Moving to Surrey - questions on schools and sports

Most independent day schools have their main entry in year 7 with exams in Jan of year 6. Some independents , usually the ones fed by traditional prep schools, also intake at 13. You need to check when the main entry is , some like Epsom used to only intake at 13 but are introducing a year 7. Others intake over 75% at 11 then fewer later on into year 9 through 13+/common entrance. It is possible to enter at other times, if there are spaces available. The academic assessment is unlikely to be so rigorous if there is other evidence that the child and school will benefit. They are also used to children from overseas not following the same syllabus, indeed Epsom for example has overseas boarders.

An October birthday will be one of the oldest in the year, as in Uk August 31st is the cut off date. Do you mean she has effectively been advanced( I know Swiss cut offs differ) in which case being placed in correct year would enable her to fill any gaps before taking public exams.

Contact the independent schools directly yourself. After all, you're the parent. What does, 'hire a firm to contact the independent schools' mean ?

Contact the schools directly. There will be a section on their website for admissions. The person who deals with admissions may be called the registrar. The will happily send you a prospectus and arrange a time to show you round the school.

Oh yes I was just going to recommend a hockey team but you mean ice hockey! LOL

Good point, mummy time.

One key thing. When people in the UK talk about Hockey they mean field Hockey. They will always call IceHockey, Ice Hockey.

In your shoes I would go for one of the independent (fee paying schools offering IB because your eldest is 13: it would be extremely hard on them to move to the UK and possibly go straight into the GCSE run-up (GCSEs are a two year course).

FYI State schools will not be at all flexible on education out of the chronological year group. (I understand this is more flexible in the U.S.)

Another complicating factors is that you have to have actually moved into a home to apply for state schools (many of which are oversubscribed in Surrey).

Either way. Would you be paying for an agent or a company and how much time do you have? A friend used an agent in roughly that area and it wasn't hugely expensive but did narrow down options. The American/international schools are also independents.

State schools can be found www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/directory-of-surrey-schools

Try www.isc.co.uk/schools/ . Independent schools normally play rugby, hockey and/or soccer for boys. Girls netball , hockey and/or lacrosse. Rugby in CH won't have been typical of UK schools rugby.

Ds is dear son, dd dear daughter, dh dear husband. If you look on the website I linked to earlier, there should be a guide to secondary admissions somewhere which will list state secondaries in Surrey with some info on September 2015 admissions such as size of intake and furthest distance away that a child was offered a place. Not strictly relevant as your DC would be In Year admissions but it would give you an idea of scale and area. The ISC website lists most independent schools.

Cobham to Guildford can be 20 minutes or it can be 40, it's a simple route on an A road.
What does your son think of rugby? We had an American boy that played ice hockey join my school team and he took to it amazingly.

If you are aiming for a swim scholarship, Guildford is the Club. She will need to be good to get into one of the senior squads, but they are one of the best clubs in Britain.

Given how intensive training is I would work back from there. So look when they finish in the morning and use Google maps to suggest a journey time to your preferred school.

To be honest many better swimmers end up boarding in place like Plymouth or Millfield. The latter achieves lots of sports scholarships for its students.

Ice hockey is a minority sport. Lots of fun but not of the same level as North America or Switzerland.

This one is handier for the station.

Good idea Random! OP not sure of your budget but you could walk to ISL from here

Living on the doorstep of ISL Surrey could work too - back road to Woking Leisure Centre for Swimming and the back road onto the A3 to get to the spectrum for Ice Hockey.

West Byfleet station has fast trains into Waterloo.

Have friends at the school and they love it, quite a small community feel and more international than ACS with quite a few local native English families.

www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/school-admissions/in-year-admissions/applications-for-an-in-year-school-place-for-children-from-abroad

Interestingly you may be able to apply up to 4 weeks ahead, if you meet the criteria.

Assuming your 11 yo turned 11 before Sept 1st you are looking at making what is called an In Year application for a state school place. Catchments are sometimes used, where applicable, when the initial applications are submitted for a place at 11 to identify those living in that area and giving them priority for a place. Some areas use catchment , others don't. Surrey generally doesn't nor a selective test with a few exceptions such as Nonsuch girls. As your dc would be beyond this point already it won't be relevant. You need to identify state schools with places in the appropriate year group, ask Surrey LA, but be prepared for these probably not being considered the "best" schools in the area as those will be popular so already be full with waiting lists, especially in your younger dc year as they will only just have started there. You can check the In Year procedure on the Surrey CC website and you can join any waiting lists once you arrive.

For independent schools there is likely to be more flexibility about where you live and getting a place lined up before you move but again the cohort for your younger dc will be new with little movement yet. Schools like ACS are used to a mobile population so turnover may be higher and places come up more frequently. Many independent schools will assess academic and perhaps sporting ability and want reports from current school. Even if there are places they may not offer it if your dc don't match the criteria although some will take sport/music/arts potential into account for weaker academic candidates.

Woking to Waterloo is 28 mins. Woking and Guildford both have good swimming clubs. The drive from Woking to Guildford is not far (about 8 miles) but can take anything from 15 mins to over an hour depending on traffic conditions. (I do the journey for work). Guildford also have an ice hockey team. The main sports facilities for this and swimming are at the Spectrum leisure centre. Cobham to Guildford is just down the A3 and is an OK drive - the traffic in the morning will mostly be going in the opposite direction into London.

George Abbot and County are both good secondary schools in Guildford. They are both state schools with no entry exams. However, entry is based on their admission criteria - this will be on their individual websites. Usually distance plays a large role in whether you get offered a place or not. The nearer you live to the school the better. Their websites will have their catchment area map - this means that you get priority when applying but if you live on the outskirts of the catchment and it is a large year group then you are not guaranteed a place. Howard of Effingham also has a very good reputation.

for swimming Leatherhead is closer to Cobham and has a very well regarded swim team

No state school is allowed to be academically selective (in Surrey anyway - very few Counties have Grammar schools but best not confuse you further with that one!). I'm afraid I would have to differ with LIZS on the catchment issue - George Abbot and Howard of Effingham which are two of the best performing state senior schools in your proposed area definitely have very tight catchments which has a knock on effect on property prices!

At the ages your children are it will be fine because none of their cohorts will have chosen their GCSE subjects yet. However because you are applying outside the usual timescale for senior schools you will not necessarily have much of a choice for state schools. The obligation is for the Council to offer you a place at ANY school that has the space, not necessarily the one you want. If you are Catholic then this may help as there are some well regarded Catholic schools in Guildford and Leatherhead.

There are a lot of Private schools in easy reach of Guildford, Cobham, Woking etc - have you got the Good Schools Guide? That's a good place to start for independent schools. Some offer IB alongside A levels.

ACS is actually closer to Esher than Cobham, it is very "American" and on a very busy road at school times. The school holidays also do not chime with UK schools which may have an effect on extra curricular activities if you plan to travel - this affects some girls my DD dances with for example.

I have a friend whose son plays ice hockey at Guildford - beware as it does involve a lot of travelling all round the country most weekends as Ice Hockey is very much a minority sport and so there are few teams to play against!

Many more kids these days go to the US for Uni after doing GCSE's and A levels - they are well regarded qualifications and sometimes earn the students credits before they even start as they are above the High School levels in some subjects. It will obviously cost squillions though unless you qualify as a home student but you will know this already.....

Commuting as others have said is very straightforward by train but expensive - several thousands of pounds a year and frankly soul destroying. Woking is quickest of the places you have mentioned (and most frequent trains late at night coming home) but the least aesthetically pleasing in my opinion!

Hope that all helps!

There aren't officially catchment areas in Surrey as it's very densely populated. You can apply to any school, but if it is full and there is a tie, the closer student will get the place. Surrey CC publishes information each year telling you the furthest distance a pupil got in for each school.

One problem you might come up against is the your 11 year old is at a key entry point with application cut offs round about now. This will make it very difficult for you to get him into a good state school, as they need a fixed address to pursue your application.

If you get your act together now, you may be able to get him through the selection system for independent schools. For 11+ entry, independent schools have their exams in January 2016, and require you to register by about now (they should be lenient though for overseas applicants). They don't require you to have a UK address.

Surrey Sports Park is part of Surrey university and has a fab 50 meter pool.