Children adjusting/schooling

Hello all,

I think this is such a great community/ site. Can not wait to get over . I have three girls, two will be in school ages 7 and 9. Has anyone had trouble with their children adjusting? I have heard that the schooling thing can be difficult. We unfortunately will be moving mid term and I am wondering about placement for my children? What happens if there is no available space in the school that is in the community that we move to? If they were to have to go to a different school, would that be forever or would they have a chance to go to the community school at the beginning of next year.

Thanks

Hello all,

I think this is such a great community/ site. Can not wait to get over . I have three girls, two will be in school ages 7 and 9. Has anyone had trouble with their children adjusting? I have heard that the schooling thing can be difficult. We unfortunately will be moving mid term and I am wondering about placement for my children? What happens if there is no available space in the school that is in the community that we move to? If they were to have to go to a different school, would that be forever or would they have a chance to go to the community school at the beginning of next year.

Thanks

Hello MWR,

I'm not an expat (not yet anyway), but my husband and I are planning on moving to the U.K. as soon as I finish my nursing degree.  We have one son, who is only 2 1/2, but we wanted to know how the schooling works over there.  Let me tell you, I searched for a while, but I did come up with some very helpful sites. 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/fs/en

(This first one should answer a lot of your questions.)

http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/index2.php?land=England&county=Devon&submit=

http://www.educate.org.uk/

The last two sites list names and profiles of many different schools throughout the country.  It might give you and your family a better idea of how things work in the U.K.  Also, like you said, this community is very helpful, and many are parents here, so schooling is definitely mentioned here a lot.  Hope this helps!

Rebekah

Great question.
Having an 11 year old this is my GREATEST concern.  I have been told by recruiters to choose where I want to live in the UK then choose schools...I can't get  how to find a school to be honest.  I want to live in the South Coastal area of the UK and am overwhelmed with the idea of finding a school for my daughter. 

What part of the UK are you looking to move to mwrkgreen?

I understand your concern....my daughter's adjustment was my number one concern-- she was 14 when we moved over last year. I was fortunate that we were moving to be with my now husband who has lived in this area for all of his life. He was able to talk to friends who had children to get their recommendations on schools. We ended up narrowing our choices down to 3 in the area. Luckily one of the choices was a catholic school and she was offered a place automatically since she was baptized catholic. The other two schools were full.

Good Luck on your search--- just remember kids adjust amazingly well with support--- my daughter has blossomed. Call schools and talk to the headteacher or deputy head and see how they sound about offering support to someone in your child's situation. The deputy head stressed to me to let my daughter know not to worry about anything that was their job to worry about what she needs--- and she has kept her promise by supporting my daughter every step of the way.

Helena

Thankyou for the resposes. Hg, do you know what happens if there is not spce for your child and it is mud term. I imagine that I will want my girls to go to a school that is in the town that we live. I definitely do not want them to start the somewhere this year and move the schools the next.

Thanks,

Rebecca

http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/fs/en

(This first one should answer a lot of your questions.)

http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/index2.php?land=England&county=Devon&submit=

http://www.educate.org.uk/


Great sites

If you know where you're moving for sure I would contact the LEA (local education authority) in that area. I am sure you can find their number online by searching for the community's govt. agencies.  The authority can tell you what schools are available in that area. It would be good to let them know you're definitely moving mid-term so that you can find a placement. Right now there are several communities here that are having a hard time placing children for next year.

My twin sons started out in reception this past Sept.  As a former middle school teacher in the US, I was a bit concerned about them starting full-time school at such an early age. I was especially worried because they just turned five a bit ago, making them the youngest in their class. They have managed brilliantly though...in fact, tomorrow is their last day! (The school calendar is one aspect of british schooling you will have to adjust to.)

I have been supply teaching 12-16 year-olds quite regularly. I can say that from my experiences here, the schools are not more educationally demanding than the US school I previously taught in. I am sure your children will fit in fine at their ages. I would go ahead and look into available school placements for them right away though. Knowing the name of their school will be helpful with their adjustment.

Good luck!

Just found this site, I haven't looked at it, but it might be helpful:http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/students/lea_lea_contact_det.shtml

I moved here with my two little boys. My eldest was just 5 and started year 1 just after xmas. He loved it. No problems at all and in fact he was very popular with the entire school and staff because of his American accent. For the first few weeks he often had little groups of kids around him. Now, 5 years later, he adopted the Brit accent and is just another face in the crowd.

Hello,

This is probably one of my biggest concerns about moving to the UK is my son and is adjustment not just to moving but to school as he does not do well with change.  I have contacted a couple of Catholic schools which is my first choice since he was baptized Catholic and we are Catholics of course.  I have showed him pictures of the perspective schools and some of the pictures with kids and of course the uniforms and he says I am not wearing a uniform, people will laugh at me.  he is only 5 (gosh I created a monster already) .  We will be moving in January so when school is out here in Texas for xmas he will not start back to school until mid January.  The school that I contacted said that she did not have any openings for his age group, he will be six in November.  Are the schools in the UK understanding with regards to acting out behaviors because of the new surroundings, new enviornment ect?  My son is so used to the 1:1 attention he gets at his private school and it is much smaller only about 50 kids.  Any advice on how to help him adjust.