Are there any expats with children living in Los Cristianos, Tenerife?

[courtney129]

Cant seem to get much advice on schools in los cristianos for 11 year old and 13 year old on this forum.
Are there many of you ex pats living in los cristianos???
Where is a good place to find you for advice, is there a bar or cafe that any of you use regularly to meet up and ask advice as we are heading out soon with a view to moving there permanently.
Is there other UK children living in this area?
Eager for replies please

[Muppet]

You may think this reply is a little rude, but here are the realities.

You've asked the same question several times and had much the same answers almost as many.

Your 13 year old is most unlikely to adapt into the Spanish school system - your twins, at 11 might just, but the real point is their longer term futures which, here, would be virtually non-existent. PR-ing outside a Brit bar or pub is not a long term job.

You may not like the UK much at the moment, and who can blame you, but to be even considering taking them away from their roots and their home land where they at least stand a chance of finishing their schooling with some form of qualification(s) and opportunities for further education, to a country where currently over 33% of the work-force are unemployed (over half of whom are aged 16 to 25 and have never worked), where Spanish is the native tongue and fluency in the local language is absolutely essential to not becoming part of that 33%, seems to me, and I would imagine many others, as being irrational and totally irresponsible.

Why oh why do so many seem to think the grass is always greener here. The only grass that does grow here is not even real grass, it is artificial.

Your solution is simple. Send your husband over on a mission to find a properly contracted job as a plasterer. Contact Wingate school and enquire about the fees and entrance requirements so that your girls can complete their education in as familiar regime as possible and so they can sit their GCSE's - your eldest is only 3 years away from this. At least then she, and later your twins, could return to the UK, where unemployment is just 9% and stand a chance of finding a worthwhile career path. You could arrange an interview with the Head on one of your many future holiday trips over.

Tenerife - great place for a holiday - lots of artificial grass.

[Gemma28]

Such a terrible age to uproot your children when you have nothing secure in Tenerife. Believe me, I would return to Tenerife tomorrow and try and struggle on just for a bit of sunshine right now but I have a child to think about. He is one and half. I have many friends/relations and work contacts in Tenerife and have done it before so know how the system works. I do still consider the possiblility of going back but think realistically about your childrens future. Apart from the beach, what are they going to do? Imagine how they will feel going into a new school where no one speaks their language. Atleast if they were younger they would intergrate into the canarian way of life but at this age they will be fully aware of missing home and their friends and family. What if it all goes wrong? You will have to take them out of school and back to their old school, what if they can't catch up on the years they have missed and fail their exams and end up being behind for many years to come because this wasn't thought out properly.

I am a great believer in living life to the full and taking risks but when children are involved I think you need to think of every eventuality. Could you not wait until they leave school and then come over? I know it seems like a long time but things may have improved in Tenerife in five years and atleast your children will have a basic education.

[bonitatime]

Don't do it unless you can afford to put them through Wingate

[MrsTT]

http://www.tenerifeforum.org/tenerife-forum/showthread.php?9694-What-are-the-pros-amp-cons-of-the-Spanish-versus-British-education-systems-in-Tenerife

http://www.tenerifeforum.org/tenerife-forum/showthread.php?60-State-Schools-in-Tenerife-Addresses-Phone-No-s-Matriculation-Calendars-etc

These threads are already on the forum where you will find much of the information you seek.

here is the link to Wingate

http://www.wingateschool.com/

[KirstyJay]

Cant seem to get much advice on schools in los cristianos for 11 year old and 13 year old on this forum.....
...Eager for replies please

You have had plenty of responses on this, and all your other threads.

I concur with everything said on this thread up to now, and have said so in reply to another thread of yours. You'd be mad to uproot your children now at their age. In my other reply I only thought you were talking about two 11 years olds, but if there's a 13 year old in the mix too, then it just compounds the issue. Your children are the wrong age to adapt. If you put them into the Spanish system, then you'll be doing more harm than good, especially at the expense of waiting 5 years until they've finished their studies in the UK... unless you can afford a private school.

[fonica]

There have been several similar threads recently and suspect that these people will keep posting in the hope that someone will give them the answer they want to hear.They will probably come anyway and not have enough money,not speak Spanish and not think about their children and then moan about Tenerife when it all goes wrong for them. The new regulations for immigrants who want to live in the UK are suggesting that they learn English before having any right of residence,common sense you may say,as long as it doesn't apply to Brits abroad. Please don't bring your 13/11 year olds here,it's too late and they will suffer greatly. The streets are not paved with gold and there isn't any social security benifit system for you here. You won't even have the right to free hospital treatment unless you are working here. Be warned and think very carefully about what you do.