Year abroad in London: Elementary Schools

[Anonymous]

Has anyone done a year abroad in London with kids and, if so, how did you handle schooling?

We have two elementary-school aged children and are open as to neighborhoods. We do understand through early research that many of the state schools are oversubscribed (and that may not even be a possibility, given our short-term travels). We're also looking into the private and international/American schools in case that's our best option. We are not travelling through government, so those mechanisms aren't accessible to us.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Use the resources and connections of your London employer. From what I understand, this is a challenge.

[Anonymous]

The American school in London might be your best bet. Kids in Britain start school at 4 so the academic years dont exactly line up well with the American system.

[Anonymous]

It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

[Anonymous]

Be prepared to pay big bucks for private schools. ASL is around $40K these days. Homeschool or try a Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

I'm not the OP so I have no idea if this is even something they'd do, but if you are only there for a year, I'm wondering if you couldn't keep your state of residency in the US and homeschool through that state. There are families all the time who take a year off and travel while homeschooling. My parents have met up with homeschooling families who live aboard boats that travel the Caribbean for a year or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

This is just not true. In fact, if you were to move to London and homeschool you would never be know to the local authority at all. It's pretty easy.

[Anonymous]

I am a Londoner. I know several American families who have come here for a year or more, and most I know have gone to the American School in St John's Wood, after looking around at the other options. If you are only going to be here a year, that does seem like a good option for you since you'll be able to keep them on a similar curriculum, and they will be with a group of people comprising expats and other international students.
State schools here can be a total nightmare - it is true that the best ones are totally oversubscribed and you would need to do a lot of research to find an area you would like to live in which has a school you would get into. I can't advise on that because my neighbourhood is one of those with extremely oversubscribed schools! Private schools can be excellent (but there is a lot of variety and some are very traditional and British and might not be what you are looking for). Have a look at the Sunday Times school guide to start with. You might want to start zeroing in on neighbourhoods that work for you based on home prices, proximity to transport or work, communities of people you want to be near, etc, and then work from there. London, as you know, is huge, and lots of things are very micro. I could tell you a lot about the schools and house prices and communities in my specific neighbourhood but know nothing at all about others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

This is just not true. In fact, if you were to move to London and homeschool you would never be know to the local authority at all. It's pretty easy.

Unfortunately it is true. And British people are quite nosy about spotting kids who aren't attending schools and will report you to the local police / social services. That happens all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

I'm not the OP so I have no idea if this is even something they'd do, but if you are only there for a year, I'm wondering if you couldn't keep your state of residency in the US and homeschool through that state. There are families all the time who take a year off and travel while homeschooling. My parents have met up with homeschooling families who live aboard boats that travel the Caribbean for a year or two.

That might work if you have an Embassy job, otherwise, no chance.

[Anonymous]

So what happens if you move to hampstead, for example, with a 5,7, and 10 year old and wish to enroll them in a state school? Could they be assigned one many miles away?

[Anonymous]

[vimeo]n

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if you move to hampstead, for example, with a 5,7, and 10 year old and wish to enroll them in a state school? Could they be assigned one many miles away?

london is divided into boroughs - areas which are governed by separate local authorities. You can apply to schools in any London borough, but you apply separately to each borough for all the schools you want (usually a maximum of 6) in each borough. Boroughs can be very large - most but not all of Hampstead is in the borough of Camden. The borough assigns you to a school which will hopefully be one of your choices but may not be. They can assign you to any school in the borough so it could be quite far away. You can go on the waiting list for any school that was in your original selection, but obviously in the most in demand schools those lists don't move very much. The selection criteria applied by the borough can be found on the education section of the local authority website - here is Camden (I also live in the borough of Camden) - http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/education/camden-schools/
- for most schools priority places go to children with special needs and siblings, and then admission is determined based on the distance you live from the school. In the most in demand schools, I know people who live in the same street who have not got in.

The above may be different when you are applying for places for your children who are not entering in reception (age 4-5) which is the main entry year for primary schools. You should contact the schools and the local authority to find out and to find out what the process is. I would think that getting places in the oversubscribed ones will still,be difficult because some children remain on the waiting lists for months or years, going to other schools until a family moves away or whatever and a space becomes available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

This is just not true. In fact, if you were to move to London and homeschool you would never be know to the local authority at all. It's pretty easy.

Unfortunately it is true. And British people are quite nosy about spotting kids who aren't attending schools and will report you to the local police / social services. That happens all the time.

Sorry, this made me lol! You are just dead wrong. Please take a moment to educate yourself.

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/UnitedKingdom/default.asp
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/nicky-morgan-orders-review-on-home-schooling-amid-fears-children-having-minds-poisoned-by-a6779886.html
https://www.gov.uk/home-education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wouldn't be traditional and ideally you'd need a SAHP, but have you considered homeschooling for the one year? You could do a bunch of history and literature and enroll in one of the on-line learning curriculum for math, etc.

There are very strict laws about homeschooling in the UK. You have to present all your materials (curriculum) and it has to match up with national standards, and get approved. Then they can come and "inspect" you at short notice to see how its working and they can, if they think you're not doing a good enough job of it, force you to put your child in an actual school.

So if you do want to try this route, be sure to investigate it fully. Its not like in the US where you sign up online to say you're doing homeschooling and - whoosh, you're done.

This is just not true. In fact, if you were to move to London and homeschool you would never be know to the local authority at all. It's pretty easy.

Unfortunately it is true. And British people are quite nosy about spotting kids who aren't attending schools and will report you to the local police / social services. That happens all the time.

Sorry, this made me lol! You are just dead wrong. Please take a moment to educate yourself.

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/UnitedKingdom/default.asp
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/nicky-morgan-orders-review-on-home-schooling-amid-fears-children-having-minds-poisoned-by-a6779886.html
https://www.gov.uk/home-education

Every year I have flown to England from LA with my kids and been walking around during the day before the end of July when schools break for summer, I have been approached and quizzed suspiciously by total strangers about why my children are not in school.

I think if anyone were to live there full time now and have to put up with this, it would be intolerable.

I'm so glad we don't live in England anymore, I'm so sick of English people.