# Best area for schools and family life Mar Menor area



## Mojo Feratu (Sep 26, 2011)

Hi Everyone this is my first post so please be gentle!!!

my family and i are moving to Spain hopefully next year (September school term or before if possible) and i am requesting advice on the best area to live in and around the Mar Menor.

It will be me, my wife, two kids (blue one will be 8 and pink one will be 4) my Mum and Step Dad.............and maybe the kitchen sink.

we have friends and relatives around the north of Mar Menor and are looking at this area in general.......basically Los Alcazares to La Zenia. my main concern is schooling for my kids and would prefer a bilingual school (British council project or Spanish state) rather then the international route.......expensive and reduced integration for the kids.

After this the requirement is to be within a 15 minute walk to the beach and lastly any information on the employment market in these areas........we are fortunate and dont have to worry too much initially but would like to know the type of work (if any!!) in areas suggested.

hope i havent bored you and thanks in advance for taking the time to reply

Cheers


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## MacRov (Oct 26, 2010)

We recently moved to Santiago de la Ribera, 2 kids, same age as yours and have them in a spanish state school. It's going to be a struggle for a while until they get to grips with the language but I'm confident they can cope with it.
We are a 5 to 10 minute walk to the beach at the most and so far are loving life here. 
As for the jobs market I really couldn't say. The whole area does look a little run down with building projects barely started nevermind the half finished ones.


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## Mojo Feratu (Sep 26, 2011)

MacRov said:


> We recently moved to Santiago de la Ribera, 2 kids, same age as yours and have them in a spanish state school. It's going to be a struggle for a while until they get to grips with the language but I'm confident they can cope with it.
> We are a 5 to 10 minute walk to the beach at the most and so far are loving life here.
> As for the jobs market I really couldn't say. The whole area does look a little run down with building projects barely started nevermind the half finished ones.


Thanks for that MacRov......please could you tell me the name of the school so i can look into it. Did you and the family study any Spanish before moving?

how do you find the community in SDLR? is there a good mix of cultures? or is it predominantly expats?

im hoping to come out after Christmas for a scouting trip and will put SDLR down for a visit.

please could you tell me the biggest issue you have come up against since moving.

sorry for all the questions but i have been told the research, research, research is the way to ensure you dont fail.

Thanks


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Mojo Feratu said:


> Thanks for that MacRov......please could you tell me the name of the school so i can look into it. Did you and the family study any Spanish before moving?
> 
> how do you find the community in SDLR? is there a good mix of cultures? or is it predominantly expats?
> 
> ...


You certainly do need to do research, research, research. And of course to expect that things might not work out as the research indicated 
There's a lot of interesting threads on language, Spanish, learning Spanish, and education, schools, kids and also jobs, employment, unemployment, crisis etc. So search out some recent threads, get a mug of tea/ coffee and get reading!


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## Mojo Feratu (Sep 26, 2011)

Thanks pesky wesky that's exactly what I will do.......one more thing can anyone point in the direction of threads that cover the area in general....gracias


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## MacRov (Oct 26, 2010)

Mojo Feratu said:


> Thanks for that MacRov......please could you tell me the name of the school so i can look into it. Did you and the family study any Spanish before moving?
> 
> how do you find the community in SDLR? is there a good mix of cultures? or is it predominantly expats?
> 
> ...


There are 2 school in SDLR, Fulgencio Ruiz and Nuestra Señora de Loreto. our 2 go to Nuestra Señora de Loreto C.E.I.P. Virgen de Loreto, San Javier (Murcia) - Centro de Educación Infantil y Primaria Nuestra Señora de Loreto. It was a bit of a struggle getting them into the school with us speaking next to no spanish and the people in the school office speaking no english. Fortunately our spanish landlady is very helpful and accompanied us several times to the school to get things moving.

The community is majorly spanish but there are a few expats dotted around, our 2 kids are the only british kids at the school though.

I'd certainly say the biggest issue has been getting telefonica to get a line installed into our house, it's dragging on n on now, almost 5 weeks. Other than that just the general awkwardness at times getting the Padron and NIE's but nothing really troublesome.


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## Mojo Feratu (Sep 26, 2011)

Thanks MacRov. thats great.

i must admit that the school really is my biggest concern but you have given me confidence that it can be done.........i will follow the links and have a look........google translator at the ready.

i have read and heard som mant times about telefonica being a nightmare......that must be so frustrating........especially if you are wanting the internet for keeping in touch etc....

Thanks again


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## macdonner (Oct 24, 2010)

How do. I'm MacROV's better half . Just wanted to add that our children have settled really well into school. It may be a bit of a shock for them at first (it certainly was for our blue one who just turned 5 - whereas British pre-schools are mainly about play, he has had to learn writing and numbers with proper homework coming home several times a week!), but he has taken to it like a duck to water thankfully. He has made a few friends and although he has his moments where he says he doesn't like it, 2 minutes later he is telling you about the game he played with some of the boys in his class. The pink one (who is 8), has made several best friends already. Luckily there is a girl in her class who speaks English so she can communicate with the teacher/other classmates. What I would say is that she is getting different class work from the rest of the class because she does not have the lingo under her belt as yet. We have enrolled her in a Spanish lesson, 5 days a week for an hour a day in the evening in Los Alcazares (which is about 10 minutes drive from SDLR) which is helping little by little (all she needs now is a bit more confidence!). If you think that your children would cope with there being a language barrier to start with then I would agree that SDLR or the surrounding area is a good place to be. There is a private school in nearby San Pedro del Pinatar (Castellar College), which teaches part in Spanish and part in English, but having received a list of the prices for enrolment from our landlady, I can tell you it was more than 5,000 Euros for one child for the year (and they all have to wear the same uniform, right down to the same shoes to prevent bullying!). And of course there is the cost of the school books, the materials etc etc on top of all that! (it totalled around 400 Euros all in for all they needed for school this year, plus there has been another 10 Euros this week for a trip to Cartagena for a Jazz workshop).


As for jobs in this area, it is hard to say as I am a lady of leisure . There are the adverts on the streets with people looking for work (gardeners, cleaners, pool maintainence men) and in truth I have only seen 2 shops advertise for staff since I've been here (which were both hairdressers).

If there is anything else you want to know about SDLR please feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer - if I don't know then my Spanish friends will surely help me out!


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## Mojo Feratu (Sep 26, 2011)

Wow thanks that is great to know. We still figuring out the work situation at the minute for the long term and are hoping to hear about that in the new year. Thanks again!


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## sandjo (Apr 18, 2013)

hi macdonner, we,ve just read your reply to mojo feratu ( 25th october 2010 ) regarding SDLR. 
we have hopefully sold our house and are looking to move to san pedro del pinatar in the very near future. we also liked the SDLR area. 
we are hoping to get as much advice as possible to avoid the pitfalls of moving to a new area and a new language. 
thanks in advance. stewart & joanne


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## macdonner (Oct 24, 2010)

Hi Stuart and Joanne

I'll be happy to answer any questions I can for you, is there anything in particular you wish to know about as then i can be a bit more specific for you, I.e schools, the area, the community etc. X


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## sandjo (Apr 18, 2013)

hi macdonner

I posted you a note back in September 2013 and you replied, unfortunately I have only just found your reply, as I was obviously useless at using this forum.
I just want to say thank you for your reply and I,ve now got the knack ( I think ) of this forum so if okay I,ll get back to you with Q's.

many thanks 

stewart n jo


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