Hello there!! We're moving to London from California this summer with 8 years old daughter. We're nervous and excited! She will start Year 4 in September.
We're in the middle of apartment/school hunting, and appreciate any info about following schools (I know it's all over the place..):
Hotham (Putney)
West Hill (Putney)
John Wolfe (Greenwich)
Kingsgate (Hampstead)
My questions:
Diversity at school We prefer schools with racial/cultural diversity - I'm sure we can get enough of that in London but curious about situation of each school.
Attention to individual students Do you feel your kid is getting enough attention/support/encouragement from teachers when needed? My current concern is math - I noticed the UK math curriculum and what they cover is quite different from ours and my daughter might be a bit behind when she starts.
Teaching approach/focus I'm not sure how STEM education is a big thing in UK but how is your school in that department? I'm also curious if any schools are trying different teaching approaches - e.g., project based, new math methods like Singapore math
PTA/parents involvement How active is your PTA? What kind of activities or volunteer opportunities do you have? Are they actively involved in the classroom too? (art docent, classroom helper etc)
Communication with teachers How do you get informed about what's happening in classroom or about your child? Do you feel communicating with teachers is easy?
After school care/extra curricular activities What's the afterschool care situation? Do you have onsite care, or what's other option around you? Also, what type of extra curricular activities offered, what's popular?
Overall feel of the school Overall how do you describe your school? Traditional? Strict? Open-minded? Inclusive?
Conflict resolution How do they deal with conflicts, any sensitive political/racial issues (maybe it's just here in the US..but we're started seeing more of these since last year, well you know why )?
Overall feel of the school community I think I am more nervous about getting into the new parents circle! As a parent how do you feel of the parents community of your school? Friendly? Laid back? Demanding? Cliquey? Indifferent?
Ok I stop now but I really really hope I can get some insight about those schools. I'm pretty clueless about UK school system!! Thanks in advance, any info appreciated and please feel free to DM me too!!
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Help! Moving to London w/ 8 year old! Info needed for Hotham/West Hill/John Wolfe/Kingsgate primary school
32 replies
WhatADayCremeBrulee · 25/04/2018 00:11
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