We have been thinking about moving for quite some time now and we have decided that this year we have to make our minds out.
We are a family of 4. Two kids, Amie, aged 9 and Leo aged 5, my wife, an accountant and I am currently a Systems Analyst working for an IT company.
I grew up in South America so I speak fluent Spanish. My kids understand the language because I speak to them in it all the time, however, they are a bit lazy when it comes to answering.
We want to move to Spain because we consider that the most important thing that we can wish in live is a to have a strong, united and happy family. This can only be achieved by spending time together as a family. For the past four years we managed to achieve this in the UK because both my wife and myself work form home. However this is not going to last for much longer. My wife job is on the line and there is no chance she will be able to get a part time job working from home. Which in terms it means that we will not be able to keep the life style we and in particular the children, are enjoying.
We know that it will be impossible to achieve this if we stay. Also, there is the constantly social disintegration of family values in this country and also the growing difficulties to be able to provide a better and secure future for our children.
We choose Spain,
a. Because its family orientated family life style
b. The general quality of life
c. The fact that the children and I speak the language
d. It is not far from my wife’s extended family in Ireland
e. Financially, it looks like we will be better off.
f. It is, as far as we saw, a very beautiful country
However, the consensus is to move only if we can improve on what we have and can achieve a better live.
The children go to a very good school. They are doing extremely good and managed to create a very good circle of friends. I know, even from my own personal experience, that children adapt quickly.
By now, you are probably asking yourself, what does this guy wants from us? It looks as if he already knows it all!
The reality is that we think we had covered most issues, but we need to hear from people that did it. We need to have a better idea of every day life, cost, social aspects such as adaptation and integration to the local community, etc.
Education is perhaps the stickiest point. We would like to know how the system works but from people experiences and not from the government offices perspective.
Also, how do you deal with the fact that you have to have an address before applying for the school place round March April, when we can only move after they finish their current year in mid July, only then we will have a place.
Is anybody leaving near Oliva / Gandia. I am coming over on the 6th of November to do a work trial for a week and will be staying in the area.
I would most appreciate it if you could meet for a brief chat one evening over a drink or coffee or even a meal. What ever and where ever is convenient?
My email address is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or you could contact me on Skype user name danny-kw
I think the school systems, from what I’ve heard, are good.
I suggesti searching the forums here for “Gandia” I know of at least one person who’s talked a bit about life there. Try Oliva tambien.
To get around the address issue you might consider purchasing/finding a place to live during Jan-Mar so that you’re able to provide an address for the schools, then move once your children finish the school year.
I have just read your post and to be honest, I thought “Oh my God!”. I seriously could have written it myself! My Husband and I are doing exactly the same thing as you and your wife. We too have two kids, Charlie is 7 and Lily is 4. We have been trying to make a decision about a move for months and finally we drew up a list (that is nearly word for word the same as yours) and have decided to go for it. We are going over to Murcia in January (just me and my husband) and hope to be able to put the children’s names down at a school then. I have applied for a NIE number and have had a tentative job offer which will hopefully also be confirmed whilst we are there in the new year. If you can wait until mid Jan I will have answers to all your schooling questions. The kids are currently watching Muzzy to learn some basic Spanish and I have embarked on a Spanish course at our local college, but after speaking to other ex-pats I believe that children of our kids age who attend a Spanish school will be pretty much fluent within a couple of months. (I suspect that yours will be within days!)
I am so pleased that I read you post because it really has confirmed to me that we are making the right decision and it can only benefit our family, our children and our lives in general. As for all the other information you need to know, we are pretty much in the same boat but I will keep looking back at this thread and then hopefully you’ll get lots of replies and we’ll both get all the information we need!
I will keep you informed about the schooling process.
Hi Louise
Thank you for your encouraging words!
I just came back from a week in Spain. I went to check if I can work remotely and also to gather as much information and talk to as many people I could. It was a great success!
Work-wise, it was trouble free, so one less thing to worry about.
I gather a lot of information on the education system. There are three main type of schools. Public (state), Private and Concertados, which are privately run schools partly subsidised by the local authority (the majority are religious). They all follow the spanish curriculum apart from some British and American private schools that teach according to the British or American one.
In Valencia, public shools teach in the valencian lenguage, however they also teach Spanish and another language such as English, French or German.
I visited a number of schools and the general feeling was that the state schools were the best option. They were the less crowded with a very good teachers pupils ratio. The Spanish’s law states that schools need to take on local children no matter what, so they build them with lots of capacity. The maximum allowed number of kids in a class is 25, however the average is about 15. Small villages schools also offer special assistance for foreign students especially in the earlier stages. The integration is better because the children mix with the locals and this creates a good environment for us, the parents, to get to know the locals.
The Spanish school day is very long, roughly 9-5 with a long break at lunch time when they eat and rest. The state schools I visited run a similar routine. Play time, followed by the Almuerzo (Lunch or main meal) followed by a rest in the library where they are encouraged to work on their morning homework.
The private schools that I visited had more than 25 kids in a classroom, lots of kids spoken in english (making it dificult to integrate) teaching is in Spanish (creating a possible problem when applying for universities in Valencia) and packed with extra curricalum activities, great idea but expensive and very tough on the kids; remember, the reason for siesta is that in a hot country it is very important to have that break to recharge our batteries! Packing the day with activities defeats the object of moving to a country with a slower pace.
Cocertados…the one I visited was definitely not my cup of tea!! Imagine a combination of a mixed sex convent and an asylum!
State schools start their subscribtion (matricula) around March April. You will need their birth certificate (idealy translated to avoid delays) and the certificate of “Empadronamiento”, which is a document issue by your local authority that proves that you leave in the school catchment area. You may need to be present to obtain the forms and apply for a place, although, you might be able to make an unofficial arrangement with the school as I did where by they will reserve a place for a few weeks by sending a letter requesting so.
I also meet with a few local families. A couple of British families that made the move with kids no long ago, a family that moved over 15 years ago and a couple of families from Uruguay. All said that they did not regret the move. All managed to integrate nicely. All said more or less the same. If you make the effort the locals will help you integrating, however, if you wait for things to happen….you better take a chair with you!
Other interesting fact is the cost of leaving. Talking to all those families, the figure of ?2500 per month for a good life style was mentioned by the majority.
I hope you find this information useful, but pease fill me in on your expiriences.
In general…I think is time to start packing….But I will be going back in February with the family to check things up a bit closer
Please feel free to contact me on Skype. My Skype name is danny-kw and I am most of the day online.
Hi Danny
I Have just read with interest your comments on schooling an am completely confused now.
My family and I (kids aged 12 and 10) are looking to move around the Mijas area of Spain in July next year.
We will hopefully rent long term and find work whilst we are there.
The thing that does bother me is the schooling and you mentioned Empadronamiento which from what I can gather is proof of residency which we won’t get until we are actually there.
When would be the best time for us to go and check out the state schools for enrolling them.
We would go for a couple of weeks hols to do this and check out properties, so we won’t have a permanent address.
Please if anyone has any advice could they let us know.
A really wannabe xpat.
Hi Evos
The majority of people are in the same boat!
Unfortunately, unless you decide to send your kids to a private school, then you have no option but to get the proof of residency in order to apply for a school place.
I had spoken with a couple of families that decided to move first, find the spot they like and then apply for schools. This is ok if you are planning to leave in a rural area or small town. Primary schools usually have places and as I wrote in my previous entry, the system is such that they have to take your child. Most schools open their subscription (Matricula) around March, before Easter. So ideally, you need to get in touch with the schools before or around that time.
During my last visit, I checked a number of schools and they all agreed that I can get in touch by telephone to reserve a place subject to producing the right papers within a month or so.
I have concentrated my research on Primary schools because of my kid?s ages. You mention in your entry that one of your children is 12. I do not know much about the state system for Secondary schools or “Institutos”. You may have to check this out.
I do not want to put you off…but the few families that I have spoken with that had children of secondary school age, the kids had difficulties integrating socially and academically. You should bear that in mind, unless, once again, you choose to go for an international or British school where you will find that the majority of children are foreigners.
If you have good Spanish, you can get a lot of good information from the Spanish equivalent to the ministry of education on http:\\www.cult.gva.es
You are welcome to Skype me on danny-kw or call me on 02081335236
Hi Danny
Thanks for that info. Unfortunatly I don’t think I got all of it. It ended on ‘You are saying that your child is 12 which is the age’
Please could you clarify.
Hi
Sorry about that…I was editing my post and forgot to delete the last bit..that is wahy it looks incomplete.
I have updated the post now and it should be alright!
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse but…are you saying if one were to choose a bit more rural location it is conceivable to find a living situation, get all the needed paper work together and then apply to the public school as late as August, then, provided there is space, that school would accept the kid(s)? (Long winded question, I know…and I do appologize.) I have one more question for you seeing how you have currently become the expert on this topic. Do you know if it is possible to find a living situation as late as August, get the children enrolled in a public school for a few months while scouting out a more permanent living situation/area and then transfer the children to that local public school mid-term…basically, are transfers possible?
Hopefully, you have made it through my wordy questions and have all the answers. Thanks a ton.
Hi Camino
The information I posted here is the results of my last trip to Spain, talking to a number of families, a few schools and Gandia’s representative of the Valencian Department of Education. I am in no way an expert in the subject, but from what I heard and found out, it looks like it is not imposible to get kids into school once you have found the location where you want to settle. But please, do your own research! If you already have an idea of the area you would like to leave in, I would suggest to go there for a week or so and check local schools, talk to the headteachers. Wait outside schools when the kids get collected and chat to parents. You will be amazed how much info rmation you get. That is exactly what I have done.
If you leave in the UK, you could contavt the ‘Consejeria de Educaccion’ on 02077272462. They will be able to fill you in on the formalities
If you wish to talk to me and you have skype, you can get me on danny-kw
Good luck and please keep this thread informed of any additional information you might get.
Thanks a ton Danny. Your suggestion is great about talking to parents outside the schools…a bit intimidation though. Being that I’m from Californian and my moderate Spanish is Mexican Spanish, I hope the locals understand me or at least find humour in my accent. I keep focusing on Southern Spain because I am a swimmer (I need to be near open water) and I believe Castillian more closely resemble the Spanish that’s spoken on this continent, which in the end is important to our family. Did you find any schools that taught in Castillian along the northern coast? Did you look into any schools down south? Did you make appointments before hand to talk to representives of the Dept. of Ed or headteachers? Sorry for so many “Did you’s….”
I currently don’t have skype, but may look into it. Through this thread you’ve been a big help.
Another great thread and tonnes of good advice! I’m off to do the school stalking thing in January, so will let you all know how I get on. We’re heading to Torrevieja which is a bit further south than Danny is going but, when we go in the new year, I will try and get more information than is physically possible to write in a thread and let you both know what I find out as soon as I return. I’ll ask about the language etc and my new boss is an ex-pat of over 12 years and says that he’ll give me all information that I need. And one of my future colleagues is a Scot who moved over there three years ago with a 7 year old that now speaks such fluent Spanish, natives think he was born there! I’m sure that I’ll get loads of great stuff from him!
I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, Merry Christmas or should that be Feliz Navidad….!!!!
any oen of you considered the costa de la luz, south west part of spain…. if you ahvent, i think you should, its the last un-spoilt coastline of Spain and because of the building restrictions etc it is definately worth looking in to. if you need any advice of questions answered on this area please pm me and i will do my best to reply as soon as poss.
