Time to move…but need the last push!

Hi!
We have been dithering to make the move for a number of years now and decided that it is time to go for it. Our last sticking point is to choose the school and location and for that we need your help.

We have been coming to Spain for many years and love the Safor area in Communitat Valenciana (near Gandia). We have already a small and good network of friends in the area , so we would like to settle around there. We are a family of five, with three children aged 11, 7, and 13 months. I work in the IT sector and expect to be able to take the job with me and work from home, so good and fast internet connection is essential. I was born in Argentina. My mother tongue is Castellano and I speak it fluently. My kids have been attending Spanish classes for a while and have good base to start with.

We need help finding a village or small town were the education is Linea Castellana (Spanish) rather than Linea Valenciana (Valencian). I have been in touch with the Consejeria de educaccion (education department) and they advised me to search for towns and villages were the ?Lengua Parlante? (main spoken language) is Castellano. They could not give me any more information. The reason for wanting the education primarily in castellano is so I can help the children, and in particular my eldest daughter, with their studies.

Does any of you leave or know of such a location? Do you know anybody that you could ask?

We are planning to move before start of the next academic year, September 2008.
We are coming to try and find the ideal place this coming Easter Break. We would appreciate if we could meet with people in the area, ideally with those who move with or have kids of similar ages. I can be contacted by responding in this forum or by phone to 961126032 (our Spanish number).

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP US! 😊

Hola!

As far as I know I thought all schools in the Valencia region had to teach Valenciano… as its their 1st language….so I’m not sure if you’ll find one which teachs Castellano as a 1st language up in that area.  We had a house in Oliva which we rented out, and spent a lot of time up there when looking, and it is a lovely area so I’m sure your move will be a positive one.

Good luck

Hi there, we are further south in Communitat Valenciana than Gandia, we are based in Guardamar, my son has only been in school a couple of months and uses Castellano as 1st language but also has Valencian lessons too.

Hi DannyK

Just wondering how you are getting on.

We need to move out by the September new term with 3 children aged 12, 13 and 16.  We want the children to go to Spanish state school so that they learn in Spanish.  We understand that Valenciano is the first language in the area and wonder how they will cope with learning 2 new languages at that age.  However, we (and they) are very reluctant to go to an international school as we all want to be part of the local community.

We are going out again in May to enrol in schools and have yet to find an area.  We want to be within 15 to 20 min drive of the coast near a good community.  We all like horse-riding, nature, beach and outside pursuits so we are looking for areas such as Villalonga, Ador, Montroy and Monserrat.  We also need to be near Valencia for work.

Please let me know your experiences and thoughts.

Kind regards

Julie