Preconceptions are there to many Russians and Chinese in private school?

I don't believe that people necessarily think that these schools are dominated by too many Russian and Chinese children. Where I have seen concerns expressed about this, it is mainly from expat British parents who are worried about what happens at weekends.

Most boarding schools seem to be all but empty at weekends these days, and there have been some (I think very few) cases of expat British children feeling a bit lonely and isolated while staying in at school at weekends when they are the only non-Chinese pupil there.

So many groups, so much stereotyping...

In boarding schools some overseas groups are better than integrating than others when joining at sixth form. I agree with needmoresleep that some groups may actually regard WAS(Protestant or Catholic ??) partying behaviour as a negative influence when pursuing singleminded academic excellence.

In central/zone 2 London day this is not the case. There are a large percentage of English children of South Asian and Asian origin and a reasonable percentage of expats who are south Asian and Asian but there is not a huge percentage of specifically Chinese students. The very academic schools and the boarding schools do have more Chinese and Russian students but not in a majority at all. If you are boarding, as many say, there will be a higher percentage of non nationals and this is because the parents are from overseas and are investing in a British Education. Many of these students may be Russian or Chinese. This may increase for A Level / IB and people have already suggested a reason for this. But London no. However, you won't find many day or boarding schools with a majority of WASPS if that is what you are looking for. The registrar may be able to help you with the %'s of UK national students. I think some schools may take more Russian students than others (perhaps Stowe) but I don't think at any school they are a significant minority. Its all good. Embrace it.

Thanks Needmoresleep. That's interesting. Choose your school wisely seems to be the message.

Slipshod, I think you say it yourself:

"So while proper integration is vital for a productive school, I am not sure what problem people have with overseas students."

Not all overseas parents, or their children, want integration. Some want results and a pathway through to tertiary education in an Anglophone country. When I worked in SE Asia many Chinese parents were worried about political instability and saw an overseas education an important investment not just as a passport to a better job but potentially a passport away from SE Asia. Many of these children would have been on "family scholarships". The extended family would find the money, then once the child graduated they too would be expected to help the next member of the family study abroad.

People seemed fairly divided on whether it was better to aim for a country like Canada which was seen as promoting multiculturalism and hence meant a child could retain their own culture, or somewhere like Australia which was perceived as promoting integration, which might mean better long term acceptance but some loss of cultural identity.

The pressure on the child to study hard and do well was huge. Some within this cohort, like in any other cohort, will be open and want to mix. Others may feel more comfortable mixing with others who understand both where they come from and the reasons behind their work ethic. This avoids conflict between family expectations, and expectations of peers and/or school in terms of spending time on non academic activities.

I would be very surprised if many in modern Britain have a general problem with overseas students. However if a child is going to board it is worth considering what they want from boarding and if others within that year group are likely to have the same expectations.

The group I have described are only one demographic. I hear that some schools are seeing a very different group of very rich young mainland Chinese who are sent over to the UK as a form of finishing school and to learn English, and who do not conform to any standard stereotype about Chinese being hard working.

My own children have benefited from having access to really international education on their doorstep, and have friends from all sorts of backgrounds. However there are potential downsides, and to work well schools may need to actively manage the process of ensuring integration. It is something a potential boarding parent should consider.

As you say, it is entirely natural that if we were posted to Mongolia we would occasionally want to invite friends of our own nationality for a roast dinner. Or a British film. Or to turn to them as a comfort blanket sometimes. Proper Integration doesn't mean that nationalities never have their own time together. It means sometimes they do. And sometimes they share that culture with the community.

Understanding of what nationality and culture is and what it means to us is part of what it means to be globalised. It isn't simple or easy and takes some effort and understanding but I think it is an essential component of an education which will make our children fit for the World they will inhabit.

I suppose parents worry that if the vast majority of boarders come from abroad in particular the same country China Mars or Russia (it doesn't really matter) then their DC will be accidentally or sadly even deliberately excluded from the group. If I was at school in Mongolia and there were 20 other UK children there I suspect I would naturally drift towards them as they speak my language, share my culture etc, especially in the beginning, of course it doesn't have to be like this, if I make an effort Im likely to quickly discover that the Mongolians are really nice, and vice versa, the school would needs to encourage friendships across all nationalities.
A friends DD is at a local girls school with over 20 nationalities in the 6 form, no one nationality dominate and all get on really.

Of course Happy. So while proper integration is vital for a productive school, I am not sure what problem people have with overseas students. After all, it is to be hoped our children are going to be studying at university and working with people from all over the World.

If you choose a school which takes integration of all pupils seriously (and why would you not?). What is the issue? A school popular with informed, successful and intelligent international parents is likely to be a school with a great deal to offer, surely ?

Eton is a global brand in a globalised world, the most famous school in the world, the ultimate destination for the the wealthy Chinese, Russian, Indian, Singaporean or even Martian to send there DS if they want an English education.
Many others are also of course attracting children from all over the world I personally think it's great my DS2 has friends who are HK Chinese, Singaporeans, Iranians, Americans and Russians although sadly currently no Martians at Win Coll yet! In contrast DS1 at his highly regarded 6 th form college mixes with other white middle class who make up the vast majority of the intake.

...or do we think Eton are importing international,students in order to raise their league table position?

'We could be seeing a very different Cabinet in the 2040s, if Eton’s Sixth Form Awards are anything to go by
Sir, It is announced in School Notices (Register, Mar 14) that Eton’s Sixth Form Awards go to Messrs Rishi Agrawal, Oliver Feng, Xiao Lin, Tanveer Sondh, Jacob Weir and Denis Zaboronsky. This could alter the complexion of the 2040s Cabinet.'

We are living in a globalised world. The letter above was published in The Times a couple of years ago. It doesn't look as though choosing largely monocultural schools is the way forward. Maybe it's better to concentrate on those forward thinking schools which work to integrate all ethnicities.

I think some schools limit the number of overseas pupils so that they don't have a critical mass from one particular country, and there is a better mix.

Next year in my boarding house we will have about 4/6 from China out of 80. But only 20 or so are full boarders (all but 4 are international pupils), so weekends will have a very different vibe to week days

Some schools are nearer 40% in the 6th form although less lower down the school. 6 out of 54 is not that great.

My ds goes to a prep school in the SE. In his year with 3 forms and a total of about 54 children, 6 are Russian. I think that is a big percentage. They are really nice kids except for one who is a neglected rich kid and therefore not very nice.

In his last year at prep school, DS had to show round a set of parents on Open Day.
He was a bit taken aback because the father seemed fixated on the number of Russians at the school. DS thought one of the boys in his year might be Russian - he had a Russian name, he thought - but he'd never really considered the nationalities of the other boys.

However, he did want to be helpful, so he speculated at length about all the nationalities - boys and staff, offering information about his own background, too.

I bet the man wished he'd never asked

No not CLC.

At our school, parents did not choose houses. Therefore overseas girls were spread around but in the 6th form there was plenty of opportunity for the Chinese girls to stay together as a group and you may find this is the case in your school, Kenlee. Also, there is nothing to suggest the school did not do its best for the overseas girls because they got wonderful results and went to the best universities. However, many of them were not really part of the school community, by choice.

Parents do not really know how many children will be arriving from their ethnic group into a schools' 6th form so how do they find the gem of a school that does not have many Chinese girls? Numbers can change very quickly if a school decides it wants to recruit from China. The overseas students keep many schools afloat.

Milly - was your DD at CLC? I understand that there have been integration issues there in the past, and that they are trying to counter that by placing girls in the junior boarding houses rather than parents choosing so that there is a mix of children. Much harder in the 6th form when there is quite a big intake, especially if they are from one cultural group.

And quite a lot of Nigerians.

I don't think there are many ethnic Chinese at DD1's boarding school. In the boarding house, the highest % of students is American, followed by Brits, then Russians and Kazakhs. Also quite a lot of Spanish kids and Canadians.

I still think that in boarding schools having a higher percentage of overseas ethnic Chinese entering at sixth form can inflate a school's results and university entrance record. CLC for example demands a much higher level of entry at sixth form than lower in the school and most entrants are overseas. Integration is another issue. It is probably more of an issue again for sixth form entrants. Children who come over at prep school age or years 7to 9 generally extremely well integrated.

Kenlee. If a parent is resident in China, how they can enforce whom their child mixes with? My DD had one Chinese girl in her year for years 7 and 8. In year 9 she was joined by 3 others. All were well integrated, spoke English, and came to stay with us. My DD went to China (HK) to stay with one of the girls and they went to the Olympic Games equestrian events and had a holiday in Macau. These girls were just the same as everyone else, day or boarder. They shared the same jokes, ups and downs of school life and were fully involved in house activities.

In the 6th form lots more came and there was a problem between the integrated Chinese girls and many of the new ones who only wanted to speak to each other in their native language, except one or two, and study. The existing girls were not impressed at their lack of effort to integrate! Clearly some parents/children value the British School ethos but if the pupils are not bothered about speaking to the British pupils, or even the integrated Chinese pupils, I don't see what their parents in China can do about it. In the 6th form sport can be minimal and there is plenty of time to study, watch films and do other activities as a Chinese group, rather than a culturally mixed group. DD found the same at University where the Chinese girl in her group of 6 rooms in halls, was awake until the early hours of the morning, never came to any event in the hall and spent all her time with friends from the Chinese society. She was doing veterinary science! I guess not everyone wants to mix.