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Original poster

Overseas student in HK going to Year 9 Boardings in UK in Sep 2016

31 replies

jannywsc · 14/07/2015 13:55

My son is now 12 year old going to be 13 year old by Dec 2015. I find it difficult to choose a boarding school for him in uk. He is a happy and talkative person. He like piano and swimming. His english is fair but on the whole his academic at school is 24/135. I find an agent and she give me advice and she help me to try the following:

Abingdon School
Ruthin School
Brighton College
King's School, Canterbury
Oundle School

Please advise if the above school

  1. which one do have all rounded education to my son
  2. which would not be empty or almost empty at the boarding by weekend
  3. which one have better maths & science teaching
  4. which one have more space and extra curicular activities
  5. which one also include english supporting

As I know that most school in England need to study French, Spainish or Latin, but my son never learn any other these. Will there be any help from the school?

Sorry for so many questions, but I really do not have any ideal about the school in England although I have explore their website already.

OP posts:
Ahwoo · 15/07/2015 08:56

jannywsc
Hi there. I'm in a similar situation as you - DS (Dear Son) is looking at schools for Sept 2016.
Can I ask which agency you are using in HK? (pm if you prefer) I ask only because it seems a rather unusual mix of schools, scattered across the country.

I agree with most of what's been posted so far. Good advice from MN's as usual.
As for help with English from the school. As LIZS says above, most schools will provide EAL. Some may charge extra for the tuition, some don't - its best to get in contact with the schools you are interested in and check with them directly to make sure.

And I wouldn't worry too much about the English, most HK schools provide a decent foundation in English, more often than not, the child typically requires a little 'push' to really grasp its application. Wink

PettsWoodParadise · 15/07/2015 08:46

Not an excellent school but one that may suit someone with English as a foreign Language is Farringtons in Chislehurst, SE London. They are part day part boarding but I know they have students there from abroad including Forces families and families from China, a fair number of the latter in fact. At weekends the children get to use the lovely onsite facilities like the pool and school buses take them on trips. It isn't high in the league tables so often has spaces and isn't anything like the calibre of schools you have listed but if you can't get into the top ones this school may be an option for you. We have also sometimes provided a home to students from the school when they can't go home for long holidays so we've seen a few and they are all lovely students.

LIZS · 15/07/2015 07:41

I don't think it is an unusual problem but you would need to speak to each school or look on websites for their EAL provision. At dc school those who need it have timetabled sessions and take a qualification(IELTS?). However if his English is very weak he may not be able to access the curriculum sufficiently which would rather defeat the benefit of him studying here and could affect his morale. Could you work on this for the next few years and aim to apply for 6 th form?

Original poster
jannywsc · 15/07/2015 03:33

Thank you for all your advice above. Actually my son done an Ukiset test already, but his verbal English score is not strong enough. Chaterhouse refuse to proceed his application, therefore I am afraid other school would have the same response. So I would like to know that which school would have support on English. Thank you so much.

OP posts:
RandomFriend · 14/07/2015 16:19

Congratulations on deciding to send your son to the UK for school. All of the schools you mention are good ones.

In my opinion as an overseas parent, your question "2" is one of the most important as a way to distinguish between the school. In this respect, I would go for Oundle or Kings Canterbury.

As your son doesn't have a language, he will do one from beginner level. It won't be French or Latin, but it could be Spanish. There may also be an option to do an additional IGCSE off-timetable in your language.

LIZS · 14/07/2015 15:24

Not sure what you mean by academic score but Brîghton is very academically orientated. Kings Canterbury is a good all rounded school and has a full boarding ethos. Brighton has a lot of weekly boarders.