Every year, hundreds of British couples make the move to Spain to live ‘the dream’, but families with school age children face a special challenge. Sierra Sur Today inter-viewed Kate, who moved here with her mum just over three years ago.

‘When my mum first talked to me about moving to Spain, I said I didn’t want to go’, explained Kate. She carried on, giggling, ‘That is until she promised me a house with a swimming pool!’

Kate was 12 years old when she arrived in Spain. ‘I liked it here but I though it was very quiet and there wasn’t much to do.’

Kate recalls her first day at school. ‘I had to take a bus from the village I lived in to Alcalá. Luckily, there was another English girl on the bus. She was very nice and offered to show me where I needed to go when we got to school.’

Kate moved to Spain when she was twelve

Kate, who’s normally quite chatty, knew only a few phrases of Spanish on her first day at Antonio de Mendoza School.

‘I decided right away to work hard Spanish.’ Kates efforts soon paid off and she now speaks the language fluently.

‘In my first year though, I made the mistake of hanging around with mostly English friends. But the Spanish kids wanted to get to know me and it’s easy if you just make the effort.’

Kate says there are some big differences between Spanish and British schools. ‘It’s very textbook oriented here. In class, we go page-by-page through the books, reading them and answering questions.’ She and her mum were also surprised to learn that they had to buy the books.

‘There’s very little practical work, except in subjects like art. Even in science we learn everything out of a book.’ Kate explained that children only get to do practical investigations or experiments once or twice a year.

Still, there are many things she likes about going to school here. ‘My school has a counselor who you can go to if you have problems– with your work, teachers or other kids at school.’ Kate also enjoys the extra lessons she gets in Information Technology and World Information.

‘My advice to families is only come if you really want to. Move to Spain with an open mind. Be determined to learn Spanish and make the effort to go out and meet people.’

Very wise words indeed, Kate!