To move school mid Y7 when she is doing great?

I see you have very compelling reasons to move. I'd ask DD and see what she thinks. Don't put pressure on re siblings tho

I feel you are negatively affecting one child's education because it positively impacts the others. She is not the guinea pig. She has her own life.

I would say that at 11 (I have a year 7 who is 12) she should have the ability to decide and tell you why she has made that decision, then you discuss why you may wish her to move but she has the final say.

You have already moved her once, I expect a second time at this age would be quite unsettling. If she is doing well, let her live. It is not her job to get her siblings into this school.

I can see why you're questioning, the school sounds amazing and if she wasn't settled and doing well then it would be a great idea.

I’ve looked at this school ( from abroad, when considering a move to the area ) and considered exactly the same as it does indeed seem almost impossible to get the younger ones in without the older one going first. Plus I believe they do one or so gcses too.

There is an enormous difference between moving a primary aged child to a new school due to house/country moves and moving a settled secondary aged child from one school to another one at a non typical moving stage.

Do not underestimate a pre teen or teen being happy and settled with a good set of friends in a secondary school. It really is the most important thing. Moving your DD to a new school mid-year could be extremely detrimental. She may cope. But what if she doesn't??? What if she's deeply unhappy and struggles to slot in to a social group? Then you will be dealing with a huge set of problems of your own making.

You need to include your DD in the decision AND listen to her. If she is truly happy to move go for it however if she expresses any reservations then it I would strongly suggest you keep her where she is.

Sorry I wasn’t clear in my question. I meant does she want to stay in her current school or does she want to move to this one?

I would look at the pros and cons for her only, not her siblings, and decide what is best for her, with her input, and then do the same for each sibling as that arises.

You say her siblings would get priority, no guarantee of a place. Some things I would be considering; How would logistics work for your family if she goes and her siblings don't get in? It sounds like youngest might have an easier time getting a place than your middle child due to cohorts they'd be entering in, so I'd be considering the effect on your middle child if both their siblings go and tbey dont get a place. Do you feel its worth moving her for her own sake? Would it feel like a waste if her siblings don't get in? How hard would it be to move back to her current school if the move failed? How hard would it be to get into a good public school if this school does run out of funding in the future?

I'd seriously consider it.
Yes, there is the moving schools line on that graph above. There is also the boredom line. My bright kids (one in the scolar program, the brighter one declined to engage) are not stretched at an outstanding comp.
And you've got the linguistics background to assist.
I'd go for another look, with DD. And talk to her - pros and cons, and get her feelings on it.
For an all rounder with an interest in linguistics and a family who already have a history of moving round the world it sounds like it could be brilliant.

Do they not get a MYP certificates in place of GCSE's, and then the IB diploma at 18?

I'd move her. It sounds like an amazing opportunity. Yes, she's happy at the moment but that doesn't guarantee that she will be all of the way through. In my experience, the friends they are with now are still the ones they made at primary or met in week one and are still clinging too as it was a familiar face to navigate the school site with but may not have anything in common with. It's actually from about this stage that those friendships start to evolve and that can be a bumpy road.

She's had no choice but to adapt, that's what kids do.

Are you settled now or likely to move again?

If you're settled I would give her the choice, she might consider herself to have made friends.

But if you're going to move her again anyway, make that part of the conversation as there's no point her factoring friendships if she will move again.

I wouldn't move a happy child, personally, unless the move felt vital.

I wouldn't necessarily think that moving schools in itself is a problem; there are issues with that bit of Hattie's data as from memory it includes all moves (eg because of bullying, managed moves etc) where a child may not already be thriving.

What I do think is a very strong predictor of achievement and happiness is peer group. What is her current friendship group like? The question about local friends might be important. Also definitely try and work out if there is significant movement from the secondary phase and why. IB is great if your child is thinking about working abroad at any point as it's such a universally respected qualification, but there are schools here where she can do that at sixth form as others have said.

My main concern would be as others have said if the investment will continue if the school loses students. It will rely largely on families like yours who are already bilingual and sadly post Brexit many that I know have stopped thinking of the UK as a good long term prospect for their children.

Another thought - are you planning/likely to move abroad again? Is she likely to move to France or anywhere else in Europe ?

in other words - does she need to try and get a job in the UK at the end of all this? UK employers are a lot less familiar with the IB (unless you’re looking at City jobs).

If you move your daughter when she is settled and happy, it will cause problems and could set her back academically. When she realises that she is being 'used' to facilitate places for her siblings then I think she will be very resentful. I know I would be. There are also current threads on here about IB being viewed less favourably by UK universities. If you want your children to proceed through UK education establishments you may want to consider if your prejudice against GCSE/A Levels will be in the best interests of your children. Very interested also see poster above who knows of families removing their children from the proposed school for Secondaru. Presumably that is why they are offering you a place now. Maybe the place coming up is too good to be true and you need to investigate how many people are leaving the secondary and WHY.

I’m not sure why, but all the families I know who had their children in Europa for primary have removed them and sent them elsewhere for secondary (Wallingford, DGS). These are families who are also bilingual and where the children were coping well with the language, and who had been delighted to get a place for the children in the primary section. So for some reason they haven’t wanted to continue. Not sure why. Not sure how strong the offer is for extracurricular sport/drama/music is compared with other local schools.

Obviously this is just my observation on a tiny number of families but worth trying to dig a bit deeper into what the school actually offers/feels like day to day. Perhaps ask how many who are in the primary section continue into secondary?

My DD moved Primary school several times. By the time she was 10, it was clear she needed consistency going forward. And she's extremely happy and settled now. This is what not moving a happy child means

Your child is doing well at their current school, and is happy and settled. Moving risks upsetting this. Its a gamble.

I dont know but think its a pity more schools dont offer thos.
As my dc would have been good at usong a dofferent labguage for some subject really upping the interest.
At my private school we had a danish girl and a german girl doing alevels - including sciences with us.
Im not sure re the IB as i doubr employers would know what it is.

Realisitically your dc already have you and each other etc to practise languages on.

I would be wary of finding problems down the line- this is Britain, after all, and we're congenitally suspicious of anything European-y. You need to ask a lot of questions about that. I think.

GCSESs or equivalent is the norm.

I think it's very risky so I'd be seriously weighing up the benefits to her and take the potential benefits to your other two out of it entirely.

Op have you heard of John Hattie's effect sizes? He measured how different interventions/events affected children's academic attainment.

Moving between schools, except at the regular stage (eg primary to secondary) has a worse negative effect on attainment than lack of sleep, being suspended, or even being corporally punished at home.

So yeah. Don't move a happy child...! It literally has a worse effect on their academic attainment than smacking.

Source: https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/

I've copied a zoom in of the relevant bit of the data

I think the difference between IB and A levels is really whether your child is an all rounder or a specialist. Two of my dc were very much specialists, really good at a more narrow set of subjects (e.g. sciences) but found a broad range more challenging. The other is very much an all rounder so would be able to and would enjoy continuing with a broader range of subjects. If grades are no object then of course it doesn't matter continuing a subsidiary subject to 18 but if you are wanting to do a subject with higher tariff you don't want scores on a different subject pulling the points down.

I would check if they still offer GCSE Maths/ English as these can be prerequisites for many jobs.

I don't know the school you mention - do they have a 6th form intake? You should consider that IB is increasingly popular and is a self-contained 2-year programme. Your DD does not need to move school now in Y7 to be able to do IB rather than A levels later.