saretta04

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are considering the idea of moving from London to Amsterdam for a while (we give ourselves at least 1 year). Our hope is to live in a place where there's a better work-life balance and where we don't have to constantly rush everywhere. Is it too much to ask??

It doesn't necessarily have to be right in Amsterdam, we're happy to consider any nearby areas with good transport links into town.

We both work in advertising and most agencies have an office in Amsterdam so hopefully we don't have to stall our careers. However, our main concern is about our 1.5 years old daughter. She's currently attending nursery full time and I would be looking for the same type of arrangement over there.

We are raising her bilingual as I'm Italian and my husband is English and I don't want her to get totally confused with a third language thrown in the mix at such young age.

Are there any English nurseries, childminders and primary schools?

What areas do you recommend we look into?

And, where should we start?? Should we find a house (to rent) first and then everything else can fit into place or is it better to focus on finding a job? Or maybe we should find a nursery first??

As you can tell, we have a lot to plan

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Pulaski

Unless you have substantial savings, moving internationally almost always needs to be "job first". What happens if you rent a house then get offered a job too far away to commute?

saretta04

Thank you for your reply. We are not going to move unless we have jobs lined up before we go, that's for sure.

My question was more about whether we should give the priority to finding a nursery first for example, given that finding the right one [English speaking and with available spaces] may require even more time than finding a job in the first place and we'd also want it to be close enough to where we live

GeniB

Hi Saratta Well basically you have narrowed it down straight away. There will naturally only be a very few nurseries /schools that are English speaking in Amsterdam.They will be pretty easy to find via the International Womens Club of Amsterdam if you look that up(should be online) and ask their advice.I do know there is a British School which may have such a facility attached.You are wise to start there as travelling across Amsterdam is hectic at the best of times,so home and school in the same area is preferable .It's an expensive city,but with lots of very good transport links and good areas within commuting distance.I would definitely rent first,until you know where you are at.

Cynic

I wouldn't worry too much about kids and languages; our 3 could speak English, Dutch and German by the age of 5. Unless you associate only with the Brit ex-pat community, your daughter will pick it up from her mates anyway.

GeniB

Agree cynic at that young age it really doesn't matter.immersion in a local school would be a great experience if the OP is planning a long stay in NL.If it's less than a year though she might be better off not confusing the child.

Cynic

Must confess, having lived in Yorkshire for a while, my twins now speak Dutch with a Yorkshire accent - it's hilarious. "Eh up Oma"

scot47

Find the job - then think about the rest.

Red_Wine_Fairy

Another fantastic resource if you're moving here with a little one is Amsterdam Mamas. It's a massive group (website and Facebook) with lists of facilities, events, and support for raising kids here. My only surprise it nobody else mentioned it.

(But everyone else is right about the jobs - you've got a heck of a lot of competition in your fields, competing with cheaper, bilingual graduates)