Comparison between the public school in US and London

[Anonymous]

Hello. What do you think of the non-private school in London, England compared to the public school in the US? We might move to the London. We don't have option for the private because of the budget. Are there any differentiation for high achiever in the class( ES, MS, HS)? Thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

I was educated in the UK (not London) and elsewhere. What grades are your children in? Informally, I'd expect more advanced math education in the UK, generally at the higher grades. You also should expect religious education in public schools.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP. My DD is 2nd grader.

[Anonymous]

Can't speak to London but I grew up in Germany for 10 years and attended German public schools and my experience there is that German public school education was substantially more robust and rigorous than American public school education.

[Anonymous]

Generally speaking the education is more rigorous. As in the US though it is difficult to generalize. The experience you would get at an inner city school where 80 percent of the children are Somali immigrants will be different from one in a prosperous suburb. Many of the better state schools are religious, mainly CofE, so be prepared for that.

[Anonymous]

Yes -- at my school (UK, but 35 years ago, so not sure if this is still the case) we started every day by reciting the Lord's Prayer as a class. This was at a state-funded school.

[Anonymous]

The UK pushes them harder in the younger years, for sure. They start "real school" at 4, not 5. That said, I think it evens out by middle and high school.

The UK tends also to be less concerned about self-confidence, in that they have no issues rewarding and calling out the best students. There's a lot less helicoptering that happens there and no one gets a trophy for just participating. For better or worse!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes -- at my school (UK, but 35 years ago, so not sure if this is still the case) we started every day by reciting the Lord's Prayer as a class. This was at a state-funded school.

That doesn't happen now.

OP - it really depends where you will be in London. Generally outside of London is better for schools. Much like public schools are very different across DC. We've had the opposite issue - moving from the UK to the US ... now my kids do a lot more memorizing (US states, presidents, historical events, etc.). I'd say the curriculum is more rounded there in general - but they specialize early in England (by the last years of high school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was educated in the UK (not London) and elsewhere. What grades are your children in? Informally, I'd expect more advanced math education in the UK, generally at the higher grades. You also should expect religious education in public schools.

UK math under the newer curricula in the last 10 years trails behind the top-tier tracks in the USA. In the earlier grades, because UK students begin "real" academic schooling a year or two earlier than in the USA, in the elementary and early middle school years the UK curricula would be more advanced. In addition, for languages, the UK along with most countries in the EU provide a more robust curriculum that the US schools. Social science and arts are about equivalent.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for the precious information, everyone. I'm a little bit relieved. We are not sure about the place we are going to live. Do you have any recommendation of the place to live? I prefer family-friendly and education-oriented atmosphere, but the budget is limited, which will be the problem....

[Anonymous]

What is your budget? London is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

[Anonymous]

Here you are ...
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jan/20/top-local-authorities-schools-london

Like anywhere, the good school districts come with the expensive housing. Though a few surprises in that list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't speak to London but I grew up in Germany for 10 years and attended German public schools and my experience there is that German public school education was substantially more robust and rigorous than American public school education.

Interesting because our German au pairs were shocked at how much more rigorous public school was for our early elementary school kids here. I think it gets harder in the older grades there (after gymnasium splits off from realschule, etc.) but then only the "smarter" kids are in the hard classes anyway as the other kids are in the equivalent of trade school.

[Anonymous]

[quote]Interesting because our German au pairs were shocked at how much more rigorous public school was for our early elementary school kids here. I think it gets harder in the older grades there (after gymnasium splits off from realschule, etc.) but then only the "smarter" kids are in the hard classes anyway as the other kids are in the equivalent of trade school.

And I'll bet they don't have nearly as many kids on ADHD medication. It's nice to be able to wait for some kids to grow up. Here it's a "race to the top".

[Anonymous]

There really is no comparison. UK schools vary hugely from region to region (and as people have noted the inner London schools are crammed to bursting and are largely non-English speaking in a lot of areas).

The US public schools are hugely diverse. It depends on the state and the county in terms of funding, quality of teaching, etc.