Daily immersionAges 3+
Roots & Wings
Mon–Fri · 09:30–14:00 · Sep–Jun
Not daycare. A morning community. Native English and Spanish, a prepared room, and the park five minutes away. Stay a week, a month, or the year.
Learn moreDaily immersion · Ages 3+
A morning landing place for traveling families.
Roots & Wings is a small bilingual language group for children aged 3+ on the Costa Tropical. Native English and Spanish teachers. More than half the week outdoors. Stay a week, a month, or a season.
“... In five months he was holding conversations and playing in English on his own.”
Places taken for 2026/276/9
6:1
In the room · 3:1 in the park
50%+
Time outdoors
Mon–Fri
09:30 – 14:00
Half the week outside
Parque de las Américas, just five minutes away
English and Spanish
Native teachers, from the first morning
What makes 'Roots & Wings' a little different
Real communication. Real results
Children learn through play, and that is how English sticks too. They need it, hear it, and use it with native speakers — in songs, stories, and real conversation. The same play builds social and emotional skills, early literacy, and the brush control that later becomes writing. Between three and six, another language still arrives as play.
Join a class
Learning is an Adventure
Two full days a week at Parque de las Américas — playgrounds, trees, sand, a duck pond — rain or shine. Classroom days still use the front patio. More than half the week is fresh air.
Join an outdoor day
Small by Design
Never more than six children to one adult, and three to one on park days. The same adults every day.
Join the waiting listOur Programs
Three threads, 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 +
Extraescolares Classes
Mon–Fri · 16:00–21:00 · Sep–Jun
Three tracks: Dynamic Conversation, Targeted Reinforcement, and Cambridge Exam Prep. Around 8 children per teacher.
Learn more
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.
Learn more
Named after Ella
the founders' daughter
About the AcademyA family school.
Come Meet Us In Motril
A family school.
English, lived then learned...
Ella’s English has two student programmes. Roots & Wings is a bilingual morning: native English and Spanish, a prepared room, more than half the week outside. Extraescolares is English after school: conversation, a hand where it’s needed, Cambridge when the exam is the point. The ethos is the same. Children learn when they want to. Play is the seed.
Run by the people who started it
Bianca and Mark founded the academy and named it for their daughter. They are still here — not a brand, a team.
Small by design
No back row - small groups - specialist teachers. We know the child in front of us.
Montessori-inspired approach
Children as capable researchers of their own world. Open materials, project work, and time to follow real curiosity.
Two doors, one standard
A morning community for the early years, or an after-school track to an exam. Children learn when they want to. Play is the seed.
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 learning 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.
“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 · Extraescolares
“Karlos has made incredible progress. He speaks English with confidence now and loves the outdoor days. The teachers genuinely care and keep us updated.”
Kristo Siraki
Parent · Roots & Wings
“The best decision we made for our daughter. The balance of play and learning is perfect, and she is so happy there.”
Arabella Half Moon
Parent · Google review
“It is the best English academy in Motril. The children learn with native teachers, and everyone there is outstanding, with real human quality. My daughter learns every day, and it shows in the excellent marks she gets. I encourage every parent to sign their children up.”
Maria del Carmen Koudia Segura
Parent · Google review
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 leads the educational side and named the academy after her daughter Ella, now 21 and sailing around the world. More than twenty years in British international schools. She still teaches.
Mark
Founder & Community
Mark is an outdoor cat; happiest hiking, camping, snorkeling or climbing. He runs the park days, student days out, and the family excursions.
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?
No — and that is the point. It is a morning community for children aged 3+, Monday to Friday, 09:30 to 14:00. Native English and Spanish teachers. Never more than six to one adult, and three to one on park days. More than half the week outdoors. Many families use the morning the way they would a nursery. What they are buying is language, a prepared room, and adults who know their child.
From what age can my child start?
From 3 years old in Roots & Wings. After-school Extraescolares Classes run from age 3 all the way to 18.
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.
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 — 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.