01 Aug 2007 8:36 PM:
Have just logged on after coming back from 2 weeks at La Torre Golf Resort where my family and I are relocating to on 6 September. I can empathise with what you say about the schools, we have just gone through the process. We have 2 children age 7 and 3 and although for the younger one a Spanish School would have been fine, our daughter has already done 3 years in Scotland at Primary School so as we do not speak much Spanish this was not an option for her. Also if we do not like it and end up coming back she may actually be worse off. Anyway, we went to see El Limonar in Murcia and also Kings College at La Torre. We have opted for Kings College for the following reasons:
El Limonar is about a 20 minute drive from where we are going to rent for the first year (La Torre), it also would have meant that the kids went to 2 different schools at different locations because the Infant School is not at the main campus. We were not given a tour of this school or much information other than what we had already found out for ourselves. Amy spent almost 2 hours doing her entrance exam (which she passed), during this time the rest of us had to wait in reception!
Kings College is on the resort we plan to live on initially so no travel problem, the children will attend the same building/campus. Mrs Greenwood (the head) is highly experienced in setting up International Schools all over the world. She spent 2 hours with myself and my husband (both children had to do a test here which again they both passed), she gave us a tour, spent a lot of time going over how they would achive the full school facilities for September 2008. There will only be one building open this year and that will only take up to Year 5 students.
International Schools are expensive although cheaper than in UK but they do get 5 full days and 3 full terms - no half term holidays only christmas and easter outwith summer.
As for the area we have chosen the Costa Calida because we have bought property off plan there, we are not so keen on Costa Blanca as we wanted a more Spanish area and everyone is right saying there are many more ex pats living there although the number is definately increasing in Costa Calida region. We have visited both regions several times over the last 3 years and are sure we are picking the correct one but will still rent for at least 2 years to make absolutely sure we all like it.
I hope this helps.
Lynn
Thread:
Where to Live in Spain...and Why?
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