# moving with children



## m_s (Mar 22, 2015)

Hi all, I am looking at moving to spain, near Malaga, possibly Villanueva area, by the end of the year. Can anyone advise on settling children (aged 4, 7 and 10) into schools. Do you know of any English speaking ones in the area? We don't speak Spanish but hope to learn asap. Does anyone have a penpal for the children to help them settle? Thanks.


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

m_s said:


> Hi all, I am looking at moving to spain, near Malaga, possibly Villanueva area, by the end of the year. Can anyone advise on settling children (aged 4, 7 and 10) into schools. Do you know of any English speaking ones in the area? We don't speak Spanish but hope to learn asap. Does anyone have a penpal for the children to help them settle? Thanks.


Hi our kids were 8 and 4 when we moved over ,they went through Spanish school with no problem, and they were the only English kids in the school

That was 12 years ago, they now speak like the locals, unlike me !

Good luck with the move, I am sure your children will pick the language up well as they are still quite young !

Cheers tony Agost Alicante


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

There are many things that have to be considered in a question like this and to give a full answer more info is needed. Off the top of my head I would ask what is the work situation of the adults involved and what are the long term plans ie is it going to be a limited time, let's have an adventure type of thing or long term?
Broadly speaking a 4 year old and 7 year old should be able to cope with the language. I wouldn't say without problems because although we have all those ideas of "kids are like sponges" and "kids are tougher than you think" which are true to a certain extent we are making huge demands of children in these scenarios. We ask them to change language, climate, culture, friends, and to leave relatives and every once in a while a child will not react well to that (isn't that right Jojo) so there should be a plan B too. What happens if the kids don't settle?
The 10 year old could find the language switch more difficult - it all depends. Some schools have special help for non Spanish speakers, others don't. Don't forget, Spain is still deep in recession and education cuts have been made meaning less staff available. 
In Spain pupils can repeat a year if their work is not up to standard. Whilst it's not applied in primary if at all possible it can, and does happen. In Secondary school it happens a lot, and I'm talking about Spanish children so whilst it's not ideal it does give a student a chance to catch up.
If your child has too many problems you may have to consider a private school and that is costly.

However, if the adults in this family need to find work this could be the main problem. Unemployment is much higher here than in the UK and finding full time work with a contract as a non Spanish speaker is difficult to say the least. You would have to first find the job then look at the town the job was in for schools.

There's plenty of information about paperwork, education, employment, renting and buying etc on the FAQs so have a look there to help you decide what to do.


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

I totally agree with Pesky about the 10 year old struggling with the language.Speaking from experience, I moved to Spain as an 11 year old with my two brothers who were 12 and 13. We moved to a small town just outside of Madrid and joined one of the local schools where no one spoke English apart from Don Luis the head-master.I can honestly say it was extremely difficult for all 3 of us with our VERY limited Spanish and we have a Spanish mother! As regards to the OP's 4 and 7 year olds, the transition should be much easier.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

My daughter was 10 when we moved to Spain. We initially put her into a state school, which she hated - she was bullied by the few other British children there because apparently she was "posh"????????? and the Spanish children bullied her because she was british. So we moved her to another school which she also hated because....... well she didnt want to be in Spain and found it hard to make friends (due to the language I think). So we then moved her to an international school, which she did like, but she still wasnt happy. The bottom line is that she missed her friends and family in the UK, she hated the heat, the dust, the insects, the Spanish.............. We persevered with bribe, treats, indifference, appeals........ for 5 years, but she wasnt happy until we returned to the UK and even now, having been back here for 3 years, she talks of her time in Spain with disdain.

That all said, probably an international school is better once a child is 10 or over. I dont think there are any truly bilingual state schools in Spain. Its really the choice between a Spanish state school, which may have some British children, or an international school which costs money

Jo xxx


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## m_s (Mar 22, 2015)

*thanks for all replies*

Thank you so much for all your replies this morning. This is the first expat site I have ever tried and have been looking at moving and trying to make all the enquiries by myself. It is really nice to get replies with other peoples' experiences and any advice is always welcomed. It is looking as though it will be a Spanish State School. I have a viewing trip booked for the end of May and am initially looking at the within 40mins north of Malaga but am open to suggestions although my parents live near Cartama. If anyone has a 9/10 year old daughter who would like a pen pal, I am sure my daughter would like a friend. Thanks again.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Do you really think a state school is the best idea, having read all the previous experiences?
The general opinion seems to favour the international school?


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## m_s (Mar 22, 2015)

Thank you for this. All advice is welcomed. Hopefully it will all go smoothly.


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## m_s (Mar 22, 2015)

Thank you for this it is very informative. All advice is welcomed, hopefully the move will go smoothly.


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## m_s (Mar 22, 2015)

I think we would have to try it first as there are 3 of them and the cost would be prohibitive. If she doesn't settle then the international school may be our only option. I suppose we won't really know until we try. Thanks for replying, all comments are welcomed. It makes the move feel a little less isolating.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

extranjero said:


> Do you really think a state school is the best idea, having read all the previous experiences?
> The general opinion seems to favour the international school?


Just to balance all the comments made on here so far.


We moved here 8 or 9 years ago with a 10 year old and two 7 year olds.

They all went into state school (and concertado for ESO and Bachi) with absolutely zero Spanish and even less Valencian.

They all survived and are now completely tri-lingual. Our eldest is at the University of Valencia doing very well.

So, sometimes a 10 year old can survive in a state school but then I think we were lucky. They have all integrated well and have none of the problems described previously.


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## m_s (Mar 22, 2015)

Thank you for that. It is reassuring. Can I ask what is concertado for ESO and Bachi? I don't know much about the schooling at all. You must be very proud of the children. I will be leaving older 3 behind and taking younger 3 (we have 6). The older 3 though have gone through UK universities, the youngest just finishing at York.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

smiggy said:


> I totally agree with Pesky about the 10 year old struggling with the language.Speaking from experience, I moved to Spain as an 11 year old with my two brothers who were 12 and 13. We moved to a small town just outside of Madrid and joined one of the local schools where no one spoke English apart from Don Luis the head-master.I can honestly say it was extremely difficult for all 3 of us with our VERY limited Spanish and we have a Spanish mother! As regards to the OP's 4 and 7 year olds, the transition should be much easier.


That's interesting!
I see you have your location as the UK now. Did you go back for uni or work or something else totally unrelated?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

There is an International school in Cartama, Sunlands, my son went there. He was 13 when we moved to Spain, so it was the logical place for him. I think you have to give it a try in the state schools as we did with my daughter and then if it really doesnt work, you can re-think an international school. 

J xxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Just to balance all the comments made on here so far.
> 
> 
> We moved here 8 or 9 years ago with a 10 year old and two 7 year olds.
> ...


Yes, that's why I said in my post that it depends, but at 10 is when things can become tricky and depending on the child, the parental back up, the school and the attitude of the other kids even younger children can experience some emotional problems - just as they could with a change of schools in the UK, and that's without the additional problems of language.

I agree with other posters, you must be very proud of your children, I know I would be!


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> That's interesting!
> I see you have your location as the UK now. Did you go back for uni or work or something else totally unrelated?


Unfortunately we all went back to the UK after a year.This was mainly because of my step-fathers problem with work.He had to work as a labourer when he was a fully qualified carpenter, it seems they had a problem with his qualifications.Every now and then, myself and my 2 brothers talk about how things would have turned out IF we had stayed.Whenever I think about my time back then in Spain,I always have great memories and loved it out there. also as we were the only English people in the town we were treated very well by everyone and we made so many friends whilst we were there.(we always had school friends knocking on our door asking to come out lol).  Thats why I joined this forum because when I'm ready to move back to Spain, it could be next month, it could be next year,I want to be prepared and have some knowledge of how things work now and not be shocked (if that's possible lol).This forum really does give you excellent information whether you like it or not and informs people of the realities of making that "dream " move.BTW I was in a town called Parla not too far from Madrid and apparently it's not a very nice place now.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

smiggy said:


> Unfortunately we all went back to the UK after a year.This was mainly because of my step-fathers problem with work.He had to work as a labourer when he was a fully qualified carpenter, it seems they had a problem with his qualifications.Every now and then, myself and my 2 brothers talk about how things would have turned out IF we had stayed.Whenever I think about my time back then in Spain,I always have great memories and loved it out there. also as we were the only English people in the town we were treated very well by everyone and we made so many friends whilst we were there.(we always had school friends knocking on our door asking to come out lol). Thats why I joined this forum because when I'm ready to move back to Spain, it could be next month, it could be next year,I want to be prepared and have some knowledge of how things work now and not be shocked (if that's possible lol).This forum really does give you excellent information whether you like it or not and informs people of the realities of making that "dream " move.BTW I was in a town called Parla not too far from Madrid and apparently it's not a very nice place now.


No, Parla is nothing to write home about although I'm sure it's got it's good parts too. However, there are much nicer places where you could be.
How things would have worked out very much depends on when you were here and your age. If you look at my signature you can see what unemployment's like now...
As you say, you'll get the right info on this forum and plenty of different opinions chipping in which can only be good.
Of course there's nothing like seeing and sussing out the place for yourself before you make any firm decisions


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> No, Parla is nothing to write home about although I'm sure it's got it's good parts too. However, there are much nicer places where you could be.
> How things would have worked out very much depends on when you were here and your age. If you look at my signature you can see what unemployment's like now...
> As you say, you'll get the right info on this forum and plenty of different opinions chipping in which can only be good.
> Of course there's nothing like seeing and sussing out the place for yourself before you make any firm decisions


You are so right about Parla, I'm afraid it will be one of the Costas for me now


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

m_s said:


> Thank you for that. It is reassuring. Can I ask what is concertado for ESO and Bachi? I don't know much about the schooling at all. You must be very proud of the children. I will be leaving older 3 behind and taking younger 3 (we have 6). The older 3 though have gone through UK universities, the youngest just finishing at York.


There are three 'types' of schooling in Spain - state, private and concertado.

Concertados tend to be church schools (but not exclusively and you certainly don't have to be religious to have your children go there) where they are still funded by the Government but are independent. We pay a minimal amount each month for things like insurance, some support staff etc. 

ESO == secondary school (obligatory in Spain)

Bachi == Bachillerato == 6th form in UK (not obligatory in Spain)


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

smiggy said:


> Unfortunately we all went back to the UK after a year.This was mainly because of my step-fathers problem with work.He had to work as a labourer when he was a fully qualified carpenter, it seems they had a problem with his qualifications..


Sorry you had to move back.
But your post is very important as it tells people from personal experience how difficult it is to find work here even for qualified people.
Something every would-be immigrant should read and ponder on.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> Sorry you had to move back.
> But your post is very important as it tells people from personal experience how difficult it is to find work here even for qualified people.
> Something every would-be immigrant should read and ponder on.


It sounds to me this happened quite a few years ago when the job market was more buoyant, especially in the construction industry. The real problem was not being able to convert British qualifications into Spanish ones. This seems to happen a lot and is definitely something that needs to be sorted at the planning stage before you arrive. It is even more important now that the job market is flat. If your qualifications are only relevant in the UK and don't convert into a Spanish equivalent, your job search will be a lot different.


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