Moving to Malta on December 2014 (advice for accomodation and school)

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If you want your son to study in English only then you will have to go private. However my children did not speak English or Maltese either when they started their schooling in Malta and they had no problem catching up. As your son in March will be able to enrol to kindergarten he will have couple of months to learn English and some Maltese before he will start school at the end of September.
I do not want to discourage you to opt for private education if only I wanted to point out that it is not your only option. State primary schools tend to have small classrooms ( max. 15 children) and are used to having foreign children ( especially in the areas where you most likely will live). They have special courses for children without any English or Maltese as well. Although your son most likely would not need it as he will go to kindergarten first. My son was in kindergarten for only 3 months but it was sufficient enough for him to start school without problems.

Good luck!

If you want your son to study in English only then you will have to go private. However my children did not speak English or Maltese either when they started their schooling in Malta and they had no problem catching up. As your son in March will be able to enrol to kindergarten he will have couple of months to learn English and some Maltese before he will start school at the end of September.
I do not want to discourage you to opt for private education if only I wanted to point out that it is not your only option. State primary schools tend to have small classrooms ( max. 15 children) and are used to having foreign children ( especially in the areas where you most likely will live). They have special courses for children without any English or Maltese as well. Although your son most likely would not need it as he will go to kindergarten first. My son was in kindergarten for only 3 months but it was sufficient enough for him to start school without problems.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot Jonathan. This hellped me a lot and not only for what I was looking for.

Still I need more information about school for my son. I am looking for schools for my boy teaching in english. I found several independent schools and internaltiional schools but according the three feedback I got there are not available position for my son.....let's wait for the other answers....

Thank you Pevi....This is for sure another option.....At the moment I am only focusing on private schools....My concern is that Marcco speaks spanish and french as we live in Belgium now (but his french could be lost if I do not find any aditional lessons after school). An I think that english being new for him + support for avoiding lose his french will be more than enough for a 4 - 5 years old boy. Three new languages + spanish mother tongue at the same time may be too much.....What do you think?

But for sure this will be another option....In addition to the privates and international shcools, are there other only english teaching kindergardens?

What are the nice areas to live?

Thanks a lot for your help!!!

Gerardo

Pevi just one more quetion...how old was your song when he started in the kindergarten?

Maltese grow up learning 2 languages as the norm. Then, many children learn Italian as they watch Italian television. That is 3 languages they learn before school even starts. I know a child who's father is Tunisian and also speaks Arabic and French, all fluent by the age of 11. Children can do it, they do it without realising and it's invaluable in this day and age.

Hi,
small children are pretty good at adapting and learning new languages fast. My children are Slovak citizens, both were born in Czech Republic ( my older went to kindergarten there) and at home we speak Hungarian with them as it is my and my husband's mother tongue. My son was 5 ( he was born in March) when he started kindergarten and the same year in September he was already in school. He just started year 2 couple of weeks ago in Gzira Primary and he is one of the best in his class. He never needed extra tuition for any of the subjects (not even Maltese, his reading and writing is very good, obviously his speaking/understanding not much but still on average for his age group).
All English only kindergartens are private, either part of a private school or independent.
If I would work in Valletta and would not have to consider transport and schools for the children then I would love to live in Birgu. It is just a ferry ride away from Valletta and one of the nicest towns ( at least in my eyes). Otherwise you would have to consider the location of your chosen school. Private schools provide transport ( for extra fee) but I would not want my children to sit on a school bus for longer period ( traffic can be pretty bad during rush hours)

I would consider learning a new language (even if it's a third, fourth or fifth one) to be an enormous benefit to a child. Apart from the fact that it's  a new language (which has obvious benefits in itself), it also does all sorts of good things to the brain, that nothing else can do. It creates new connections, and gives new perspectives that work across the brain in areas other than language. And kids pick it up quickly, and won't lose other languages if those are kept up, too. The younger the better. It's one of the best things you can expose a child to.

Hi Gerardo,

I can offer you a room en suite in my house in Senglea for this time. I offer also a guest kitchen with everything you need. Senglea is a wonderfull peninsula on the other side of Valletta in the grand harbour. So you can take the ferry to Valletta for your work.
If you are interested give notice.

Regards Rosmarie

Thank you Pevi and the rest for all your comments.....this is now a debate in my family...For our girl that will birth on January it is clear that State primary schools will be the option...However for Marco (the 4 years one) we still think about....a new house, a new sister, a new country, a new school and two more languages may be too much for him (obviously it depends on each child personality)...so maybe until he will be fluent in English (at least from March to September) we are considering the possibility of a private small school and we will see them how he adapts.......
Do somebody knows or have a feedback from Newark school in Sliema????
Thank you one more time to you all for your comments!!! They were very helpful !!!

Rosmarie thank you very much for the offert.  I wanted to find a flat close to the schoolfor my son Marco but I am still looking for the school so I do not know where the school will be located. 

But for December could be an option. How may I contact you to check conditions? Let me know!