Would you take your kids out of school to go travelling?

[Travellingtime123]

We’re in a very fortunate position to have the opportunity to take our kids travelling for a year if we want to. We just need to decide if it’s a good idea.

• We’ve lived abroad for a decade and we’re planning to come back to the UK. We’ll be changing jobs/schools anyway so could take a gap year before we come back.
• The kids will be 9 and 7 (we’d come back to the UK in time for them to start year 6 and 4).
• We own a home in the UK so we know where we’re moving back to. Although I have no idea how this would affect school applications etc.
• Both kids like travelling (we’ve done a lot since they were babies), we’ve done full summers but at a pretty slow pace and obviously only for 7 weeks during summer holidays.
• Both kids are doing well academically at school, we’d do some home schooling whilst we travel but it obviously isn’t the same as being in school.
• Both kids are very sociable and make friends easily. They also get on well with each other (usually!)
• Financially we could do it pretty comfortably without having to make too many other compromises (I realize how fortunate this is).
• Family would fly out and meet us at various points for a couple of weeks at a time.

In our position would you do it?
If so, where would you go? I’d love to hear tips from anyone who has done it or anyone who homeschools kids this age.

They’re currently in a British curriculum school so hopefully they shouldn’t find it too hard when we get back. They are both very confident, outgoing and resilient (I don’t think it would work or be fair on them if they weren’t).

@Westun the tutor suggestion is a great idea (I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it). It would be really helpful to have sessions with someone who knows the curriculum and what to cover. We’d probably aim to do 2-3 hours a day and possibly spend some time at world schools so they can socialize. My brother is a primary teacher and will travel with us during school holidays so he’ll help too (although I don’t want to ask too much so an online tutor would be ideal)

That does sound amazing. We all love being outdoors and exploring- I’ve seen pictures of the scenery and it does look fantastic

That’s our plan, we’d leave when term ends in June/July of year 4 (or year 2 for DD) and then be back for 13 months later to start year 6 (or year 4) in the September.

Is the area you are moving back to an 11+ / grammar area? Or one with a comprehensive education system for secondary?

It’s a grammar area (which is an additional consideration, I think they’re both bright enough to get in but that does make having potential gaps more of an issue). Although we could pay for private if we thought it was best for them.

Same here.

And the longer I'm in it (20 years this year) and the more I see of homeschooled children the more I think that, done well, home school can be a fantastic option.

Twinkl home ed stuff will give you an idea of the key skills they'll missing so you can minimise any gaps. And I agree that maths and English are the only subjects you'll need to think about.

What a fantastic opportunity for you all!

A fully grammar area? In that case, ignore my comment about SATs - the main issue you have is specific 11+ prep, as the exams are taken right at the start of Y6.

• Check registration dates for 11+ - is it an opt-in or opt-out process?
• Identify the precise 11+ format for the area - VR/NVR or whatever.
• Study the admissions criteria and degree of selection for your target schools. Some have a catchment area where a lower mark will gain a place: check date that you need to be in residence in that area to count as ‘in catchment’.
• Based on the above, consider how much specific preparation is needed. For super-selective grammars serving large areas, parents arranging weekly coaching / tutoring (sometimes on top of private schooling in schools that pride themselves on grammar prep) for at least a year before the test is the norm. For ‘take top 25% of the cohort’ in more deprived areas of fully grammar counties, much less focused familiarisation is fine.
• Being ‘generally bright’ genuinely isn’t sufficient to succeed in more competitive 11+ areas. Having taught in one, highly coached less able students typically outperform very, very able children who have done little specific preparation.
• Select preparation materials specific for your area - the 11+ forum is very useful for this.

And @Hellodarknessmyoldfrien that’s really reassuring and helpful to know. We hope that travelling will be a learning experience in itself (they’ve loved Rome, Athens, Egypt and Petra so I’m fairly confident they’ll enjoy the cultural/historical/educational stuff as well as the more typical ‘holiday’ activities).
They’re both quite keen to learn so hopefully between DH, me and online tutors we can make sure they cover the core bits of the curriculum.
My brother suggested Twinkl too so I’ll definitely look into that.

Yes

That’s really helpful to know, thank you! I wasn’t in a grammar area and DH went 25 years ago when things were very different!

It’s definitely something we’ll research further before making any decisions (we are in the very fortunate position of being able to afford private schools if they don’t get into grammar school or one of the better comprehensives).
It might also be an option for DS to have some additional online tutoring whilst we’re away to focus on 11+.

Thank you so much for the information, I definitely gives me a starting point.

Honest answer is if I was going to do it I'd have done it sooner than you plan to. Yr4 is the last sensible year to do it.

The main reason is making sure your elder one can get into high school and has time to form at least some friendships before high school. I think yr6 is too late. I changed schools in yr6 and it made things tougher than they probably otherwise would have been. It was hard to get into established friendship groups and this also left me in a slight disadvantage going into highschool too. One or two years earlier would have definitely been easier.

Also having a place by year 6 is relevant in some areas to high school entry - you couldn't leave it as late as yr6 as they will be full. Realistically in these places if you aren't in by yr5 it could affect your entry. I know friends who live very close to a high school but because their kids were not in the right primary (they went private due to bullying) they couldn't switch back to state school at yr7. It is unusual but make sure it's on your radar - the criteria for getting a place at high school vary hugely. So I stress checking this before making a decision.

Yes absolutely travel is the best education anyone can get and I think your kids are at great ages for it

I would totally do it met a family in Thailand who had taken their 3 boys out to travel for a year oldest was Y7 they knew more about African politics than i ever will 😁 the memories you will make you may never be able to make again, you have options and resources to pay for tutoring during after travels if needed but buy God I would love to do that with my child, go for it! Personally I'd Asia down to Oz/Nz and Canada

Yes. Definitely
did it myself for short periods but a year would have been fantastic
i was taken out of school several times as a child for traveling. It was so educational

Yes, absolutely! I also second the idea of a tutor - a great tutor really can make a world of difference. I'd probably suggest online tutoring twice a week while you're away, if possilble, to make sure it's not a huge shock when they get back.

1000% go!!! What an absolutely wonderful opportunity. Life is for living! Lucky children!

They are not in the school that they would go to after anyway so that's not really relevant. They'd be moving country no matter what.

Id have loved to have had the opportunity to do that

But not all kids go into same secondary as their primary friends anyway. DD2 didn't as went to grammar ( only one from her school) and DS went to a different secondary to most of his year . 3 of them from 40 and none in form group so knew no one

Absolutely - you’d not see me for dust if I was fortunate to be in this position.

I hope you have a wonderful time

The English national curriculum is online so it’s pretty easy to ensure they don’t miss anything too significant, as each school system is different, they may be ahead in some areas and behind in others anyway. You can’t apply for schools until you are resident and nothing happens over the summer holidays so I would recommend being back in your house by 1st July so they stand a chance of starting school the following September when you do return

We did this though they were slightly younger - went back in at Year 3 and Year 5. It was brilliant - their education hasn't suffered at all and they look back on it incredibly fondly. I think we're a more cohesive family because of it.

Academically, it's been fine. DD1 got all 7-9s at GCSE and is doing fine at A-Level - she needed no catching up. DD2 ended up ahead because we just taught them together. Coasted a bit for a few years. Socially, they're both very happy and adept.

They got back into the same primary but as others have noted this isn't a given. These older years are often years that are not full in schools though so I reckon you'll be fine.

My one tip is not to move on TOO often. They'll need interaction with other kids and friends. Ours went to a slightly hippy school in one country for a while. They didn't learn anything academically there - some language skills - but they did need the social interaction with children and a home base for a bit.

Good luck!

This is so interesting! Their life experiences are so rich.

@Zippidydoodah they had some weird ideas for a while though - my favourite being when we went to Wales for a wedding about a month after we got back and they were very worried they wouldn't be able to drink the tap water (they'd been using filter bottles for most of the year as most of the countries we were in you would definitely not ahve been drinking it)!

I don't need to be repeating this!!

In your situation, I'd go without any further thought!! It's an amazing opportunity for them,

Met a couple who travelled to Thailand with their young daughter every winter. School emailed work for her and she studied each morning. Seemed to work.