Moving to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire with Hubby and Three kiddos!

Hello everyone, I'm new to the board. My name is Connie. My husband is expatriating to Cheltenham this summer for a 3+ year assignment so we are coming along. We have three kids, who will be 9, 7, and 1 this summer. Any good suggestions on schools in that area that are good for American children transitioning into the UK education system? Any advice on helping the kids adjust to the new system? I'm extremely nervous about how my girls will adjust (my son is the baby). We are familiar with the town layout having visited last summer for a few weeks. Any recommendations and advice are greatly appreciated!!

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Hi Connie,

Not sure if you are still looking for info but Gloucestershire is one of the areas we are thinking of moving to.  My MIL lives in Cheltenham.  It's a really nice town with a reputation for good schools.

When I have been researching I found these sites helpful for school info

locrating.com
www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk [nofollow]
www.schoolguide.co.uk [nofollow]

Also the ofsted reports and schools own websites can give some idea of what a particular school is like. 

My children are 12, 9 and nearly 8 and when we were visiting the UK a couple of summers ago we had them attend a primary school for 6 weeks specifically for them to get a feel for what UK school is like. 

This was a small village school I think maybe 70 children total!

They were UK Year 4, 1 and Reception at that point.  They all LOVED it and were on par with their UK peers.  I think maybe maths was a bit tricky for the middle as they were slightly ahead of where he was (on multiplication) and because some of the terms and methods were different to what he was used to but a teaching assistant gave him extra help which quickly caught him up and put him in the "top set". 

The youngest had only been doing half day preschool for a few months beforehand and I wasn't sure how she'd do with a full day but she took it in stride.

The things the liked about the UK school were:-
The dinners!!!
More recess
Smaller classes
Swimming lessons
PE - the variety and greater frequency of it and especially loved that they changed into PE kit for it - strange children
The way a topic was taught across subjects
More after school clubs
Uniform - although I think that was novelty more than anything

Things like smaller class sizes is of course going to depend entirely on the particular UK school.

I just asked my 12 year old and she added -
Loved that they "jazzed up" the schedule (not the same timetable day in day out) and that the children were so friendly.  No rowdy bus to go on (we drove and walked).  No homework!!!! Just reading - which mine all enjoy anyway. Much less testing.  Everyone will be amazed at your American accent.

This was in a small country primary school whereas the primary schools in Cheltenham will be bigger unless you choose to put them in a primary school in one of the surrounding villages - which means a drive of course.

If we end up in Gloucestershire I'd love to meet up.

Hi Connie,

Not sure if you are still looking for info but Gloucestershire is one of the areas we are thinking of moving to.  My MIL lives in Cheltenham.  It's a really nice town with a reputation for good schools.

When I have been researching I found these sites helpful for school info

locrating.com
newcomer link: http://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk [nonactive]
newcomer link: http://www.schoolguide.co.uk [nonactive]

Also the ofsted reports and schools own websites can give some idea of what a particular school is like. 

My children are 12, 9 and nearly 8 and when we were visiting the UK a couple of summers ago we had them attend a primary school for 6 weeks specifically for them to get a feel for what UK school is like. 

This was a small village school I think maybe 70 children total!

They were UK Year 4, 1 and Reception at that point.  They all LOVED it and were on par with their UK peers.  I think maybe maths was a bit tricky for the middle as they were slightly ahead of where he was (on multiplication) and because some of the terms and methods were different to what he was used to but a teaching assistant gave him extra help which quickly caught him up and put him in the "top set". 

The youngest had only been doing half day preschool for a few months beforehand and I wasn't sure how she'd do with a full day but she took it in stride.

The things the liked about the UK school were:-
The dinners!!!
More recess
Smaller classes
Swimming lessons
PE - the variety and greater frequency of it and especially loved that they changed into PE kit for it - strange children
The way a topic was taught across subjects
More after school clubs
Uniform - although I think that was novelty more than anything

Things like smaller class sizes is of course going to depend entirely on the particular UK school.

I just asked my 12 year old and she added -
Loved that they "jazzed up" the schedule (not the same timetable day in day out) and that the children were so friendly.  No rowdy bus to go on (we drove and walked).  No homework!!!! Just reading - which mine all enjoy anyway. Much less testing.  Everyone will be amazed at your American accent.

This was in a small country primary school whereas the primary schools in Cheltenham will be bigger unless you choose to put them in a primary school in one of the surrounding villages - which means a drive of course.

If we end up in Gloucestershire I'd love to meet up.

Hi GiddyUp! Thank you much for the great information! I'm excited that we have found a school, Dean Close Preparatory school! We are so excited for all the great things the girls are going to get to do at their new school!

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Glad you are sorted!  Enjoy!