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hi guys, I am new to the forum and new to the possibility of moving to spain with my husband and 2 children, aged 18months and 4yrs.  (by the time we possibly move they will be a good year or so older than this), We have family around the Alicante area and due to lots of factors may be joining them.  One of my biggest concerns is the schooling issue.  I have been able to do lots of research on the net and am I right in thinking that unless a child attends a Spanish state school that all other schooling is considered private and therefore involves a fee?
  I have no issues that my children attend a Spanish state school other than the language barrier.  I have read so many replies on forums to similar questions and the general opinion is that they are young enough to pick it up.  As a mum I just worry that my then, 5 year old, will be totally lost in the classroom if everything is taught in Spanish. I don’t want to come across as ignorant as I know we are in another counntry but we want to make the transition for our children as smooth as possible.
Obviously we will be learning the language ourselves and want our boys to do the same but throwing them in at the deep end is a real issue for me.  Due to the Alicante area having such a large british community are there any state schools that teach in English as well as Spanish to help the children adapt? 
My last question, although I have so many….. but will stick with the schooling for now!!!!, how costly are the international/british school fees?  ANy replies would be much appreciated!!

HI there,

We are moving a bit north of you round Javea, and our research concludes that - unsurprisingly - Spanish state schools teach in Spanish, with varying levels of support for newcomers with extra language needs.  Everyone says kids adapt amazingly fast, but we have decided to go the International route with our 8 year old for the first year at least - sure she might be trilingual in 6 months but in that time it could be very traumatic and she might never catch up academically.  Fees for primary international schools seem to be in IRO E5000-6000, and there is lots of info on the http://www.nabss.org/ site - PM me if I can help with anything we learned in our research, but we havent moved yet!
Mx

thanks for your information.  I will take a look at the website you gave me.  I maybe in touch again to steal some of your info you have collected.  We are off on Sunday for a fortnight to take a look at some schools etc, and obviously to soak up some sun!!!  Good luck with everything!

Have a great break Dolly and you will find out loads just being in the area for a few days!

Both the international schools in Javea are very friendly and helpful and open to visits, if you contact them by email beforehand.  THey do taster days too for potential pupils, though it sounds like yours are a bit young for that.  My eight year old was most unimpressed by the idea of spending 2 days of her last holiday in school, but at least it was a bit different from home, and she now has some familiarity with the one we have chosen,

Maya x