Daily immersionAges 2.5 – 6
Roots & Wings
Mon–Fri · 09:30–14:00 · Sep–Jun
Our daily immersive English program for ages 2.5–6. Native speakers, 5:1 ratio, and more than half the day spent outdoors. Only 3 places left for 2026/27.
Learn moreDaily immersion · Ages 2.5 – 6
Real English, real fast, from age three...
Roots & Wings is our daily immersive English program for ages 2.5–6. Half the week outdoors, native-speaker teachers, never more than five children per adult. Built for expat and local families who want their child to grow up speaking real English — not memorising it.
Children in our most recent cohort were regularly improvising functional sentences within their first year.
Places taken for 2026/276/9
5:1
Children per adult
50%+
Time outdoors
Mon–Fri
09:30 – 14:00
Half the week outside
Gardens, Playgrounds. Beaches
Native speakers only
Real English, all day
What makes 'Roots & Wings' a little different
Real communication. Real results
Children learn English the way they learned Spanish: by needing it, hearing it, and using it. Conversation comes first, rules come later, and quickly.
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Learning is an Adventure
The gardens, the sierra, the beach. More than 50% of every school year happens outside — because that is where vocabulary actually sticks.
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Small groups. Big wins
A 5:1 ratio in all our early years programs. We really know all our kids and they know us.
Join the waiting listOur Programs
Four programs, one simple idea: speak English by living it.
Whether your child is three or thirteen — or you teach phonics and want to sharpen your method — there is a place for you in our small, sunny school.
Daily immersion
After schoolAges 3 – 18
Extracurricular Classes
Mon–Fri · 16:00–21:00 · Sep–Jun
Three tracks: Dynamic Conversation, Targeted Reinforcement, and Cambridge Exam Prep. Around 8 children per teacher.
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29.06 – 28.07Ages 3 – 6
Summer School
Mon–Fri · 09:00–14:00
Pure immersion in summer mode. Adventures, garden days, themed play. Same warm, play-led method with extra sunshine and fresh air.
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Pro developmentFor teachers
Phonics Workshops
Half-day · By arrangement
Hands-on phonics training built from 20+ years classroom experience. Practical tools for early-years and primary educators. Also supports parents helping at home.
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Named after Ella
the founders' eldest daughter
About the AcademyA family school that teaches English
Come Meet Us In Motril
A family school that teaches English
the way English is actually learned.
Ella's English Academy started with a small belief: a second language doesn't come from worksheets — it comes from minutes, hours, and days of feeling at home in it. So we built a school that lives in English all day, and where learning is an adventure!
A real family school
Founder-led and named after the founders' eldest daughter. Every child is known by name — and so is every parent.
Real outdoor people
Hiking, climbing, canyoning. Our team genuinely loves being outside, which is why our students end up loving it too.
Montessori-inspired approach
Children as capable researchers of their own world. Open materials, project work, and time to follow real curiosity.
English only, all day
From the first step in, children enter a true native English environment — no translations, no switching
Montessori Inspired MethodOutdoor Learning at Core20+ Years Teaching ExperienceBritish International School BackgroundConstructivist ApproachExam Success PathwaySmall Groups, Real AttentionSpecialist TeachersGrow Kind. Build Strong.Montessori Inspired MethodOutdoor Learning at Core20+ Years Teaching ExperienceBritish International School BackgroundConstructivist ApproachExam Success PathwaySmall Groups, Real AttentionSpecialist TeachersGrow Kind. Build Strong.
A Day With Us
A rhythm of speaking, moving, and discovering.
A typical day at Ella's is a mix of quiet focus, loud delight, fresh air and fun. Here is some of what your child will fall in love with.
Real World Learning
Regular family hikes, carol singing in Motril, play days in the beautiful local Park — we take English out of the classroom and into real life.
Story & Phonics Time
Read-alouds, decoding games, and sounds-first phonics that build reading without breaking the fun.
Drama & Conversation
Role-play, improvisation, and the kind of pretend that quietly turns shy speakers into confident ones.
Project Workshops
Cooking, building, science experiments. Real projects with real materials — and English as the working language.
What Families Say
The proof is in the bedtime stories.
Real words from real parents at the academy.
“My son is attending Summer School and he's absolutely delighted. Every day he can't wait to go back. You can really tell there's a very friendly and safe atmosphere, and the children spend time playing outside and taking part in lots of activities in English, which makes learning feel very natural and fun. It's a brilliant experience for him, ideal for being immersed in English whilst having a great time.”
Céline Roux
Parent · Summer School
“We're delighted with Ella's English. It's a language school that focuses on the children's learning through fun and engaging activities. We've been with the school for three years now and my children love going there.”
Marie-Claire Richardson
Parent · Extracurricular
“Karlos, our son, is starting his second year in the Roots & Wings group at Ella's English, and after the first year we can only speak in superlatives about the school, about Mark and Bianca, and about everything they offer our child. Karlos took to the school within the first few days — the whole team is warm, caring and considerate, and it's the first time we've truly felt that our child is genuinely looked after. Mark and Bianca pour their whole heart into the children's wellbeing every day: always inventing new activities in the park or in the classroom. Coming from the Nordics, it matters a lot to us that our child gets time outdoors during the school day, and at Roots & Wings the teachers have solved this beautifully — 2 or 3 days a week they're at Parque de las Américas doing all sorts of activities in any weather. On classroom days they still spend a great deal of time outside on the front playground. The teachers genuinely and frequently share summaries reflecting on Karlos's wins and struggles. When he joined the group he knew a couple of English words; in just five and a half months surrounded by native speakers every day he has picked up more than two hundred English words, and can now independently hold a conversation and play in English. We're absolutely delighted and sincerely grateful that here on the Costa Tropical there is such a warm daily place for our child.”
Kristo Siraki
Parent · Roots & Wings
From The Classroom
More on InstagramA few moments from our happy little school.
Meet The Founders
The family behind Ella's English.
A small school is only ever as good as the people who run it. Ours is run by the same two people who founded it — and who teach in it every single day.
Bianca
Founder & Director
Bianca spent over a decade teaching at British international schools in Spain and Portugal before founding the academy — and naming it after her eldest daughter, Ella. She leads the early-years program and the phonics workshops, and she still teaches every week.
Mark
Founder & Community
Mark runs the operational side of the academy — enrolments, family communication, and the outdoor programme that pulls everyone out of the classroom. A keen hiker, climber and canyoner, he brings the same outdoor energy to the Ella's calendar that Bianca brings to the classroom.
Good Questions
The things parents always ask us.
Straight answers, no small print. Anything else — call, write, or just come by.
Is Roots & Wings a nursery (guardería)?
No — and that's by design. Roots & Wings is a daily English immersion programme run by a private language academy, for children aged 2.5–6, Monday to Friday from 09:30 to 14:00. Many families use it the way they would a morning nursery, but what we offer is a language and early-learning environment: native-speaker teachers, a 5:1 ratio, and more than half of every day outdoors.
From what age can my child start?
From 2.5 years old in Roots & Wings. After-school Extracurricular Classes run from age 3 all the way to 18, and Summer School takes children aged 3–6.
My child already speaks English but can't read or write it. Can you help?
Yes — many bilingual children on the Costa Tropical speak English regularly at home but never learn to read and write it properly. Our phonics-based literacy work and Cambridge certificate preparation give them the written foundation to match their spoken English.
Do you prepare children for Cambridge exams?
Yes. We prepare Young Learners (Starters, Movers, Flyers), A1/A2, B1/B2 and C1 — within our after-school tracks for ages 3–18. Our specialist teachers for the examination classes are highly qualified and speak native-standard English.
Speaking English in public is very hard for my child. Can you help?
Yes — practice works best when it's fun. The principle of immersion runs through every one of our programs, so constant exposure and low-stakes speaking every day quietly builds competence. And competence breeds confidence.
Do you run an English summer camp?
Yes — Summer School runs from late June to late July, Monday to Friday, 09:00 - 14:00, for ages 3–6. Full English immersion through play: garden mornings and themed adventures every week.
We live outside Motril — which areas do families come from?
Most of our families are in Motril and Torrenueva Costa, with several travelling from Salobreña, Almuñécar, Calahonda, Castell de Ferro and Órgiva. As a British-style English-speaking academy, we draw families from along the whole Costa Tropical — Summer School and Cambridge exam preparation in particular.
Visits welcome Mon–Fri
Come by. Bring your child.See if it feels like home.
The fastest way to know if Ella's is right for your family is to walk through the gate. Send a quick message — we usually reply the same day, and we love showing people around.
Send us a message
We aim to reply within one working day.