From the Netherlands to Spain: how Eva chose a school for her daughter

Before she was the person behind ColegioCheck, Eva was a mother searching for a school in a new country. Her daughter was 3 when the family moved from the Netherlands to Spain — right at the age Spanish children start school, and with both parents working, there wasn't much room to wait.

A search that started early

"This mattered a lot to us, because we didn't want her education to take a step back just because we moved to Spain," Eva says. "Education in the Netherlands is pretty well organized, so we wanted to keep that same quality." That's why they started thinking about schools well in advance, rather than leaving it until the last few months before the move.

Two schools, two dead ends

The relocation agent who helped them find a rental also gave some advice on schools, but since she didn't have children herself, her knowledge on the topic was limited. So Eva and her husband did much of the work themselves: reading widely online, going through individual schools' websites, and visiting two schools in person: IALE International School in L'Eliana, and Centre Privat Entrenaranjos in Riba-roja de Túria.

Neither one turned out to be the right fit. At IALE, they were kept on a waitlist for almost eight months, consistently placed behind siblings of children already enrolled at the school — until they finally decided to take their name off the list.

The school they never visited before enrolling

The school their daughter ended up at wasn't either of the two they'd carefully visited. They lived in the same neighbourhood as this other school, and it happened to have a spot available right away. "It was well regarded," Eva recalls. That's how her daughter ended up at the British school nearby.

That school was British College La Cañada. "Looking back now, I'm glad we chose a school with a British curriculum instead of a Spanish one," Eva says.

"A private school isn't just a private school"

One of the things that surprised Eva most after emigrating was how little she actually knew about the differences between private schools. "A private school isn't just a private school, full stop. The differences — in diplomas, in programmes — are enormous from one to the next."

Choosing a private school was a deliberate decision for the family, but Eva wants to push back on a common assumption: that international or private schools are "only for expats," or that children there don't really integrate into Spanish life. "I think that's nonsense," she says. "There are actually a lot of Spanish families at my daughter's school, precisely because they also want their child to have as international an education as possible."

Doubts along the way

Eva is honest about the moments of doubt. The first few years leaned heavily on English, with Spanish somewhat less present. Even now, every so often, she still feels the Spanish programme isn't quite at the same level as the English one — and those are exactly the moments she's wondered whether a Spanish curriculum might have been the stronger choice academically.

"But she's super happy at this school, and in the end I want her to have a lot of international opportunities, so English matters a great deal," she adds.

Would she choose the same school again?

Yes, without hesitation. If there's one thing the school could improve, Eva says, it's listening more closely to parents' feedback. "That comes up a lot in the reviews of this school, and honestly, I agree with it," she admits — an observation that echoes what other families have shared in their own reviews of British College La Cañada on ColegioCheck.

Her advice for other parents

"Really look into all the different types of education out there, and which curriculum and which diplomas come with each one," Eva advises families just starting their search. "It can make a huge difference to the options your child has after school."