Education/Schools in Ibiza

Now we are getting really serious about this....
Can any one tell me the school calender for state schools in Santa Eularia for 2011, I would like to arrange to have a look with my family but don't want to arrive on a school holiday.
Any contact details for the education office would also be great.
thanks
 
hi all, wow there is loads of information here! I'm moving over after christmas and will be going to look at schools (they will be going to a public school) around october but would like to know if you already have kids in school, how did they settle in? Are the lesson's similar to england? For some reason i keep thinking the teachers are going to be really strict, i don.t know why so how have you found the teachers? And how are the other parents is their a mix of nationalities in most schools so maybe some english speakers who could help? I speak quite good spanish and still learning and will start having some lessons in catalan when i arrive but it would still be nice to have a few english speaking friends. I'd really appreciate any replies, thankyou
 
mason2011 said:
hi all, wow there is loads of information here! I'm moving over after christmas and will be going to look at schools (they will be going to a public school) around october but would like to know if you already have kids in school, how did they settle in? Are the lesson's similar to england? For some reason i keep thinking the teachers are going to be really strict, i don.t know why so how have you found the teachers? And how are the other parents is their a mix of nationalities in most schools so maybe some english speakers who could help? I speak quite good spanish and still learning and will start having some lessons in catalan when i arrive but it would still be nice to have a few english speaking friends. I'd really appreciate any replies, thankyou
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Hi Mason, if its Santa E you are thinking of then I can fill in a few bits. We have been thinking about moving to the island for the last 6 months or so and are still undecided. Our plan was always to move around Jan 2011 due to my work commitments in the UK. We are still undecided but will be on holiday on the Island in about a weeks time until the begining of September so I think we will decide then.

Anyway, first you need to register on the Padron (local council head count). For this you need to own a property or rent one long term. This entitles you to schooling for your kids.
There are 3 schools in Santa E. all are mixed. I took my family over to see them in March, they all have different rules with regard to viewing.
The first school issued us with a teacher who gave us a tour whilst the school was open.
The second asked us to come back when the school was shut.
The third had a day in May when it opened its doors to all.
Having done the tour of the first we didn't bother with the rest.

The school seemed very relaxed and the children happy. We were concerned about the language barrier but were assured that they would be bilingual in no time! My kids are 6 and 2 so still sponge like!
Also, the system is such that if your children aren't keeping up with the rest of the class they will remain in the same year for a second time. We were assured that the language barrier was taken into account so I guess if your kids are clever they will move up a year anyway.
I think the teachers are pretty laid back, it is Ibiza after all! Word on the street is that they love their work and the kids enjoy going. We were also told that if we needed to take our kids out for a holiday then it was not usually a problem, something you would never hear in the Uk.
From what I could tell, the school we visited had different nationalities of kids (and teachers) but were predominantly Spanish.

What you need to do when you make the move is go to the education office in Ibiza town, there is a very nice lady there (name escapes me) but she is fluent in English. Her mum is English. Anyway, due to the time of year your kids will be placed in a school with a vacancy as close to where you live as possible. Your kids can be moved to another school of your choice if a place becomes available and you prefer that school. (you may want both your kids at the same school).
If you phone the education office the lady will fill you in on everything over the phone. If you do so please post her name on here so I get it right next time.

Anyway, thanks for keeping my old post alive! Good luck with the move and keep us informed. You never know, might bump into you in January at the school gate!
 
Hi rewden, thanks for your reply it was really helpful and i shall defo be following up on your advice! Once the summer holidays start we shall be going over for the summer to look at apartments etc and different towns. Do you know santa eularia well? I heard it is a really nice family friendly place to live all year long? Have you looked at other towns? We have family in san antoni so we have there as an optio but i also love ibiza town!! So we have alot of work with regards to what school has places and apartments etc? Do you think you you and your family will be making the move this year? Well thanks again for your reply and hopefully hear back from you soon!
 
I know Santa E quite well, I have a house in the country side about a mile outside the town, owned it for 12 years but only ever used it for holidays. Oddly, since Ryanair have made it easy to get there in the winter I have started going over every 6 weeks or so for long weekends. I like the winter but it gets pretty cold, nice and quiet though.
Santa E is definitely a family friendly town, also like Ibiza town, it is all year round. I have only visited San An a few times in winter, it seems a bit of a ghost town but I am sure there are things going on. You would probably know better than me what it's like in winter.
I am not sure if we will make the move, I hope so but it's all a bit of a maybe at the moment.
Not sure what I would do for work either, I am a builder in the UK but one of the reasons for moving is to give that up. Also, I think building work is pretty scare in Ibiza at the moment. I don't want to run a bar either but my missus would insist I do something, just to get me out of the house for a few days each week. Any suggestions are welcome.
For us though, if we don't do it now we never will. Our kids are the right age (6&2), any older and the harder it will get. Also, work in the UK is rubbish. There is no better time for us than now really. It would be a shame not to do it.
 
Hi, i've spent quite alot of time in ibiza over the years probably more in winter and really like it but i think it's why i prefer ibiza town because i like that it stays the same all year. We have been talking about it for ages and weighing up the pro's and con's etc and i wanted my girls to have a few years of school here but they are 5 and 3 now and i just thought actually now is probably the best time to do it, if i left it a few more years it would be more difficult for them? Do you have lots of friends in santa eularia that live there all year, what sort of work do they do? What sort of work would you like to do, would your partner work as well? So it doesn't seem such a leap i'm just thinking of doing it for a year and seeing how it goes!! "just do it" that's what everyone keeps saying to me!
 
Down side is that I don't have any friends in Santa E, thats probably one issue with having a house in the campo, you never meet your neighbours. I have a mate with a holiday apartment near the marina but he only spend 3 weeks a year there, however, he does know all his neighbours. I guess its cos a communal pool etc. That said, I would not swap, his pool has rules, mine is up to me!
I do have people I know that live full time on the island, they do gardening and pool maintenance and stuff like that. It's a lifestyle choice for them. I once got a taxi from the airport to my house and was chatting with the driver about the taxi rules (long story but they can only work certain days in winter to share the work out). Anyway, one of the most profound and unassuming things said by the taxi driver was 'yep, only can work 2 days this week but then I never wanted a Bentley. It sank in big time. I was once in Ibiza town and saw an Italian registered brand new rolls royce near Pacha, what a knob.

Regards your kids, word is that earlier the better, regards work that I would do...still unsure. Thinking of buying a big rib and doing day charters. I am not looking to make a living though, lucky enough to have done that bit already but I would need something to keep me active. Maybe investing in a bar or something but not working it, just getting involved a little.
 
So it doesn't seem such a leap i'm just thinking of doing it for a year and seeing how it goes!! "just do it" that's what everyone keeps saying to me!
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I thought that with a little bit of " well if we do not try, Will wonder for the rest of our lives" That was 5 years ago :D
Friends, A bit more difficult in Summer cause most are working, But visit the right bars and you will soon know lots of people, Most are very friendly, they have been a stranger here once :D

Tim
 
thankyou blackswan it's good to hear that 5 years on your still loving it!! I did live there for a littl while a few years back but my babies were tiny, my spanish was little to none and living with no one that spoke english it was quite isolating and i was very homesick but years later my kids are older, my spanish is much better and i've been backwards and forwards so much it is like a second home so the time seem's perfect to move back now. I have had some brilliant replies and have been reading the threads about schools and different towns and they have really been putting my mind at ease! Where would you recommend are the friendliest places to go to get to know people who have moved there? Or any experiences of getting to know people and settling in? Thankyou also rewden for your reply you sound like you've been planning this for a long time, is it just the work aspect that you have doubts about? Hope you don.t mind me asking so many questions! :eek:)
 
Yes, we have been seriously thinking it for around a year but I have always fancied giving it a go since I bought the house.
One of the things that puts me off is the fact that my mum and dad are in their 70's and proper grandparents, so I would like them to have as much access to my kids as possible before it's to late. That said, they are at my place in Santa E right now, probably naked in the pool!
Work wise, I wouldn't need to work but would like something to keep me from drinking myself to death, also just to get me out of the house and active. I am too young to retire anyway.
If we make the move I am going to take a small digger and dumper truck with me, hoping to spend the first couple of winters doing my garden, building stone walls and planting things etc. May even rent myself out as a digger and driver set up. Hopefully, in that time I would find something I wanted to do.
I can't imagine the job situation is that buoyant in Ibiza so I don't think I would move there if I needed to find work first to pay the rent.
Blackswan is right, I have always felt that if I didn't do it I would never know what it was like, but it's not just my decision, there are two of us and two young kids. If it was just me I would be living there right now but we shall see how we feel at the end of the summer and decide then.
 
Just in case anyone needs it, just found my notes, the education office in Ibiza is 971310104 and ask for Emma, she speaks fluent English and was very helpful when I spoke to her.
 
rewdan said:
Thinking of buying a big rib and doing day charters. I am not looking to make a living though, lucky enough to have done that bit already but I would need something to keep me active.
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rewdan, if you do go ahead with this and are happy to skipper please let me know .. I don't have my own licence (yet), don't use the big commercial firms (only usually friends/their contacts who are OK with me using their boat when they're not - I pay a realistic rate nevertheless and we always have lots of fun exploring those 'special' bits of Ibiza and surrounding islets you can't get to by land .. ).

May well be interested in doing a day or two at some point if you're up for it. Big rib def. best when the conditions turn windy/choppy :)
 
you never know, seems I have 2 hurdles to get over-

firstly moving to Ibiza in the first place
and B. getting over a mountain sized pile of red tape that seems to exist.

Anyway, if it ever happens I will endeavour to sneak adverts on forums like this so watch out for me!
 
rewdan said:
you never know, seems I have 2 hurdles to get over-

firstly moving to Ibiza in the first place
and B. getting over a mountain sized pile of red tape that seems to exist.
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if it's anything like Portugal over there, some tape is most likely stickier than other tape 'tho it seems everything is wrapped up in tape and each person has a different view of just how much tape there really is :confused:

Best policy seemed to spend one's time confirming that you are in the process of complying with the tape, by which time the song has changed anyway, and meantime getting on with enjoying life :lol:
 
Thanks for all info

What a great thread this is :)
Yep I'm still wanting to move over
Still visiting umpteen times a year
And still pondering the logistics of education for my kids
My daughter is 6 so that's no probes will send her to local school, tho at present she only speaks English
My son is nearly 14 so would be a tricky transition for him - am wondering if there is a collective of home schooled teenagers on the island ? Or anyone know of anyone that runs any homeschool projects or tuition ? And fees and procedures fir sitting exams as an external candidate. Local school too late for his transition and not keen on morna or it's fees! Not value for money!
Am thinking if there is a collective of home schooled kids his age then at he won't be isolated

All ideas and info welcome :)
 
Thanks for all the great info in this thread. Is it possible to email the education office?
I am coming out at the beginning of April and would love to get my daughter in school asap
Any tips of the process and paperwork needed??
Thanks
 
We spoke to the Education office in Ibiza (Emma's not there but if you ask for someone who speaks English they can find someone!!) and they said if you go over for April they HAVE to find a place in school for your child... if you leave it til May they might not get a place until the school year restarts in September.
Not sure what paperwork you'd need, but maybe if you phone the Education office (the number's somewhere in this thread) they can advise you? :)
 
Thanks thats really helpful to know about april, are you then too? I will phone up, just prefer e mails i guess : )
 
Yeah we're getting there at the end of March... moving from Benidorm to Es Cana!!! :)
I phoned them up, it was easier than email because it was an instant answer and I could alter my questions as they answered them! He was a nice man, not sure what his name was, but his English was far better than my Spanish!! lol :rolleyes:
 
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