certain extent. You don't have to go to the one that's nearest to you if there are places available. You can even go to neighbouring towns. It all depends.
Of course this is easier to do if you put your request in when registration begins in April/ May, although you probably wouldn't know if you've got a place in the school you requested until July or even September if it was a secondary school.


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

Wow!!! Ok my mother in law already lives in alfaz we will be moving here too. Have arranged to go to sierra biernia when we go and she is contacting state school really haven't made my mind up on my daughters schooling as in sept she will be ten??? Really don't want her to feel isolated??? 
Will definitely look into nie numbers and bank accounts though thanks for the advice 
Nikki


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Actually here you can choose up to a certain extent. You don't have to go to the one that's nearest to you if there are places available. You can even go to neighbouring towns. It all depends.
> Of course this is easier to do if you put your request in when registration begins in April/ May, although you probably wouldn't know if you've got a place in the school you requested until July or even September if it was a secondary school.


yes here too, to an extent - but even if you apply around Easter, the lists of those successful don't come out until after the start of the holidays - they give places to those nearest/with siblings/close family etc., first

in practice it's rare that a child gets a place 'out of area', although a couple of years ago a lot of non-spanish (mostly Brits) in Jávea started getting their children into a school in a nearby village - some felt that since there were very few non-spanish there, their children would integrate better .......

recently I took a straw poll on a local fb group... it seems that now in a lot of classes in that village school there are getting on for 40% British kids.....


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> in practice it's rare that a child gets a place 'out of area', although a couple of years ago a lot of non-spanish (mostly Brits) in Jávea started getting their children into a school in a nearby village - some felt that since there were very few non-spanish there, their children would integrate better .......


Ah, here the normal thing is to go to the school nearest you, but you definitely can move around - I know 'cos we did it for our daughter's primary school! 
More recently in secondary school there are always one of two people who have moved from one school, and even from one town to another. There are 4 towns and about 10 state secondary schools between them and like I say, if there are places you can move. 
It seems that there are not too many problems with numbers here  My daughter was in classes of about 15 students for the last 2 years (16+) However, in the same school in the other group there were over 30 - the difference between letras y ciencias!


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Ah, here the normal thing is to go to the school nearest you, but you definitely can move around - I know 'cos we did it for our daughter's primary school!
> More recently in secondary school there are always one of two people who have moved from one school, and even from one town to another. There are 4 towns and about 10 state secondary schools between them and like I say, if there are places you can move.
> It seems that there are not too many problems with numbers here  My daughter was in classes of about 15 students for the last 2 years (16+) However, in the same school in the other group there were over 30 - the difference between letras y ciencias!


So any thoughts on my daughters schooling ??? Is she to old to be put into a state school??


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Ah, here the normal thing is to go to the school nearest you, but you definitely can move around - I know 'cos we did it for our daughter's primary school!
> More recently in secondary school there are always one of two people who have moved from one school, and even from one town to another. There are 4 towns and about 10 state secondary schools between them and like I say, if there are places you can move.
> It seems that there are not too many problems with numbers here  My daughter was in classes of about 15 students for the last 2 years (16+) However, in the same school in the other group there were over 30 - the difference between letras y ciencias!


I think here it's probably because the town grew pretty rapidly, & in some of the primary schools there simply weren't enough places for the growth in population - a new one was built about 8 years ago - mine went there & it had a few 'teething problems' (mostly due to an over-ambitious AMPA ) , so a lot of families avoided it for a year or two

it now has a great reputation - & some of the others have a less good rep among the expats at least (one apparently sits foreign kids in a classroom & ignores them - I doubt it's _that _bad, but I've heard enough stories along those lines that there's probably some truth to it) 

really & truly they're all fine - some are heavier on Valenciano than others, but in the end that makes very little difference


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Nikkinoo said:


> So any thoughts on my daughters schooling ??? Is she to old to be put into a state school??


Well, there's no straight answer to that...
At 10 she still has 2 years of primary school here, which I think would be better for her. More time to settle in before she has to face more "serious" schooling... 
I wouldn't like to say one way or the other but some things to bear in mind are:
Children can, and often do, repeat a year if their marks aren't up to scratch. The Spanish kids, the South Americans, the Moroccans and the Brits - all of them. Favourite years to do this are the last year of primary, the first of secondary and the fourth of secondary.
You have to keep on top of the child's school performance. Don't wait for them to tell you when something's wrong. They may or may not, but I've seen and heard too many stories of children failing/ doing poorly and the parents not being aware.
The Spanish system is much less creative let's -paint- a -picture -approach. It's more, get -the -books- out- and -look at page 56. There are pros and cons to both ways of doing things.
Don't fall in to the trap of thinking you're children's Spanish is perfect if you don't speak the language yourself. They'll probably pick up the language with no problem, but some kids do have problems and parents aren't always aware.
To fit in better culturally everyone benefits from some Spanish input - so that means at least some Spanish tv and radio, magazines, food, shopping, bars etc.


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