<p>We may need to relocate, can anyone give impressions on quality of education & quality of life at schools around London? We want coed middle & high schools with an american/international flavor and strong placement back to US top schools (harvard/stanford/MIT)</p>
<p>TASIS is geographically closest to a potential job... but how does it compare to ASL or ACS (and is cobham the best of 3 ACS's?).</p>
<p>if we were sticking in US, we'd be looking at Exeter/Hotchkiss/Lawrenceville... can anyone make helpful contrast/comparisons?</p>
<p>I’d suggest you take a much different approach to finding the right place when studying abroad. </p>
<p>You shouldn’t feel compelled to slot in and dovetail with a U.S. curriculum because (a) admissions readers for the international zone don’t expect to see it from their applicants and they’re capable of making adjustments; (b) the ex-pat experience is amazing and distinctive enough to impress – especially if you’re not replicating a U.S. high school experience and effectively negating the diversity your child(ren) can bring to a college from a foreign program; and (c) you’ll keep options open for British, Scottish and Irish post-secondary education if you go with a local education (perhaps supplemented with U.S. subjects).</p>
<p>I’d be more inclined to find schools that match up with interests/activities, provide a challenging curriculum that your child(ren) won’t outgrow, and – this is key – have a vacation schedule that’s compatible with your work holidays and the other kids’ holidays so that you can travel and really take full advantage of the experience that awaits you.</p>
<p>If you can’t resist the temptation to find the school that caters best to U.S. needs – and recognize that you’re once again competing with like-minded people at such schools for coveted Ivy admissions – I think the best way to judge that is to look at the colleges you’re hoping your kid will attend and see which London area schools they are holding their open houses at when their regional admissions officer breezes through town.</p>
<p>If you believe you will be re-patriating to the U.S. before high school graduation, then your focus should be on matching up with requirements for the American school or school system your child will be returning to. This would be a good time to get a strong idea of what the requirements are – so that you can take that with you and make sure your child stays on track when the transition occurs.</p>
<p>heps-thanks for the vote of confidence on TASIS. In contrast, I did get a vote of no-confidence on ACS schools via pm.</p>
<p>D’yer- thanks for the thoughtful & thought provoking reply. It’s so difficult to get good information about the “fit” of a school from a distance, it’s possible we’re a little too hasty in narrowing to international schools. That said, we lean toward them because of the uncertainty around length of rotation and ease of return to US schools. We’re open to other suggestions for good schools, but suspect that we’ll land in an international school for reasons of flexibility. But we’re early in the search, and happy for all input, if others want to weigh in (with general advice, or a favorite school).</p>
<p>Just a general comment about ex-patriation in general. I think families tend to fall in one of two camps. There are the people who jump in and take it in for all its worth, and there are the people who cling to the edge of the pool, hoping to interact with the water as similarly to being on terra firma as humanly possible. I think they’re both valid ways to go about it, depending on your situation and your personal make-up. I’ve got friends who send their kids to a very nice school that’s located in a favela in Rio. I’ve got friends who have their driver take their kids from the American “ghetto” in a large Indian city to the cordoned off “American school” on the other side of town. Even at our school there’s a tension between the many competing interests of families with different lengths of stay, different educational objectives, different perspectives…and it’s not a matter of one way being right and the others being wrong. But I will say this much: to the extent you can swim with the fishes, do it! It will NOT be easy, but it will be immensely rewarding and, speaking as a dad, I can’t think of anything that will bring a family together better than ex-patriating with a commitment to embrace the new culture as fully as practicable. (Think how close the Robinson family was in “Lost in Space” – just to prove my point. Sorta.) The more your kids move in, out and around a new culture, the more you’ll seem them grow in many ways. Of course an international school can provide lots of benefits in this way. They’ll likely meet kids from all over the world and have them as friends forever, especially with tools such as Facebook that make it hard to lose touch. Just don’t go into this with the mindset of trying to make it like America and cheat yourself out of the biggest benefits of this assignment.</p>
<p>Not sure if this thread is still alive but only just noticed it. If the OP is looking at middle school & high school places for her kids, local schools here in England won’t really suit. High School - GCSE and A levels are each two year linked courses . If OP has student going into Junior year (Year 12 here or Lower Sixth), and really wants to put him/her in a local school, maybe an English school offering IB diploma would suit. </p>
<p>I’ve had kids in both local and international school systems here in greater London area. So I’ve been both an ACS and TASIS parent - and am familiar with ASL though my interviewing as a Harvard alum.) D who graduated from the English school system went on to Oxford but did get acceptances at top US colleges. I can understand the warning re ACS. PM if you want more detailed info on ACS/TASIS.</p>
<p>For all my opinion is worth, you might want to check out <em>if you’re considering non-American school, which I would encourage you to do </em>Westminster and St. Paul’s.</p>
<p>Thanks, samuck & RakG for contributing your thoughts… transfer is still undecided (and out of our hands for the next few weeks). Consequently, we are still fielding ideas but not yet applying. For sake of others interested in the thread, I’ll think out loud here:</p>
<p>Samuck’s point is a good one: others suggest there are real difficulties transferring in and out of traditional English school curricula. That said, we’re open to British schools (diving in to culture as D’yer suggests)… But if so, we would probably lean toward one that had IB program, like Sevenoaks School. </p>
<p>The biggest barrier at the finest British (non-international) schools is that they do not appear to be open to applications a mere 9 months before entry (sadly true of Sevenoaks). Looking at RakG’s suggestions:
Westminster: “For 13+ entry boys must be registered by [age 11]. Ideally a boy should be registered by the end of Year 5 (the academic year of his 10th birthday). In fact boys can be registered from birth.”
St. Pauls For 13+: “The minimum registration age is seven years-old. We recommend registering five years prior to entry to avoid a last minute rush. The final deadline will be during May four years prior to entry.”</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the odds might be of trying for late entry at any of these places? Seems like it wouldn’t be worth the bother of trying to get on a waitlist since we’d probably try to nail down a position at an international school with open & rolling admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the input, all. And happy holidays! :)</p>
<p>St. Pauls and Westminster are superb schools. Entry is by examination and interview and the process as the OP notes begins years in advance, or in the case of schools with intake at the sixth form (ie age 16) a full year in advance. . Registration for Westminsters Sixth Form entry in 2012 will open in June 2011. So no, late entry is not a possibility at schools in this tier. You might take a look at The Good Schools Guide to get a sense of whats available beyond the usual suspects of ACS/SouthBank/Tasis/ASL ([The</a> Good Schools Guide to choosing a school. Which school? Independent, state, public, private, prep, junior, senior, primary, special, private and public schools and educational and SEN - The Good School Guide](<a href=“http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/]The”>http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/)) Theres a section aimed at families coming in from overseas. Will PM specific feedback on the international schools.</p>
<p>Hi all. I realize this thread is a bit stale, but my family is considering tasis and acs cobham for our elementary school-aged boys. We will be expats starting this summer. I see that samuck and seekers offered to PM regarding comparing these schools, and I’d love to hear from you, as well as anyone else with a thought or two. Thanks!</p>
<p>As fate would have it, our transfer fell through at the last minute, so we stopped exploring the London options. I’m afraid I didn’t get very far into finding detailed information that would help me evaluate fit & feel. The general consensus I got via PM was that TASIS would be the best option for our situation (where our work site was located, how long our stay was, and academic rigor)… YMMV, best of luck in the search!</p>
<p>Because of the location of my H company offices, many of his colleagues lived in Surrey and sent their kids to ACS and most were very happy. We also know people who sent kids to local ‘state’ schools and to ‘public’ schools, but unless they knew they were going to be in the UK for the duration of secondary school, they did not change systems mid-stream. Unless you want your child tested to death in grades 9/10, why do GCSE if you do not have to? If you want something international rather than purely American in curriculum, look for a good IB program. If your child has any sort of learning issues, be very cautious about UK curricular schools as the GCSE exams, in particular, have new and very strict criterion for accommodations for examination and this translates into limited support during school programming as well. </p>
<p>Also if you have never been an expat before, think about what the experience would be for your whole family if your child is at school X versus school Y. School community life is a big focus as an expat… there is much more to the experience than just the school curriculum, etc…</p>
<p>‘tested to death’ just about sums up the end of 10th but the prior years aren’t too bad, the only problem being that they are completely focused on these exams, with two year courses in everything. Because of this, I strongly wouldn’t reccomend joining a UK school if you aren’t intending to stay long term. This length of course was actually the reason my parents decided against me applying to bs this year (I’m in 9th). But seriously, my main problem is that they aren’t hard enough; so state (or even a grammar school, which I’m at) probably won’t be the best thing if your child really excels. Obviously there are further opportunities, but a lot less than in US schools.
I’m also considering Westminster (who accept girls for 6th form) and possibly St Pauls as alternatives to US bs, which you do have to apply a year in advance, but they accept people at 6th, 8th and 11th, or at least I think they do :)</p>
<p>Not sure if this thread is still open but we will likely transfer to London in the next year or so when my sons will be rising 11th and 7th graders. Currently, they attend an IB school in Europe. We are Americans but have lived in Europe for six years. I’m looking for information about ASL, Cobham and any other school that might be a good fit. The plan would be for each to complete high school in London. I’m not totally wedded to finding another IB program as I’m not sure it is the right curriculum for them - especially the older son. Any information will be appreciated…</p>
We are in the same situation as Eurotex, rising 9th and 7th graders, 9th grader is dyslexic. Which schools did you apply to and what are your impressions of your current school? I’d be gfateful for your feedback, right now we are looking at iCs and ACS cobham and Hillingdon, eventually Dwight.