If you have children and are thinking of relocating to the Mijas Costa in Spain education and the schooling system is bound to be a primary concern.
One of the biggest decisions is likely to be whether to send your child to a Spanish or International school.
The advantage to a Spanish school is of course that your child has the chance to integrate fully in Spanish life and to become fluent in the language. The decision is then between state school (where the education is free) or a Spanish private school. Of course when sending you child to a Spanish speaking school the younger the child, the easier it will be for them to integrate. You might however also want to think about how sending them to a Spanish school could affect you, will you be able to understand when meeting with the teacher, reading letters sent home from school and helping your child with homework?
If your child is already at exam stage it might make more sense to send them to a school which will continue in their native language and with the same schooling system. Here on the coast there are English, German, Swedish and International Schools, all of these are of course private schools and expenses will be incurred. Classes in the private schools tend to be smaller and often the range of subjects and extracurricular options are greater. If you choose a British international school you will find they teach the British curriculum of GCSEs and A levels. The disadvantage of the International schools is that Spanish tends to be taught as a second language, so it is likely they will be no more advanced in Spanish than if they had studied it back in England (although living in Spain should help).
With a wide variety of private international, private Spanish and Spanish state schools the choice can be over whelming, but there are resources available to help in the decision making process…
Many of the private schools also have websites (some of which are below) and in regards to state schools you can go to your local town hall for more information.
Private International Schools
Aloha College (Nueva Andalucia) – www.aloha-college.com
Benalmadena International College (Benalmadena Costa) – www.bic-benal.com
Calpe Junior School (San Pedro) – www.calpeschool.com
Calpe College (San Pedro) – www.calpecollegeschool.com
Colegio Internacional Torrequebrada (Benalmdena) – www.colegiotorrequebrada.com
Colegio Las Chapas (Marbella) – www.attendis.com
Colegio Stella Maris (Estepona) – [email protected]
International College San Pedro (San Pedro) – www.icsanpedro.com
Mayfair Academy (Estepona) – www.mayfairacademy.com
St. Anthony’s College (Mijas Costa) – www.stanthonyscollege.com
St George’s British School of Malaga (Malaga) – www.stgeorge.es
St. Georges International School Of Malaga (Malaga) – www.interschoolmalaga.com
St George’s School, Marbella (San Pedro) – [email protected]
Sotogrande International College (Cadiz) – www.sis.ac
Sunland International School (Malaga) – www.sunland-int.org
Sunny View School (Torremolinos) – www.sunnyviewschool.com
Swans College (Marbella) – www.swansschool.net
The British College Benalmadena (Benalmadena Costa) – www.thebritishcollege.com
The English International College (Marbella) – www.eic.edu
The International School Estepona (Estepona) – www.marbellaschool.com
Private Nurseries
La Casita De Silvana (Mijas Costa) – Tel: 620 653 734
Balou Nursery (San Pedro) – www.baloumarbella.com
Costa Kinder Care (Benalmadena Pueblo) – www.costakindercare.com
Escuela Infantil Petete (Arroyo de la Miel) – www.guarderiapetete.net
Rosita’s Kindergarten (La Cala de Mijas) – [email protected]
The Peter Pan Bilingual Nursery School (Benalmadena) – www.gpeterpan.com
The Tree House Children´s Centre (Mijas Costa) – www.thetreehousechildrenscentresl.com
Marbella Waldorf Nursery School (Marbella) – http://www.waldorfmarbella.org/
Chiqui Tin Centro Infantil Fuengirola (Fuengirola) – www.indigo-ti.com
Barnaby Bear Play School (Estepona) – http://www.barnabybearplayschool.com