Life in the town of Mönchengladbach

Hi everyone,

I'll be moving to Moenchen Gladbach from Brisbane in January.

Does anybody have any info on primary schools in the area. My son will be grade one and though I'd prefer a catholic school if there were any other recommendations I'd be grateful.My son has a lot of spoken German(german dad) but his written may not be on par with his peers.

Also very interested to meet any other Irish/English people in the area.

After 5 years with the non-drinking Australians (yes thet all drink like fish on their year or 2 in Europe and then dry out for the rest of their lives!) we are looking forward to sinking some pints. Some background I'm Irish but lived in England for 12 years where I met my husband.We then emigrated to Melbourne,with our son.Spent 2 years there and 3 in Brisbane.Oz is great but felt we were on a permanent sun holiday without the atmosphere.Missed Europe too much.Anyway my husband has a job with a dutch company which want him to base himself in the NRW area.Would have loved to try Koln but unfortunately house prices compared to Oz means not really affordable for us.Any tips or info would be greatly appreciated.Forgive the silly login name but it's what my humourous hubby calls me (yes he's one of the mad Germans!) and the first thing that came to mind!

Ps looking into Healt Insurance.Is private insurance compulsory as the prices seem extortionate?

Hello

I can not suggest any local schools put plenty of "brits" an army base called JHQ not far from MG so on weekends MG is pretty "british"

There's a small group of Brits/Americans in Aachen, which is pretty close by. And if you just need a taste of home, go visit the Aachen Christmas market. I swear, there were more Brits there than Germans last weekend!

(Sorry, no kids here, so I can't offer any information on schools.)

Plenty of schools in MG ... scroll down to Kath. (Katholische) Grundschule

Don't worry about your kid's written German - children in Germany start by learning the letters in year 1 primary school. The rest of the kids won't be able to read or write at all...

Health Insurance? Yes, it's compulsory and yes it's expensive. Will your husband be an employee or self-employed ?

Hey guys!

What is the correct English spelling of this city?

Is it Monchengladbach or Moenchengladbach?

Thanks in advance (any source links would be super)