# Moving to Spain - Sección Bilingüe Help



## drewsundin (Jun 12, 2016)

Hi all,

Looking forward to joining the expat community in Madrid soon! My family and I will be moving to Madrid at the end of July. We have four boys, 12, 8, 6, & 4. We're very excited and have a lot of questions, so I am going to thank you all in advance for all the help that you can give!!!! 

A few initial questions that will help my wife sleep at night:

For schools, we are going to put the youngest three straight into Public school. For the oldest, we are very interested in schools that offer Sección Bilingüe. Does anyone know if there is a list of which schools have this? 

We're hoping to wind up somewhere in North, Northwest, Northeast, or East of Madrid, but most interested in areas with good schools that are within 30-40 minute drive to my office which is near M30 & A2 intersection. Can anyone provide some nice areas with good schools that meet this criteria with rent that will be under 1800Eur?

Thank you in advance!!!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

drewsundin said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Looking forward to joining the expat community in Madrid soon! My family and I will be moving to Madrid at the end of July. We have four boys, 12, 8, 6, & 4. We're very excited and have a lot of questions, so I am going to thank you all in advance for all the help that you can give!!!!
> 
> ...


Hello!
You're going to have your hands full, aren't you?!
You have so many choices of where to live. I'm sure you'll find somewhere that suits your needs. I'm on the other side to where you want to be, near El Escorial, and I must admit I like it a lot more. That's not to say you won't find an attractive place though. Maybe you would be looking at Alcobendas, Algete, Paracuellos de Jarama. if you've got a fair amount of money La Moraleja is a swanky area of town or El Soto de Viñuelas.
Hmm not sure if those would be in your budget or not.
I think you may be a bit confused with the schools... In Madrid a lot of the state schools are classed as bilingual. They aren't really bilingual, but some subjects are taught in English and the level of English spoken by a large number of children is slowly increasing. These are the bilingüe schools and they have this symbol









Or instead of "programa bilingüe" it will say "colegio".
Here is a list of primary schools with this type of proramme in the area I think you want
http://www.educa2.madrid.org/web/educamadrid/principal/files/8c5dec3a-4665-4b9d-a373-46ab12fbef6b/Documentos/Curso%202015_2016/Listados%20centros%20biling%C3%BCes/lista_ceip_Norte.pdf?t=1454521367762
Also go to this page, look at the menu on the right and you'll see links to other areas in Madrid
Colegios bilingües | comunidadbilingue | EducaMadrid

Then there are private schools that may be international or British, American whatever and they will have their own programmes and you may find that most of the subjects are not only taught in another language, but the curriculum follows that of another country
Here's a link to an organization that guarantees standards in British schools in Spain. 
Colegios en España | Nabss
There is an American school, but I don't know where it is. My nephews go to the American school in Bilbao and although they speak beautiful English, they don't rate it at all...


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## drewsundin (Jun 12, 2016)

Thanks for the links! The information you sent was exactly what we needed! We looked at the international and the other private schools. With everything else that's needed to get settled, we'd prefer not to have that expense if we don't have to. The bilingual option sounded like the best option to get him integrated ASAP without too much impact. 

We actually don't have a strong preference for area (as we've never been to Madrid and can only rely on the Interwebs for information). We were looking at the north only because that was where the private schools seemed to be. Since we're not doing the private school option now, we'll be broadening our search. 

El Escorial looks to be quite a bit in the Northwest (and does look nice!) which is one of the areas we are interested in; do you think it would be 40-45 minutes on a weekday to get to the M30 & A2 intersection? I'll look at the other areas you noted as well. 

If possible, we'd prefer to be a little on the outskirts in something that resembled a small villa a short walk from a village/town.

Thank you!


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

You need to be aware that the registration period for state schools for the coming school year was in the spring, so you've missed it. When kids register late they get assigned to any free places that there happen be - which there may or may not be at the school of your choice.


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## drewsundin (Jun 12, 2016)

Ouch. So what happens then? You wind up at a school clear across town instead of near where you live?


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Yes. That's exactly what happened to our next door neighbors' kids when they moved in half way through the school year. 

It's worth asking at the town hall if there are free places at the school you're interested in before you sign any rental contract. 

In some areas of Spain they won't let native English speakers into the bilingual programs. They're designed for Spanish kids to learn English. You should ask about that at the town hall too.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

My understanding is that "sección bilingue" applies to secondary schools (institutos) rather than primary schools (colegios). They are selected schools that teach several subjects in English (also there are ones that teach in French and German) and quite often follow on from colegios bilingues. You can probably get to a list following PW's links.

The teacher will probably be Spanish and might not necessarily be highly fluent in English, although there might be a native English speaking assistant. They'll obviously be teaching the Spanish curriculum, and while the pupils will probaby be fluent in English, they might not choose to use it outside of the classroom. The point I'm getting at in a round-about way is that it's quite a big jump for a 12 year old to make, especially if they don't speak much Spanish. It depends on the child I guess, but they'll need a lot of support to begin with.

Another problem will be getting all your younger kids into the same school. While some schools might have spaces available in some years, it's not so easy to find one that has spaces for all your children (I'd target somewhere for the 8 year old and 6 year old first).

You can get to the A2/M30 intersection from pretty much anywhere inside the M40 within 40 minutes. If you are working there then it might be worth checking out Hortaleza district, which covers a large area close by. Some of it is incredibly expensive, other parts less so. But it has 3 institutos and quite a few colegios, so you might be able to work something out.


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## drewsundin (Jun 12, 2016)

You guys are all awesome!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to put together such informative posts!!!! I'm not expecting this to be easy, but the best things in life take hard work. 

I'll take a good hard look at the Hortaleza district. My wife won't be working for the first school year, so I'm sure we can work out whatever is thrown our way for schools. I hope we can get one school for the 6 & 8 year old. The 4 year old can stay home if need be. And the 12 year old would be in a different school anyways.

THANK YOU!


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

kalohi said:


> In some areas of Spain they won't let native English speakers into the bilingual programs. They're designed for Spanish kids to learn English. You should ask about that at the town hall too.


I have never heard of native English kids being excluded from bilingual programs (although I am sure it is possible), but when we first sent our older son to school we looked into these schools and were met with bewilderment from the schools.

Their view was very much in line with what kalohi states; that this program is to help Spanish nationals with their English. They certainly could not understand why English kids would need this. Their view was that they would learn better English at home than the school could offer, even with the bilingual program.

With regards to places to live, I don't know the areas you mention (except Alcobendas and San Sebastian de los Reyes because I worked there). But if travel time is important to you, I would not recommend living on the other side of Madrid. Traffic around the M30 can be quite heavy.
Your budget is fairly high for Madrid in the current economic climate so you should be able to choose where you like (although as Pesky said, La Moraleja may be out of reach).
But your desire to find a place in the outskirts with a house in walking distance from a town center could be difficult because most towns and villages close enough to Madrid have become absorbed into the Metropolis and are in effect, nothing more than outlying districts of Madrid, so, you might as well pick any district that you think is convenient. The good thing about Madrid is that most districts (barrios) have a "towny" feel to them, with their own park etc.
If you really want a separate town / village, I think you will have to be prepared for more than a 40 minute commute.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Overandout said:


> I have never heard of native English kids being excluded from bilingual programs (although I am sure it is possible), but when we first sent our older son to school we looked into these schools and were met with bewilderment from the schools.
> 
> Their view was very much in line with what kalohi states; that this program is to help Spanish nationals with their English. They certainly could not understand why English kids would need this. Their view was that they would learn better English at home than the school could offer, even with the bilingual program.
> 
> ...


Maybe if we knew exactly where it was (within reason, I understand you may not want to put the exact company name) we could advise you as to train connections. The local trains (cercanias) are really very good and many companies run bus services to and from the train to their offices...


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## drewsundin (Jun 12, 2016)

The office is on Calle Salvador de Madariaga.


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