Help for a UK family considering moving to Malta

Hi Manxy,

Mellieha is lovely and fills most of your requirements except; It could take up to 90 minutes in rush hour to get to Birkikara and included in rush hour are the weekends if you wanted to explore out (there is only one road to and from Gozo ferry that gets backed up for miles in summer!) Also, your 11 year old would go to the middle school in Naxxar. There is free school transport however, if your wife wasn't driving and say your child needed to be picked up from school out of school transport hours, it would be a near on 3 hour round trip by bus!

The St. Paul's area would cut travelling time by half or more. Your 11 year old would still go to Naxxar (this is dependent on when he was 11 as he may well go to Mosta Secondary.) St. Paul's also covers your requirements.

Sliema is good for Birkikara and travelling time will be reduced again. Others can advise on schools here as I am not too sure. The only difference between Sliema and St. Paul's (in what you are looking for,) is price. Sliema's cost of living is higher all round compared to St. Paul's or even Mellieha.

Hope this helps

Caroline

3 hours really??????

chinooks wrote:

3 hours really??????

There is only one bus an hour that takes you through Naxxar from Mellieha. It takes me from St. Paul's by bus around 30 mins, so add another 20 mins from Mellieha, then, walk to pick child up, wait for bus back (every hour.) I guess if you were lucky on catching the bus back and didn't have to wait then it could be done in 2 hours but that's if you're lucky. Or you could catch bus to Buggiba, change but I'm sure that would take same amount of time, especially in summer with tourists.

Hi Caroline,

That is great and we really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

We were intially looking at basing ourselves closer to Birkikara but we felt that the more suitable schools for expats would be around the Slimea / Mellieha / St. Paul's Bay areas but it appears that Naxxar have good schools suitable for expats too.

I am assuming from this that although the other areas have good primary schools, the most suitable state secondary schools for expat children would be around Mosta / Naxxar or the Sliema area?

It looks like we may need to also consider central Malta such as Mosta, Naxxar, etc. as this would mean we are close to the schools and my place of work. We had never really considered this area so we really appreciate your feedback regarding the schools as it has brought this to light.

Mellieha does seem like a great place to live but the travelling involved for schooling and to work looks like it may unfortunately rule it out. St. Paul's Bay looks really nice too and would make it more manageable for travelling to and from work however, it may still be a little too far away for my wife from the children's schools.

It therefore looks like the best areas to look into living would be the Sliema area or central Malta.

From your experience of central Malta do you have any areas you particularly like, would be close to the english speaking state schools, would have a number of expat families that my wife could become friendly with and believe would be worth shortlisting for our visit?

We really appreciate all of your help as you can no doubt appreciate it is a huge commitment deciding to relocate a family and so long as we have a good idea of the best state schools suitable for expat children, nice areas to live, within 30 - 40 minute drive to Birkirkara during rush hour and hopefully with other expat families in the same situation to help my wife and children settle, we can draw up a shortlist and visit each area based on recommendations from the forum

Many thanks,


Manxy

Hi Manxy.

The school system here is split into colleges. Each college will have a primary in almost each town (in their catchment) and a secondary school...This is until next year, when the middle school system is being operated by all colleges. So, the catchment for Naxxar middle school is anywhere from the Gozo Ferry to Naxxar, which includes the expat areas of Mellieha, St.Paul's/Bugibba/Qawra. This is called the Santa Maria Regina College. Mosta is not an expat area as such but the schools do have some foreigners.
The St. Clares  is the college for Sliema/Pembroke/Swieqi, which again is a very large area and I am not sure where the middle school will be, so it's best to maybe start a thread on the schools in that college.
I have always been a St. Paul's Bay fan, it's quiet, English speaking and close to Bugibba for the night life/kids summer fun. It has a good supply of buses to most areas of Malta but it is a tourist area, like Sliema.
I like Mosta, Naxxar area, I don't know about a first time family though, it would take some effort on your wife's side to make friends but it is very possible.
I'm afraid I am anti Sliema, with absolutely no offence to anyone on here lol, in the years I have visited (since 89,) and lived here (11 years) I can not see the attraction of Sliema or surrounding areas. I wouldn't live in central London for the same reasons...I don't want to pay over the top just because it's the place to be!

I have 3 children, 2 were born here. It is a big decision and the 2 areas are completely different. There are a few on here that live in Balzan, Birkikara area and they have settled well, again, it's best to ask them. It isn't an expat area again like Mosta but shouldn't be ruled out.

Of course, the advantage of being on the coast rather than more central is the sea...My kids spend all summer in it and I couldn't think of anything worse than being a bus ride away from it!! 

I'm happy to help with anymore questions

Caroline

Hi Caroline,

Once again many thanks for all of your help.

It looks as though Mellieha and St. Paul's Bay would be the most suitable for us especially as we come from the Isle of Man so we are used to sea views and quieter areas.

I think we will definitely look around St. Paul's Bay and the schools for this region and also look at the areas on the outskirts of Sliema such as Pembroke and Swieqi as we are not sure how we would settle in to a busy London like lifestyle.

I know my wife is very keen to move but it would be really nice if we could settle into an area with other english speaking expats families so that her and the children can settle in quickly, so for this reason St. Paul's Bay and the outskirts of Sliema get the most ticks.

Once again we appreciate all of your help and who knows one day we may meet you in Malta


Manxy

I work in Birkirkara and live in Mellieha it is a 35 minute drive to work

Malta2014 wrote:

I work in Birkirkara and live in Mellieha it is a 35 minute drive to work

That's not bad, what time do you leave in the mornings? I guess if you don't need the bypass bit it would be quicker??

I vary my route, leave around 6:30 if I leave at 7am it would be around 45 mins

Malta2014 wrote:

I vary my route, leave around 6:30 if I leave at 7am it would be around 45 mins

That seems to make a difference then...If I leave St. Paul's at 07:30 it takes 40-60 minutes to get to the hospital. I hit all the traffic in Iklin and then the bypass

Hi Manxy,

I found this article. It looks like the middle school for St. Clares College will be in Pembroke and Pembroke has a primary school too so a win all round!! (Except no sea )

Hi Caroline and Malta2014,

Many thanks for your comments, anything people can tell us really helps us when thinking about where to potentially live.

It is very interesting to hear that both a primary school and secondary school will be based in Pembroke as that could be ideal but at the same time, we seem to get the impression that St. Paul's Bay and Mellieha are the two favoured places to live for expats so my wife might not find it as easy to find other expats in the same situation as herself?

We have a lot to think about and will take all of your comments on board.

Many thanks,


Manxy

Hi there,
I've just moved to Malta with husband and three children. We are in the process of registering the kids at st clares, in Sliema.
You may know this, but I thought it was worth mentioning that you need to live in the catchment area of gov run schools. My husband works in Valletta and I stay at home with the kids who are, 10, 6  & 3.
I'm more than happy to meet up with your wife if you make the move over.
Good luck with everything!

Hi Lori,

Many thanks for taking the time to post and give us more info.

You will have to let us know how things go in Sliema as it is an area we were looking at, our only concerns were coming from the Isle of Man....it might be a little too busy for us

We have however, been considering Pembroke which is really close and seems to be a bit quieter. If you ever visit, you will have to let us know what you think? If we make the move then we would love to meet up with your family especially as you have children around the same age as our own and you seem to be in the exact same situation as my wife.

Thanks again.....


Manxy

I have lived in Sliema for 3 years now. My kids go to St Clares Sliema and love it..

We walk to school everyday and stroll home by the sea! What more could you ask for...

Life in Sliema is how you want it to be. I love the fact that we can walk everywhere as everything we need is in Sliema.. We go swimming, pilates, Lego Club, the playground, scooting on the promanade..

We have a supermarket and chemist at the top of the road and the main shopping ares is less than a 5 min walk..Sliema is busy but isn't all big towns anywhere you live in the world....

Parking is the big problem in Sliema but if you live in it you will have a space so no worries.... Yes property is more expensive in Sliema but I wouldn't rule it out....

There is plenty of expats in Sliema as your wife will quickly find out... Good luck and as Lori73 said let us know when your here and we can meet up.

Hi Ash,

I think we could certainly get used to that lifestyle and is the main reason we want to move there

We will definitely check out Slieam and in all honesty thanks to all of your feedback - Sliema, St. Julian's and Pembroke will be the main areas / schools we will be checking out initially.

It would be great to meet both of your families when we visit and it sounds like my wife will have no problem settling in as it is clear from this forum that there are so many people out there willing to greet and help out new expats

Once again many thanks for everyone's help on here,


Manxy

Hi we are a family of 4 (kids 4 to be 5 and 7 to be 8. We are seriuosly looking to move by this October, We have been researching and surfing the web as much as possible. I will be contracted by Hard Rock Cafe to be the GM there in Malta and uploading my family from Texas. We are looking at schools, english speaking and hopefully Catholic. We want a safe area and Sliema looks great....I am from Argentina & my wife from Poland and any help would be amazing. I have to make a decision to sign contract and all the help will come in handy. What do you think in your estimate is a confortable living? Again we are very simple and do not go out to much enjoy outdoors and family lfe. My company will be giving us a car so that is a big expense. We are unsure as to what to rent apartment or "house of Character"...you also mentioned lego club!! I see mostly everything is furnished so it would be utilities, cel phone and food...hope to get some help, thanks Pablo

I would love any help we can get...thanks toeveryone in advance!

I live in mellieha and travel to Birkikara for work it will take around 30 to 45 mins depending on traffic. It's very safe here and sure there is a school

Hello all,

We would like to thank everyone who has posted on our topic, as it really helped us in making our decision to accept the job offer and decide to relocate to Malta. It turns out that the office will be in Gzira, Malta and will be moving out around July 2015.

We have booked to come out for a week during October where we will visit Pembroke Primary school, Pembroke Middle School, St. Catherine's primary and senior schools in Pembroke and Newark school in Sliema so we can decide which school suits our children the best. We will also visit properties in Sliema, Swieqi, Madliena, Ibragg and Pembroke to see which area we like best.

If anyone on here has any experiences good or bad on any of the above schools, advice on the areas mentioned above to live in or any advice on letting / buying properties within these areas, we would really appreciate any information you could provide whether it be on here or through a private message.

Once again, we are overwhelmed with all the help we have received from people on this site and can't thank you all enough!

Many thanks,


Manxy