Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hi my husband and i and our three children will be moving to coin soon, my kids ages are 14, 13, 4 i know the 4 year old will fit in easy but i am a little worried regarding my two older ones especially with my oldest starting to do her exams ready for gcses now they will all be going to a spaish school which i know will be very hard to learn.

can anyone tell me if they have had older children going to spanish schools and getting on well, we are moving over to spain for a better quaility of life im just so worried that they will get screwed up.
:p

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

I don't know the area but I'm sure someone posted up on here that about 30% of the population in Coin area are British

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Yeah mitzyboy is right there are loads of Brits in Coin, but you find most British children fit in to the schools.
Where my grandson went he was the only Brit in the class but got on really well with the Spanish.

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

I think you could have a problem with the 14yr old´s education unless you went to a International school. If she is just going to take her GCSE´s and you then put her in a Spanish school which has a completely different system you could regret it.

My friend has a 13 yr old and she had real problems to start with as the school put all the english kids in the lowest class with the problem Spanish. She is now moving school and hopes it will be better. I know her mother has had a lot of worries about it.

I personally would let both kids do their GCSE´s and then move.

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hi,
I totally understand? it is very hard to know what to do for the best, thing is we are unable to wait till they finish school as we have to move as we cant afford to keep both the houses and my husband has got to start work, i dont know much about the english schools and how much they cost can someone help and advise me on costs
many thanks :)

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

This website gives the official numbers of foreigners in Coin - about 14% registered which probably equates to about 30% in reality.

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/insti...tm/sm29042.htm

has some other useful info on it for the OP

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Is international school not part of the package, any expats with kids that I've meet have always had school fees included as part of the package.

From what I've read school prices are pretty reasonable, in the range of 5000 per year or so.

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

We too are thinking of moving to Sapin and Coin in fact. We wish you the very best of luck and if you don;t mind will look out for your emails and will contact you to see how you are getting on.
Best of luck

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

part of what package???

You are right though about school fees, about 5,000 to 7,000 euros at that age, depending on the number of subjects studied.

I know a family who moved over here a year ago...the 10 year old has settled in OK in the Spanish school, however the 15 year old returned to the UK to stay with relatives after just one term, in order to finish her GCSEs there, as it was going to take too long to catch up with the language in order to take exams here.

I really think Internatonal school is the best option with the two older children, from an educational point of view, although bear in mind they won't learn a lot of Spanish there! (no matter what the school tells you)

I do however know another family with a 14 year old child who also moved over here a year ago......she is doing fine in the Spanish school, mixing with Spanish kids & learning the language. Her parents are, however, paying for private tuition in Spanish & Maths, and are willing to do the same for any other subject should it become necessary............so she gets the best of both worlds!

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

At such a critical time for your kids you really should consider letting them take their GCSE's in UK. It is well known that past the age of about 13 kids find it extremely difficult to learn a new language as they have not developed that part of the brain.

We know English teenage kids that have been moved over here and they are sometimes put in classes 2 years behind where they should be....as they just can't understand anything.

Alternatively if you really do need (?) to move to Spain you need to put them into international school, although for most there are waiting lists years long.

This will sound harsh but your children's education is the most important thing here and I think it is such a bad idea to throw them into Spanish school at such a critical age. We have seen English kids here really struggle just becaue their parents couldn't wait to move to Spain. It's not fair on the kids.

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hi,
I think they are going to stay behind and live with relatives to finish there school which will be good

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hi
I had 2 boys schooled in coin, excellent schools by the way!!! but they did struggle with the language and often struggled with the work. There are plenty of English people in coin and it is a lovely town, but the boys are now back in the UK to finish school , they find it easier and less pressure now exams are coming up..
Its sad when they are away but its not forever and sometimes its harder to watch them struggle than to be away from them
Good luck with your new life and if your like us then you wont regret it for a minute. :)

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hi,
Thanks for your reply are you still in coin? i cant wait i am so excited and to get away from everyone will be great? at the moment im getting from people are you sure you know what you are doing? at the end of the day im going to take that risk if it does not work out the uk is not going anywhere. hopefully things will work out and i will give it my best shot :)

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hola, my children are all at school in Coin. They started here in September 2004 aged 12, 8 and 5. We expected it to be most difficult on our 12 year old daughter but it was actually our 5 year old that struggled the most - he was scared he'd forget English and just wouldn't speak Spanish at all even though he mastered understanding it quite quickly.

All 3 are now settled in really well, love it and are doing really well. My daughter (now aged 14) had trouble from other English kids at the 'upper' school when she first started because most of them didn't want to be in Spain. They couldn't understand why she hung around with Spanish kids or why she enjoyed speaking Spanish. Most of those kids moved on long ago and the 'new' English kids have no idea that she's English and she prefers to keep it that way.

Our middle son (now aged 10) had no problems whatsoever right from the start and just threw himself into learning Spanish and making friends.

I think it helps because we live in town rather than campo and they get to meet up with all their friends after school and at weekends. I've met lots of English ppl here who live in the campo and their kids feel a bit isolated and don't pick up the language as quick because they only get to hear it/speak it whilst at school.

Re: Is It Easy To Fit In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Hi,
Thank you for helping with this problem we will be moving over soon and i understand that they will struggle but i hope they pull through thanks for your words of wisdom enjoy your day :p