HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

hi i,m new to the site and needing as much info as possible! my husband and i are hoping to move to the costa blanca with our 3 children aged 6,11 and 13. we,re looking into the la marina urbanisation, anyone got any info? we,re needing advice on schools, jobs(my husband is a hgv driver) and renting long term. i,ve read some threads that it can be quite tough out there :unsure:

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Tough .... nah its cool here :) Wheres the La Marina Urbanisation then? In the South CB? Come to the North ... its nice here innit ;)
(were you on the Expatica Form?)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

yeh thats me! it,s in the south CB! we,ve never been before but friends have been a few times and are moving there in may. we,re coming to look during this year and hoping to be there by this time next year!

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

You've never been there, but you're thinking of moving there?

My advice to you would be to come over and have a good look around first. What your friends like may not be what you like. I've got to admit I don't know anything about the Urb you mention though, so its difficult to comment. Is it near Torreviecca (I can never spell that)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

yeh thats what we,re doing when we come over. we just gonna be renting first that way we,ve got chance to find our feet. we could spend years going over and looking at different places. it,s about 20 mins drive to torreveija (did I spell it right!!)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

torrevieja .... close!

Good idea, exactly what you should do, and don't just limit yourself to the Southern Areas ;)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

once we get out there we intend to explore as many places as we can! the urb is in san fulgencio, alicante (does it ring any bells?!)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Spain is a great place to live if you have an independent source of income (retirement home based business etc) If you move down with the idea of starting a great business it can be tough.

It would be great for the kids to learn a second language while you work on your suntan:thumbup:

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Nope, sorry

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

The power of the internet ... did you know the urb has its own web site?

http://www.lamarina.info/

It looks bloody huge!!!

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Ding Dong google is your friend.

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Hi,

I just got back from CB and spent most of my time looking between alicante and Oliva. Visited 2 british schools, Sierra Bernia which is in l'alfaz just outside Benidorm and Lady Elizabeth School which is in Lliber. My kids are 8,12 and 14. Both schools are very different as SB is very small and has limited resources but is very nice. Lady Elizabeth school is fantastic,much bigger but it is expensive. The facilities are excellent but the junior school is in Javea and is a 30 minute drive from the secondary. I turned up at both schools without an appointment and they were both keen to show us round and talk to us.
I visited the british school of alicante which is about 2 Km south of Alicante itself but i didn't go in to talk to anyone as i ran out of time.
Both schools have websites and everything is taught in english the same as UK except spanish language has to be a core subject. SB costs a bit less than Lady Elizabeth and you can see why when you visit.
I fell in love with Javier and Altea Hills areas.

Hope this is of some help to you

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Is there a particular reason why you didnt have a look at any Spanish state schools ?

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Yes, my 2 eldest would find it very difficult to absorb the lessons as they speak no spanish. I just don't think it would be very fair to put them straight into a school where they could not understand the language.
Also it will be a years trial to see how it goes and if it is not for us then the children can go straight back into school in the UK without any problems of having to re-sit a year.
At both of the schools i visited there were at least 20% spanish children enrolled there.

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

right, I understand

A friend of mine came over when her daughter was 14 - she went to Spanish school, was held back a year and has now stayed on at the equivalent 6th form - just goes to show they can do well even at an older age - I wouldnt of fancied it much as a teenager though - I hated just changing schools in England when we moved from one area to another :sneaky: - so I really admire these kids sometimes

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

Absolutely, some kids can just adapt so easily while others take a little longer.
It just suits my situation better to keep them in an english speaking school. It is going to be difficult enough for them to adapt to the move without the added pressures of attending a non english speaking school.
Everybody's situation is different i guess and it's nice to have a choice.

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

thanks for your info D4HWT but we will be putting our children into a spanish state school. we,re trying to learn as much of the language as we can before we get out there so it shouldnt be too hard for them and i,ve heard that once we,re living over there it should be much easier to learn due to them mixing with spanish children more.

debi

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

They will be speaking it within a couple of months no problem.
Dont forget to help them with the English at home also if you want them to be properly bi-lingual ;-)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

thanks for that mitzyboy! it does look rather big doesn,t it!

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

this may sound really silly of me but do they teach castillon or valencian in south CB? we,ve just started learning the basic spanish but have heard i could be teaching them the wrong one for where we are going!

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

You should be ok, but they are very slangy (Is that a word ?) where I am.
We met some people from Madrid in Mexico and could understand them much easier ;-)

Re: HELP!... moving to spain with children
 

there,s also galician and basque! i suppose once we,re there we,ll just go with the flow! i was just worried that i might actually be making it harder for them.