schools and colledge

[dave evans]

we are thinking of moving to spain next year when our two sons leave school.
we are trying to find out if there is a good college they could attend one would like to go into the building trade and the other one is interested in business management, is there a college they could go to bearing in mind they do not speak Spanish.
and we also have a daughter who would be starting high school so we would need a good school and she also doesn't speak any spanish.

can anyone help please

thanks

dave

[joeybaby]

Your son who wants to go into the building trade will probably be o.k, as there are loads of builders over here who would,I would think, take him on, but your other son could have a bit of a problem studying business studies. I dont think there are any British colleges over here (does anyone else know?!) where he would be able to study this type of subject in English. (I may be wrong though) Unless you can pay to send your daughter to a British school she will have to go to the school in the catchment area where you will be living. It will be difficult, though I am not trying to be pessimistic, as the older the child is, the more difficult they find it to adapt to the state schools, and also to learn the language fluently. Lots of teenagers do well over here though, so dont get too put off by things you will probably hear -extra Spanish lessons are a must though! Good Luck!

[cbram]

My son is a qualified builder and is 21 years old, whilst Spain has a massive building boom ongoing it is apparent that they are only providing jobs for the Spanish! Whilst this may not be entirely 100% the case it is certainly the case for the vast majority of the building companies.

He speaks fluent Spanish and from the age of 3 has grown up here so it's not the lack of knowledge of the language or skills that are the problem.

This is the conclusion we came to when he was looking for work in the building industry. The only alternative is to work self employed in the industry, which then presents different problems in that every Tom, Dick and Harry comes to Spain and is a builder! I know dozens of people (one an ex bank manager) who is now a builder.

They work for less than the going rates and turn out a standard of work that makes them appear overpaid. This inevitably means that any real builder is expected to work for peanuts along with those that know next to nothing because the market is saturated with the "none builders."

I used to legally build in Spain for 20 years before I became too old to do it on a regular basis so I know what I am talking about and it's not just a case of sour grapes etc.

Sorry it might be not the answer you are looking for but it's better to be prepared than find out the hard way. That's not to say he can't succeed here in the building industry because I did and I did it without ever working for a Spanish company, I created my own work a lot of the time. By that I mean I bought land and built houses for sale myself rather than rely on others but that takes a lot of investment especially nowadays.

Can't really comment on the other queries you have as it's out of my area of knowledge, but good luck in you rmove and I hope all goes well.

[Bren]

Hi,

The British School of Alicante most likely offers Business Studies IGCE, AS/A levels. This is a private international school.

Re building - would be more difficult without Spanish. Vocational courses tend not be offered at private international schools and the alternative would be what's on offer in the Spanish system. If your son expects to gain at least 4 GCSE's at grade C or higher, then he would already have the equivalent of the Spanish school leaving qualification, and with Spanish could apply for a vocational course that leads to the title of technician. If he's not expected to get the equivalent of the Spanish school leaving qualification, then there is what is called a Social Guarantee Programme in the state system, which is initial basic training in various vocational areas. There would be entitlement until 18, but probably only for those who haven't got school leaving qualifications already. Again taught in Spanish.

If you're not committed to Spain, it might be easier to choose another country where there isn't a language barrier e.g. Malta?

Good luck whatever you decide.

[dave evans]

thanks for the info

[squeals]

Hi Dave, I don't in anyway mean to be rude, but I think it is definitely too late for your sons to come out to Spain. Unless they have an apptitude to learn languages and they start immediately with a tutor in the UK. Your sons sound as though they both have direction and asperations. It would be a shame for them to lose them. I would hate to see them join the ever increasing groups of bored, troublesome & rude, British & Irish teenagers that hang about. (An export from UK, most of us didn't want!) I would say your daughter, if she commits herself could intergrate into the system. But this would also depend where you settle? Some areas have less foreign kids and a higher proportion of Spanish kids in the class. It is obviously here you would want to be. Good luck in whatever you decide.