State school Uk vs International school abroad

Hi, sorry for reactivating this post. We are moving to the Algarve with our teen daughter. Do you mind telling me which international school your child attend?

There is a vast difference in the quality of International schools though. They really aren't all the same.

Greece or Cyprus?

I have experience of UK independent school, UK state school and International school with British curriuclum in the Algarve, Portugal. Hands down, my son prefers the international school and his transformed his confidence, social circle, opportunities and level of fun and engagement. He absolutely loves going to school and has friends from all over the world. Plus, the teachers are really happy as they´re all living in the sunshine!!! Did you already decide on somewhere to go? His school has about 40 nationalities but English is the language they are taught in, by native English speakers, as well as learning the local language. 😁

If they wanted to come to uni in UK they would have to pay international fees which are at least double. I saw you put that the family are putting emotional pressure to go back...just be sure you are making the right choice for the right reasons - your family unit first! We are in similar predicament having to make a choice as a dual nationality family (no pressure from family though it's to do with work) - I wish you the very best with your choice and admire you wanting to do the right thing by your larger family group. xx

One thing I would say when considering enrolling kids in a local education system is the extent to which you'd like them to be fluent in English as adults, and the work it would take from you to develop this. Most education systems don't produce English fluency where it's taught as a foreign language, just as the UK system doesn't generally produce fluent French or German speakers...

If you'd like your kids to read and write English to a native level, you probably will need to arrange lessons outside school. Is this something you'd be able to provide? Would you mind if they don't read and write English well as adults? (We've managed to keep up spoken English by watching telly in English and talking exclusively on English at home, but as our kids get older, the written side of things is increasingly obviously an issue. I imagine it would be even more so if they're using a different alphabet at school.)

Sorry I have no knowledge of the Greek education system to be able to offer any constructive thoughts.

I was going to mention this. I know someone whose family went back to their home country for similar reasons to you. She returned to the UK for A-levels, but has to take a year out because she needs three years residence to qualify as a home student.

do you/they have British citizenship. It might not be so easy to return if not, can you get dual before you leave?

Yes it is correct. Though it’s not to do with where they go to school as such, it’s down to residency.

for UK nationals already living in the EU when Brexit happened there is a 7-year window where they can qualify for ‘home’ fees and student loans, so that’s up to around 2027 I think. After that, they are treated as EU students - which now means as international students.

your children won’t even qualify for that: they’ll have to follow the residence rules which usually means being resident in the UK for three years prior to starting study.

each home nation has its own variation on these rules and each university interprets the rules slightly differently, but that’s the bottom line.

I live abroad and a friend of mine used to work at the international school here but she quit due to terrible behavior. The majority of students where locals kids who had been kicked out of school. Not much English is despite despite being international. But everyone that moves here thinks it's the best place to enroll their children.
As they're bilingual I would enroll them in a regular local school in the EU country. It obviously won't be UK curriculum but the standard of education is highly superior to England in a lot of European countries.

Place marking. My kids have done both. I’ll be back soon to update.

There was a more holistic approach at the British international school I attended than the Ofsted outstanding comprehensive I moved to back in the UK. The independent international school had fewer arbitrary hoops to jump through.

Why can't you buy in cover for the day off?

I can offer our experience if it helps:

We moved back to our home country last year because we wanted to support our elderly parents and for our kids to connect with their heritage, culture and language. We chose an international school because we thought it offered the best education, and would allow them to reintegrate the UK system later. But in truth academically it feels quite similar to our "Ofsted outstanding" school back in the UK.

However, it's been wonderful for them to feel submerged in local culture, and they definitely feel more connected to that side of their heritage already. They've built a relationship with their grandparents and cousins they just didn't have before.

So I'm glad we came. BUT we agreed it would be for 3-5 years max, and that we'd come back to the UK in time for my eldest to start secondary. Personally I don't want to live here much longer than that.

It sounds very difficult

is there any reason why you have to go right now? Can you start going regularly for holidays over the next couple of years and see how it goes?

I would think about overall quality of life in your home country compared to the UK, housing etc. Also look carefully at the education system locally in case it suits your DC better. Most countries encourage proficiency in English and if they already speak English schooling in another language might give them opportunities. With Brexit the trajectory for the UK doesn't look good in the near future. Your own country might be more up and coming.

So many typos sorry.
When do we get an edit button?!?

*could live there

I really sympathise with you OP, we’ve had the same dilemma. When my second son was almost two I went back to our home country for 6 weeks to see if we could luve their. Really investigates everything, also all the hidden costs of things we take for granted in the UK, like healthcare, banking fees, security costs, schooling (it would have had to be private, whereas in the UK state schooling is still very good). In the end financially it absolutely did not make sense! When you add it all up we had a better and cheaper life in the UK with more opportunity for our children. The UK is also politically very very stable which is very important to me. Girls have a voice and opportunity.

Anyway, I digress our parents (both sets) were horrified that we were thinking of going back. They saw it as we ‘escaped’ to a much better life and opportunities, and could not understand why we would give it up to essentially go and care for people that have had their lives already. Does your parents actually expect you
to go back and care for them? You may find that a twice yearly trip (unless is Australia or Polynesia or somewhere
very difficult to get to!) with a meaningful and eventful, memory filled visit may be worth much than life in the daily
grind.
You can set things up to make life easier for them as I’ve said before. With £ you could probably also buy help in for them.
I send my parents a grocery delivery every now and then with treats that I know they won’t buy themselves. We also bought our kids smartphones way you get than their friends, purely because they can have an independent relationship with their grandparents, call and message them on their own time and whatsapp them photos of what they get up to during the day (star of the week, football wins, what they had for dinner, new toy, lego creation etc). Sometimes O just have my
mum on the whatsapp screen while I cook and we chat away, or she sees what goes on in the kitchen and the kids coming and going. They are very much part of our daily lives.
There are ways of doing it. The world is becoming a very small place and I can tell
you now, from one immigrant to another, the road to get here was damn hard and we worked our asses off for it. Think very carefully!! But also, I am biased. I love my life in England (three months to go till we’re back!) and I and thankful every single day for my British passport and the opportunities and protections I have.