JenEvans531

Hello Everyone,

I need some advice...I have 3 daughters who will be 6, 4 and 2 when we move to Spain (Costa Del Sol Region). I am reading a lot of conflicting reports and information on the net regarding Spanish Schools and I would really appreciate it if someone could get back to me with their actual experiences. Are there any schools that stand out as being friendly and accepting of English children? While of course my daughters' education is incredibly important to me, their happiness is paramount. I would love to hear from any Moms and/or Dads whose children are happy at primary school (or at least as happy as kids can be about going to school!) Also, (I know it sounds like I want the moon), any schools that are patient with English parents - my Spanish is constantly improving, but I've a long way to go....We are choosing a school before we choose an area to live, so are open between Sotogrande and Torremolinos.

Any advice will be appreciated and welcome...

Thank you in advance, Jenny x

lynnxa

I'm not in that area so can't talk about specific schools there - but both my daughters are in the state education system & have been since infant & primary school - both are in Secondary school now

both have thrived in the state system - they went to an International school for the first year & my eldest has been to school in 3 countries

overall I'd say the state system is very good & certainly better than the UK & some private International schools here, too - & they're happy too

JenEvans531

Hi Lynnxa,
Thanks so much for your reply, I appreciate it. Are you a Spanish speaker? I am interested to know how we will get on with teachers to start with, while we are still learning the language. Also, did your girls integrate with the Spanish children quite easily?

snikpoh

My three children are also in state education - initially in a state primary school (not a very good one as it turns out but then we had no choice).

They are now in a semi-private state secondary school with the eldest in Bachi.


They are all doing extremely well. They all speak/read/write both Spanish and Valencian as well as English (of course).

They all have a very good set of Spanish friends but then there are no other English children near here.


Go for a state school but choose it by recommendation - at least now one can choose.

Best of luck.

lynnxa

yes, I do speak Spanish - but when we arrived 9 years ago I barely spoke a word

at the time, also, the teachers couldn't (or wouldn't) speak to you in English - but there are usually other parents who do speak Spanish willing to help - or paid interpreters

I started taking lessons within weeks of us arriving here & worked really hard at it - there was no way I was having my daughters speaking a language I didn't understand - & helping with homework helped me learn, too

although there are quite a lot of other Brits in our town, both my girls have Spanish friends & in fact the elder one mixes almost exclusively with Spanish - I can't remember the last time she had an English speaking friend to the house

paintermujer

My daughter was in a publico...the regular state school...she is now in the last year of primary (year 6...in UK she would now be in year 7)....we changed to a semi private state school called a concertado in september and its the best decision we ever made.We have been here since 2009.

The reputation of schools varies widely so find out what info you can...maybe on other forums???

Good luck.

lynnxa

yes, just as in the UK there are great schools, good, OK & dreadful schools

even just in my town some schools are better than others - not just as far as the teaching is concerned but also for their attitude to non-Spanish speakers & how much support there is in the first few weeks & months

maybe there is a local facebook group which has parents who can give you recommendations? We have lots in my area

there's nothing better though, imo, than hanging around school gates & talking to parents

flotsum

Both my children are in state school they both started in primary, one is now in secondary. They were both fine, there are no other English children in our town and it was a shock to the school when we turned up but everyone was welcoming and helpful, as soon as they realised that the children had limited Spanish they allocated them one of the English language teachers as their mentor and she also became the first port of call for me and the other teachers acting as a liason. They took all the pressure of the children not expecting miracles for the first two terms just encouraging the children to make friends with their classmates as they explained the children would teach the kids spanish far quicker than they could. Now all the teachers know to talk slowly to me and that I will keep up with the spanish but if I get stuck my kids help me out! We did not have a choice of schools as we wanted both the children in the same school so had to take the places that were available, when it came to secondary school we asked and had to appeal to get the school we wanted no real difference to what would have happened where we lived in the UK.

rspltd

You're probably asking in the wrong place JenEvans531 . Do you honestly think any parent on here is going to say that their children's experience was awful and they went through hell until they were able to pick up the language? Perhaps you ought to be asking what advantage there would be to your children to give them a Spanish education in respect of their opportunities for further education.

paintermujer

Check back on my old posts...no its not all beer and skittles for them...

lynnxa

yes, I do remember that your daughter (& you probably more so) went through some dreadful times

I'm really pleased that she is now settled - it must have been heartbreaking


it's true - some children never settle - some parents never learn enough of the language to help them - some children fail big time............. but maybe they would have anyway??

as to opportunities for further education - my daughters have a choice of bachi - which is recognised by universities all over the world - or módulos, which is sort of like further education where they can study catering/beauty/office management etc - just like in the UK

or, after graduating at 16, they could study A levels & go that route

the big difference as far as I can see is that they are fully trilingual, which they wouldn't have been if we were living in the UK........... & that surely will be an advantage

flotsum

The first year is hardwork, I spent hours helping my kids do their homework, staying with the during their after school activities and walking round parks so they could find their friends. My daughter was 10 so I had all the trauma of her having to do levels of homework that she had never experienced in the UK, in fact I think that I was the one who caused the stress by worrying about the homework etc and it was only an issue with my daughter my 6 year old had minimal homework and had no problem I know that we were very lucky. I was also fortunate that my children have taken well to a second language, it did take them a full academic year and they still both carry an English to Spanish dictionary with them in case but if they don't know a word they tend to use the spanish dictionary to learn what it means but we did have money set aside to help them with extra lessons etc if they needed it. All I can say is that Day 1 the kids cried, day 2 they came out smiling and day 3 no problems they just walked up to their school mates they were happy even though they could not communicate very well for a few months. I do worry about the standard of education, I am lucky in that my sister in the UK has children the same age so I can map their progress and at the moment they are at the same or higher level than their cousins, my concern was that they were not being taught to question as much as when they were in the UK but that does seem to be changing with my daughter since she started her secondary education.

rspltd

I also was trilingual when I was younger - I suspect I could retrieve my levels if I used the languages a bit more, but to be honest I never found it to be much of an advantage. The problem with being a native English speaker is that the majority of the world have some Englsih particularly in the tourist/travel situation and so the ability to communicate with the natives was fun but unnecessary. Now if someone wanted to go into a translation/interpretation career then I could see the sense. The problem with a lot of people who have had limited education and certainly never achieved a qualification in languages, is that they hold up their children's achievements as something to be proud of, little realising that in some areas of education this is expected to be the norm.

cricketman

Being trilingual may not be much of a help if working in the UK, but it is a massive advantage if working in Spain. For example, if applying for a job in Valencia you would need to be fluent in Spanish and Valenciano and then also being fluent in English would give you an advantage over others

Basically, if you want your children to be able to work in Spain then their local language skills need to be as good as that of Spanish children

lynnxa

trilingualism in & of itself might be the norm among my daughters' compatriots & might not be of much use in the future, depending upon the direction their lives take

but added to other educational achievements such as a good degree, it can only be an advantage
& just in case they decide to move back into the English-speaking world for their future careers, their English also needs to be up to scratch too

I just can't see where fluency in two or more languages can be disadvantage.....