Moving from the US to the UK

Orangeandlemons Y10 entry is good - state schools do do this in exceptional circumstances and yours are exceptional. I will pm you a suggested school.

I wouldn't split the family. .

If I was the OP I would carry on phoning any IB school that her DD could potentially go to.

. If the OP's DD is bright then it may be a possibility to start the IB Diploma Programme a year early. She would then have to take a gap year prior to starting Uni in order to avoid being an overseas fee payer.

There were a couple of DC's on my DC's course who did this successfully.

Spalva I appreciate you are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea and you have to make the best choice available to you for your family, that suits your DCs. Sadly I cannot change the UK state system to accommodate those of us with third culture kids, however much I think it should because as my DD's private school appreciated they have so much to offer .

OP was asking for advice and I can only offer my knowledge and experience to put into the pot with all the other advice on here, and their knowledge of their own DCs. I don't doubt there are some DCs and families for whom home schooling works, even as they adjust to a new country. However my experience is that moving teenagers to another country is difficult enough even with a school available for them to create a life for themselves in, and adjust to the different peer norms etc. I have had to home school my children when they were younger with the material provided by their school when it was closed by SARs and so I am quite sure it would not work for my family even without the added stress of a country move.

My point is that if OP can afford by whatever means to fork out for that one year then that is what I would do. In the same position if I could not afford a private school for a year I would stay put in the US and split the family rather than home school. I know quite a few expat families who have done just that.

Copthallresident -- I hate to keep hijacking the thread but I am doing the very thing you advocate against and to keep reading this is getting me so worked up (in a sort of friendly, argh! way if you know what I mean). If there isn't a suitable school with a place then there isn't a suitable school with a place. I can't make one appear. Trust me, I would love to make one appear. I cannot pay for a school. Period. It just can't be done. Right now I'm seriously considering getting out of the UK and depriving dds of their papa for a few years. If you have any advice, PM me. 'Cause I'm just not getting it apparently.

I teach in a secondary school. I think she should go into the start of Year10 rather then transferring into y11. All gcse's are designed to be taken over 2 years really. Some of them involve coursework, particularly subjects like music, drama, dt art etc. This starts is the biggest component of the exam and usually starts in year 10.
Other subjects have controlled assessment which is a bit like an exam, and also can take place in year10.

All students have to take Maths, English and Science. The introduction of the wonderful ebac means that most will be expected to take a humanity and language too. However, very able students may take as many as 10-12 gcse's. This means students will can choose a wide variety of subjects to take. When we have had similar situations in my school, students have started in year 10. I think putting her straight into y11 at the moment will not be very good for her. Most of my y11's are finishing coursework at the moment, and then revising. Most subjects will be starting revision of the course they have studied very very soon (March). She wouldn't have the knowledge to complete the exams properly which would let her down.

If she wishes to integrate and make friends, I"m not sure home educating her is the answer either. My suggestion would be to start her in year 10. You will find schools will be helpful though.

IMHO home educating herself whilst adjusting to a new country and finding friends would be a lot to put on a 16 year olds plate, especially of they are gregarious and like to get involved in lots of activities. I have known a few expat kids who had to wait a few weeks for school places to come up and they were climbing up the walls and made their mothers' lives a misery. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be around my gorgeous DDs if I had put them through that. One thing is for sure you need to make sure your DC is fully signed up to whatever option you pursue.......

MGIJ I think I mentioned friends DD getting into Oxford from a private college after the one year O level and then A levels (sorry I used the term crammar in order to knock it down, not play to the stereotype). In fact the flexibility helped her in that she did German GCSE as soon as she arrived as they judged her ready ( many of the private schools get them to a GCSE skills level in Year 10, and even Year 9 or earlier), and then she did AS at the end of Year 11, clearing the way to focus on other A2s. I actually think an unconventional background is an advantage, shows it hasn't all come on a plate and they have learnt a few life lessons.

At state schools certain things must be done at certain ages and there is very little flexibility. But after that, your dd can do whatever suits her educationally. As long as she achieves the right qualifications or exam results, her age won't matter.

It seems to me that the main problem is how to get past the next year. After that your dd can go to college, university etc whenever she is at the right stage educationally irrespective of her age.

If private education isn't an option then you could consider home education for the next year or longer until your dd has racked up enough IGCSEs to start a more advanced course such as A levels. She can sit IGCSEs in any order, all at once or a few at a time. You do have to source the materials yourself and pay the exam fees and centre fees, but a bright academically-inclined teenager should be fine without any tutoring.

Here's some info about how to do that: www.nwilts-he.org.uk/he_exams_wiki People often "work backwards" by first checking out the advanced courses and then looking at the entry requirements for it.

Home ed itself is straightforward: there is no curriculum you must follow and you don't need approval from anyone; you just go ahead and do it in whatever way suits your child.

Why would schools have negative opinions on what you have referred to as "crammers"? Our experience (for sixth form rather than GCSE) was very positive - certainly no problems with applications for UK universities.
These colleges can offer 1 year courses as the classes are small (around 8 students rather than say 26 in a mainstream school) and students will probably take fewer GCSEs than in schools (8 rather than 10 or more).
Sixth forms will choose students on predicted grades/interview/reference (and any catchment criteria that individual schools might have).

It doesn't matter about the exam board, or if GCSE or iGCSE, or even the Welsh or The Scottish equivalant. But you really need Maths, English and Science.

If your DD does do go down the route of taking GCSE'S in one year don't think that she needs to take loads of them. Fewer GCSEs at A* is better than loads at lower grades.

Mostly though, as long as she does well in her IB and as long as it is explained on her University application that she took her GCSE's in one year then her GCSE grades won't be the be all and end all ( as long as they are reasonable)

Phoning school admissions is a very painfully buisness. When we moved to the UK with three non-intake year kids it literally took dozens and dozens of calls. Some State Admissions Departments were spectacularly unhelpful. Some private schools were not much better. I just kept calling and kept calling and everything fell into place eventually.

Hi,yes DDs used it for revision, recommended by their academic private school BUT big health warning schools here have become very good at teaching to the exam, technique rather than what I would call an Education. This will give you an idea but probably doesn't reflect the boring slog it takes to get an A*. If you google or look around here you will see the debate going on about the future of Gcses.

Bitesize is great for GCSE revision.

I agree with Copthallresident. DC's cousin transferred to the UK system from a non English speaking system in Year 11. The idea was that he would spend a year making the transition in a "college" environment (in his case Ashbourne College) and working very hard, ready to join a sixth form in a more traditional school.

All very different yet he managed something amazing like 10A*s. Inevitably extra curricular options were limited but his parents were impressed by the efforts made to organise a choir and by the art.

The advantage is that colleges are geared up to covering the whole syllabus in a year, which a school wont be. Fees appear to be no worse than a standard private school, and it need only be for a year. Demographics have also changed from my day when crammers appeared to be full of idle public school boys resitting. Instead there seems to be a strong overseas contingent seeking British qualifications as a prelude to applying to British Universities who are expecting to work hard.

I would add I was speaking recently to a friend who is American and works with children in International Schools in another part of the world on literacy skills. Her judgement is that the British system does not teach children to write as well as the American system, to articulate themselves and present an argument, but does teach the skills of literary criticism and analysis to a much greater depth. Feedback from other friends who have shifted between the systems, or taught in both, is that there are many similar differences of emphasis between the two systems, and of course specialist A levels, narrow but in more depth, are a symptom of that.

I hope this helps, it is stressful, but I do think our kids are in the end the better for the experience of change and of other cultures. My DDs really value their time in other cultures for all that at times it was an upheaval.

By the way I do not know of a secondary school in the UK, state or private, that does not provide opportunities for extra curricular sports, music , drama etc. On top of that there are extensive opportunities out of school, especially in London, plenty of Theatre groups, Sports Clubs etc. that will enable your DC to perform to the limits of their potential.

Interesting info here, private schools and colleges cashing in on the gap in the market. www.hothousemedia.com/ltm/ltmbackissues/jan12web/jan12sec1.htm

A lot of these private colleges are what is known as the UK as crammars ie they cater to students who for whatever reason did not do well in their previous schools. They can have a reputation for being for drop outs but I know that the one year GCSE at DLD had amongst those who are retaking, those from International backgrounds, those who just didn't fit with their previous schools (friend's v bright DC, now at Oxford went there from v. academic private girls' s school in Y11 because she was just fed up with the alpha girl, sloaney/ preppy culture ) and some very bright pupils from less well performing inner city state schools whose parents have stretched themselves (often really stretched themselves) to afford the one year to give their DCs a chance of the best grades.

However Wellington is a well respected boarding school that a lot of my expat friends have been very happy with.

Some of these schools might consider a bursary, paying or subsidising fees, for a bright child but I think they are quite stringent about requiring proof of financial need.

The problem is that our state schools, whatever the attitudes of their staff, just do not have the processes and funding that enable them to be flexible to the needs of International students. We had experience of this at 11 returning from abroad, even though we owned our house in the UK and could have demonstrated we were moving back we could not apply until we were actually resident in our house with utility bills in our name to prove it, by which time the local schools were full. In contrast we found that private schools really valued our daughters international background.

Amerryscot, jeez Louise, I think I just explained that the two schools we attended had it only to grade 8 (not Y8). I also apologized. What gets under the skin of some Mumsnetters, I have no idea.

It is perfectly possible to do gcses in a year for bright pupils, several private colleges do it, see here www.dldcollege.co.uk/subjects-and-courses/gcse-subjects.aspx However the state school system is not geared to delivering the syllabus in 1 year. The problem is that whilst gcses are not demanding in terms of intellectual application, they are in terms of learned knowledge, and syllabuses vary between various exam boards let alone to what your daughter has learnt in the us. Generally academic children in the Uk would do at least 10, with English literature and language, Maths, 2 or 3 Sciences, either general science syllabus covering all three sciences or 3 individual sciences, a language (your daughter may well be at Gcse standard already, many learn Spanish for Gcse from scratch in 2 years), and then a mix of History, geography, Religion and ethics, further Languages, drama, art, music, textiles, design technology etc etc etc. and expect a string of A/ A *. That takes a lot of cramming of knowledge for exams. Can you not stretch to a private college geared to delivering the curriculum in a year, then your daughter could fit back into our state system where it best suits her.

We have dual citizenship so were are European Union members as far as Uni fees are concerned

BIG MISTAKE

You need to be 'ordinarily resident' in the EU for three years to get EU fees, regardless of having EU citizenship.

I don't know why you think that MYP only goes up to Y8. The IBO, itself, states that MYP is for students aged 11-16.

Spalva just realised I never replied to your last pm!

Will do it now!

Apologies!