State School recommendations in Alicante(Town/center)

Hello!  I can't tell you about school in Alicante because I live outside of Madrid. What I can say is your son will be bilingual before you know it.  We moved to Spain in August of 2015 and my daughter had a tutor before we came.. personally it didn't teach her enough or anything. She started school in September and by December was speaking Spanish by the end of the year she was fluent. This school year her Spanish just continues to improve..  She attends a semi private school, most of her classes are in Spanish and just a few are in English..  State school are good and some are bilingual..  I guessing it's the same in Alicante..

Hi, we had quite an interesting ride:

We moved over from England with the kids finishing the school year in 2015. They started in September at the local school (Gran Alacant... yes yes I know...) and spent a term there. Like you, they were in the deep end, with a little bit of tuition over the summer holiday. They were 5 and 8 yo.

At the end of that term (xmas2015) we moved them to King's College in Alicante. It's not a state school, but as it's guided by Ofsted and follows the UK curriculum, they will not be affected by the fickle nature of state and local politics/education policy. This is a big factor for me for their stability.

We also moved house, out of the touristy/expat area into a little village where nobody speaks English. The neighbours want their kids to learn English, and ours practice their Spanish with them. Lego is lego in any language.

Our learnings:
1. The kids are the proverbial spondes - they pick up Spanish quickly. The youngest is the most interested in languages and is fluent.
2. They will be unhappy in the first month or so. This is where they'll need the most support - it was a big change for us. Moving house/school.
3. If they weren't in the Spanish-only school first, the language would be an afterthought. As tough as it was, they are resilient and better off for it.

I often rely on them to translate in tricky situations where I get stuck. I hope to avoid getting to a point where they know 'a secret language that mum & dad don't'... More lessons for me!

Ping me if you need more info.

Hello.
      Thank you both of you for taking the time to reply, definitely food for thought. I did look into Kings college and The English School in Mutxamiel but thought that if i put him into an Private English school that he wouldn't pick up the language as quick, although I have heard good things about both. The original plan was to live in San Juan Playa and send him to Esquela Costa Blanca which does a 50/50 split in Spanish and English but because of work, this is now not possible. It is very reassuring to know your children picked up the language straight away. I'll let you know if i have any more questions. Thanks Again!

Hi,
Just in case you are interested. There is a state school in san juan playa thet has an english line, I think its the only state school that provides all education in english, so one of their clases speaks english through the whole day, however the teachers are not native. The school is called  CEIP Costa Blanca.

Hello. Apologies for the late reply, things are getting a bit wilder now moving date is getting nearer. Yes Costa Blanca  was my first choice and is still on the list. It's just we will now be living in the center so i am curious to see if any British parents have sent their children to a spanish state school in central Alicante.
I've heard good things about:
Costa Blanca in san Juan
The English school in Mutxia Miel
Aire Libre in Mutxia Meil

Thanks for taking the time to get in touch

Best

Todd

Hello,

I read your reply regarding the state school in Alicante and you have mentioned that your kids are intending King’s college in Alicante.

For that I would like to ask you please your and kids experience and review regarding to that school.

We live in oxford and we are moving to Alicante next summer and after checking all the bilingual private school in Alicante area, we picked up a King’s college school.

Also you have mentioned that you changed house and you moved to a small village, so I would like to know where is the best place to live in Alicante.

Regards,

Hello!

My family and I are interested in moving to Alicante from the U.S. in the nexy year or two.  My son would be 15 or 16 and while he know some spanish its not enough for he local schools.  Does anyone have any recommendations on international bilingual/english schools for high school in Alicante.