greth32 - 28 March 2011 10:02 PM
Hi,
I am very new on the forum.
We are looking into moving to Spain to escape the hectic and cold life in Canada.
At first we would like to rent for a year as a “try-out” to see if this is what we
want and then eventually buy to permanently live. I am a Dutch citizen. My hubby
is Canadian and our 7 year old daughter has dual citizenship. We think our daughter
is our priority and would like to know anyones experience with picking a school.
We are interested in Almeria, Granada (Loja, Montefrio) and Cordoba (Iznajar etc.)
Does anyone know how bilingual the spanish schools are or are there specific bilingual
schools available. I have of course been online but have not found to much info on
where the bilingual schools are located.
Thanks allot!!
Hi there, we are in the same boat and just ending a week long trip of interviews at private bilingual schoools ranging from Cadiz to Elche and including Cordoba, Almeria, Seville amongst other places. We narrowed down our search using the La Nacion listing of top 100 schools in Spain for 2010 (ranked according to exam resulls as well as facilities etc). The private schools offering English basically can be broken down into 2 categories
1. those for whom English is the primary medium of choice and in which 70-80% of classes are taught in English mostly by native speakers
2. schools who strive to be truly bi-lingual and offer a 50/50 breakdown of Spanish and English and offer secondary level national and international baccalaureate.
Our eldest son has been in bilingual schooling in Argentina so we are keen to continue that path and we fell in love with the SEK school in El ejido (just beside Almeria)...if you’d like details let me know..as of yesterday this is our 1st choice and we are now pursuing house rental options so we can start the school year there on 7th Sept…we have been to 9 schools in all so if you’d like more info on prices, services, our opinions etc dont hesitate to ask.
Update Sept 2011: After extensive searches in the area we simply could not foresee us living in what has been called one of the ugliest parts of Spain - we appreciate the economic boom effect of the greenhousing industry but it has wiped out any opportunity to live well as an expat save if you like coastal living or on a golf course. It is a very great shame as the school in Al merimar is outstanding. We have opted ofr choice #2 in Jerez (ElAltillo) and so far so good…