Comments for Marbella Public Schools Average Rating Click here to add a COMMENT

Mar 19, 2022 Rating School advice by: Anonymous Hi , We are a Dutch Family with 3 kids ( 13,11,11) Now we would like to move to Marbella but my kids could not speak english or Spanish. What would you recommanded , a international school or spanish school. Anna

Feb 07, 2022 Rating Good public schools around Marbella by: Janna Hi all! Can anybody recommend any other good public schools (besides Pinolivo and Platero) in or around Marbella? Thanks!

Jan 19, 2022 Rating Public school help by: Anonymous Hi, I need some advice. I am thinking of moving to Marbella from England with my 2 children who are 8 and 4 and want to enrol them in a public c Spanish school but don’t know how to apply properly because I don’t speak Spanish and I think they only seem to speak Spanish so I just can’t get anywhere. Any advice would be great thank yoh

Feb 18, 2021 Rating School public or private by: Anonymous Hey, we are a dutch family and will move to spain as of june 2021. we are going to stay in elviria or in the surroundings. our son will turn 4 in October and therefore want him to go to school from September. what we would like is that he learns good spanish but also english. which is also important to us at the moment is that we can communicate with someone from the school in Dutch or English. I would like to know at which public and at which private schools I can find that and of course your experiences. thank you very much in advance Regards Sylvia

Mar 18, 2019 Rating Which is considered the best spanish public school in Marbella and how easy to enrol by: Rinad Hello everyone, We would like to move to Marbella this summer. Could you please recommend a good spanish public school for a boy of 9 years and his sister of 6 years. Many thanks in advance.

Mar 27, 2018 Rating Find a spanish primary school for my 8 year old grandson by: Djam Hi my grandson is moving to Spain on April. He is 8 years old and need to know how can I find any school for his enrolment. Which one its okay Private or non private. If anybody has some experiences please let me know.

Mar 01, 2014 Rating San Pedro school by: Anonymous Does anybody know the name if the school by supersol roundabout in San Pedro? Has any body any information on it please?

Feb 09, 2014 Rating las dunas by: Anonymous my son aged 13 attends a school in las cala the insitute which is his second year now.He went to the primary and had no problams there,now he attends the secondary part and i have seen a lot of difference.I am looking for another school for my son which i have heard about las dunas,could anyone please help me to give me some more information on the teaching and the overall schooling and how i would go about applying for my son to attend.. Thank you michelle

Feb 22, 2013 Rating Enrolment dates by: Anonymous Cheers cheers Cheers thanks

Feb 22, 2013 Rating Enrollment by: Anonymous Hi it's usually the first week then you find out in June if you have a place.

Feb 22, 2013 Rating Enrol by: Anonymous Hi can anyone tell me the enrolment dates for platero collegio in elviria I know it's march sometime Thanks Debbie

Nov 05, 2012 Rating Schools by: Debbie Thank you Simon and anonymous for your reply, much appreciated Debbie

Nov 02, 2012 Rating Platero - Elviria by: Anonymous Hi in response to the last post. Platero only has pre school classes currently for 4 years and 5 years. They are not taking any new classes into infantil and there is not a 3 year old class. These 2 classes were only set up due to a high rate of applicants during those years. Infantil classes from 3-6 years can be found at Pinolivo which is also in Elviria close to the Lidl. For your older children aged 7 and 9 the year they are placed into will depend upon which year they were born. If born in 2005 they would be in 2nd year, 2004 3rd year, 2003 4th year and so on. At the end of years 2 and 4 they have to have reached a certain standard before moving up, so they may be tested before being excepted and could be held back. Do they speak Spanish? Have they previously been in a Spanish school? This will all help. The usual enrolement time for school is March, although there have been children leave since September so it may be possible to enter them in now. You would need to visit the secretary of the school between 9 and 10 am to find out. This is the only way to find out.

Nov 02, 2012 Rating Platero by: Anonymous Hi, Platero school entrance age is 6 yo, therefore your 3 yo would need to go to Pinolivo which is situated behind Lidl back towards Marbella. This school I can say is excellent and very helpful, although teachers speak no English. My daughter went to Pinolivo and is now in 1st year Platero. The transition can be difficult for foreign children as the curriculum gets tougher and the teachers really push the kids to grasp their studies, including a lot of homework (in Spanish which has helped my wife to learn Spanish). Your older kids if they have no Spanish will probably be entered and then assessed to determine their knowledge etc, a decision would then be made into what year they study in, therefore they may find it a little uncomfortable for the 1st few months. But kids are tough and they will adjust. I have found the teachers and support staff at Platero to be very helpful and professional, alas minimal English is spoken. Good luck! Simon

Oct 28, 2012 Rating Has Platero got a pre school age 3-6 by: Debbie Hi I will be moving to Elviria in January and I am hoping to get my children into Platero they are 7and 9 What year would they be going into as I have heard they will be kept back a year? Can my 3 year go here and if not where do I send him? Any recommendations please Thanks

Sep 26, 2012 Rating public schools elviria by: Anonymous We had the same problem when we moved here. All you can do is wait if you want them in a public school as there are no others in the area. The only alternative is to apply for schools in La Cala or Marbella. With the 2 local schools you mentioned you will need to keep in regular contact with them to ensure when a place does come up you are offered it. We applied the same as you in the September and eventually we got a place in the following January. The official enrolment time is March for the public schools. The problem these schools have is that people from outside the catchment area lie about where they live to get their children into the schools and people that live locally suffer as a result. Both the schools are very over occupied already. Saying that people do move on all the time, so as I said before if you keep regular contact you should eventually get a place. Remember if your child has turned 6 in 2012 it is compulsary here to go to school, so they have to advise you of an alternative if they are full. Hope this helps.

Sep 25, 2012 Rating Spanish schools elviria by: Anonymous Have recently moved to elviria and trying to get my children into state schools my 3 year old into Pinolivo and my 6 year old into Platero but I have been told they are full and to wait till someone drops out! What can I do they need to start school but I am getting nowhere what should I do next?

Mar 01, 2012 Rating Pinolivo by: Anonymous Hi all, thank you for the comments on my request. This week we have to decide, because that will be the week to apply for a new school. To Martin: nice to see another Dutch person on this site. If i can help, please let me know. We live here for 8 months now, so we're not locals yet, but maybe we can help out if you need any more information. Tomorrow i will meet a dutch gestor with more questions about being a resident or not. Good luck on your search, Regards Debby

Mar 01, 2012 Rating public school in san pedro de alcantara by: martin Hi there, It's nice to get some information from "locals" We are planning to move to marbella in june and are looking for a "public"school for our 5yr old daughter. We would like to live in san pedro de alcantra, can anybody give some advice on this? I will surely visit the school in las Chapas (Pinolivo) as well. As we are new to the area, all the info. and tips are welcome of course. Thank you in advance greetings martin (Amsterdam/holland)

Feb 21, 2012 Rating Escuela Infantil Pinolivo by: Simon Yes my daughter goes to Cei Pinolivo and it is a fantastic school! There are lots of different nationalities there and the staff are very friendly and accommodating to foriegn residents. My son who is 12 now started at Swans at 3 yo. Oh we wish we had found Pinoliivo then. Would highly recommend and they are on fb. Hope helps and good luck!

Feb 21, 2012 Rating Escuela Infantil Pinolivo by: Zora This is a public school, so I imagine that you must be a resident of Spain to enroll your child.

Feb 20, 2012 Rating pinolivo by: Anonymous no, pinolivo only has a blog

Feb 20, 2012 Rating Pinolivo by: Debby Hi there, really nice to read all your comments, it helps al lot with my search for a good school. Does somebody know if Pinolivo have a site where i can find information about the school? I've been to the school, but they didn't have anything (like a brochure) and were not very helpfull, probably because my spanish is not very good. For example, do the children need to be residents in Spain?

Sep 24, 2011 Rating My experience by: david Hi, we put our daughter into Platero when she was 7 years old, i have been more than happy with the level of education and the qulaity of the teaching. She moved into the secondary school las dunas last year and again we have been more than happy with the school and the subjects.

Aug 07, 2011 Rating Pinolivo by: Anonymous My 3 year old daughter started at Pinolivo last September and honestly I have not had any concerns at all about her social development or education all year. The teachers are excellent in my opinion and also maintain a very personal contact with us parents via email and phone which I have found particularly useful in my daughters first year. I am aware that English teaching will be an area which may need to be supplemented in the future but for now at least my theory is to do plenty of learning and reading in English at home and keep Spanish at school. One thing I will add though is that as an English speaking parent with a child in Spanish school you will benefit greatly by having some language skills yourself. I am often translating things for friends and i think that perhaps they will find it harder to communicate with their kids about school, help with homework etc as time goes on. So start your Spanish classes today!!

Aug 04, 2011 Rating aloha by: Anonymous but what about the rumors of Aloha being full of spoiled rich kids...

Aug 03, 2011 Rating eic ..aloha by: Anonymous I have experienced both EIC and Aloha College. Both are very good if you intend to go to uk uni especially the ib qualification at aloha as this is intense and mirrors the stress at uni. EIC offers a level and this is comparitively easy. I do think thou that the level of spanish taught at these schools is poor and I would recommend getting extra private lessons or getting involvedwith local sports . As there is groups in these schools whic stop intergration of natoinlities.

Aug 02, 2011 Rating Alboran by: Anonymous for those of you who have their kids at Alboran, is the level of english taught any better? And the tuition, is it comparable to EIC? Also, Sarah, why did you take your children out of Swans?

Aug 01, 2011 Rating Public schools elvira by: Anonymous Hi The level of English taught is very poor in the Platero school. Your child would most definately need extra tuition for this which is widely available. In terms of intergrating into the area and the Spanish culture I would definately recommend the Spanish school over any of the English private schools. In my experience of friends children that go to the EIC they are very anti Spanish, however this may not be the case with all. The private schools tend to create their own segregated communities and this can isolate your options from a social aspect in the local community. Also be aware that the English private schools education in Spain is no where near to the standard of a private education in England and of course you will be paying for this although at no where near the cost of UK. Besides all of the above my view is that if you are chosing Spain as the country to live why send your child to an English school unless you are planning to move around in which case yes an international school makes sense. You may wish to consider Alboran college as an alternative option. This is a very good Spanish Private school close to the EIC school where I believe the education is of a very high standard. Which ever option you decide on at the end of the day the most important role in supporting your childs success in school comes from yourself.

Jul 31, 2011 Rating Platero by: Anonymous Hello, and thank you for starting this interesting debate. Indeed, i am always looking for other's experiences when making my choice of a school for my son. Nothing like a word of mouth. So this is what i hear about Platero. Spanish say its bad, while English folks say its good. I ve got 2 Spanish neighbours here in Elviria, both sending their kids to private english schools, saying that spanish system of education is too rigid, that they memorize rather than explain, while the english system, according to them, wants kids to understand what is taught. Now this is to be confirmed, but i still think that the best way for my son to make local friends is to go to a spanish public school. Also, do you have any idea what is the level of english taught at schools like Platero (how many hours, native teacher)? Is this improving? Thank you for any insight, it ll be highly appreciated!

Jul 29, 2011 Rating Great communication by: Marbella Family It´s always nice to see people hook up and help each other out on Marbella Family Fun. Thank you all for chipping in and being there for the community. Keep up the good work!

Jul 29, 2011 Rating Elviria Schools by: Suzanne Hi We moved here last year with our children aged 2, 3 & 5 at the time. Our eldest has been at Pinolivo since January this year and the middle one has been on a list for a place since October of last year . In September our eldest will move up to the Primary school Platero and the 2 youngest have now both been offered places in the infantil classes that will also be at Platero school from September. We have been mainly very happy so far with what we have experienced although a few difficulties at times. If you need any further help on applying for places or any other help or information on this area please contact me directly. We have recently been through the move ourselves and I will be more than happy to help. My email is smd.consulting@live.com Also please email me if you would like to meet up as our children are of similar ages and it is always good to meet new people.

Jul 28, 2011 Rating Schools by: Anonymous My little one also attends this school and it has been brilliant, the teachers are fantastic and we are thrilled we made this decision as she also now speaks fluent spanish in less than a year and loves it.

Jul 28, 2011 Rating public schools in Elviria by: Sarah Hi, in answer to your post about schools in Elviria, my children are aged 7, 9 & 13, youngest one was in Pinolivo (behind Mercadona Elviria) infancia where they go from ages 3-6 then he joined his brother & they now go to Platero in Elviria village from age 6-12 then to Las Dunas de las Chapas Instituto (next to infant school Pinolivo) from 13 until end of school years. We have found them to be lovely schools with great teachers & have progressed extremely well since leaving Swans school 3 years ago. If you need any other info, just let me know.

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