Moving kids out of international school and into local system - experiences?

[Softcookie]

We've been living here (would rather not say where if thats ok?) for almost 5 years. Dcs aged 6 and 8 are in an international school and doing well, happy, etc.

However, the cost is crippling us (both dh and i on local contracts) and no plans to move back to the UK anytime soon. Dcs understand the local language but are by no means fluent. Local schools are meant to be ok although not great - though opinions vary wildly.

Lots of things to consider and i appreciate I'm not giving you much to go on :) but if anyone's done it and is willing to share their experience that would be great. Thanks!

Your DC are young enough that moving back into local system should be quite painless.

Having said that, it's hard to know how desirable it would be for your kids to be educated in the local language - are you in Europe or Asia? Are we talking about French or Chinese?

It really does depend where you are - Finland has the best education system in the world.
Malaysia where I am, it is practically the worst - 50+ in the classroom, no useful English being spoken, even in English lessons, hours of rote learning and general chaos (all the national exams have just been leaked for example)

And virtually everything inbetween.

Assuming you are somewhere in the middle, things to consider (which I'm sure you have)
Does the local system teach entirely in the local language?
How important is it for you to maintain dc's english - and remember it is not just speaking, as your dc get older, it becomes more difficult to maintain the fluency of their written English.
If you have no plans to return to the UK, might they be better in the local system for social reasons? (International schools have a high turnover and they will loose all their friends every two or three years)
Are you even eligible to use the local system?

Really it depends on where you are and what the local schools are like . I'm in Japan and the local school here is lovely but the hw drives us all nuts :)

Just like the uk there are good schools and bad.

I think you also have to ask yourself how YOU would cope? Homework support, socializing with other parents, communicating with school (possible major cultural differences/parenting style) etc...

A permanent move to local schools will also mean you might have to reconsider their options for further education.
BTW, I do?t think it would be in any way restrictive in the long run. Just something to re-evaluate as part of the big picture.

I went to a local school not knowing the language at the age of 8.

Because of the immersion factor I was fluent pretty fast.

And yes, if you,re planning to stay there, them making local friends will be an added bonus.

Will your dcs remain there until they reach higher education? The USA system for example is fine up to age 10/11 or so but after that it's more difficult to swap between that and the UK system. Content in history is vastly different, maths and science are taught very differently etc. Anyone would need tutoring if they swapped between the 2 systems at secondary. A swap now might seem easy but would they need to swap back before they reach 18? This is the challenge.

We have just (at Easter) done exactly the same - I could have written your post.

We're in Germany.

DS1 is repeating year4 to get his language up to speed then will move on to Gymnasium next year - he could have gone this year, but he is the youngest in the year and it gives him time to work on his german.

DS2 has basically started from scratch again - went into summer of year1 and is now in year2 - the right place for him in the system (should be yr3 in UK system) so is learning the basics again but in german - so far seems to be the right move for him.

DD will go after she finished kindergarten. 3 in int'l system would have been a real struggle.

One thing that has really changed for me is the times - they are only at school in the mornings - so I don't have as much time to do stuff as before - but I'm getting used to this......

It's still early days in terms of friends etc but it is the local school - we walk instead of drving 80km a day and it is important culturally for them seeing as we're not planning on moving on any time soon.

As PPs have said - it is making a commitment to being here -we bought a house so are in for the long run, so the DCs need to be as comfortable being/staying here as they would be in the UK. For us that means local schools as their language abilities were suffering in the int'l system.

Hope all works out well for you - good luck!

My DCs are in local education after being in private international kindergartens. DC1's level of french is excellent, i am amazed at how quickly she has picked it up. The problem for us is commincation with the school, parents evening being a total nightmare and me recording what the teacher said in order to go home and translate and understand. I dread homework but am thinking of getting a local older kid to tutor if necessary.

I say go for it, the money you save in not paying private fees can be spent on extras like a local tutor.

Thanks everyone, i appreciate the time you've all taken to respond!

I guess im weighing up the pros and cons of our current arrangement... Pros: children are happy, they are thriving socially and learning well (i think); the english way of learning encourages confidence, independence and teamwork, which i like (vs the more continental approach in the local school which is about learning by rota and conforming to the standard); they maintain an international outlook (vs a more provincial mindset, as we live in a small city); they do plenty of activities in the local community which means they get to learn the local language and develop some sense of community, albeit in a slightly marginal way.

Cons: the cost; the "bubble effect" of international schools; the lack of accountability on the school (not subject to any kind of regulation afaik); the sense the dcs are a bit "alien", neither here not there (i think the current lingo is 3rd culture kids. Lol)

Im now thinking of a possible middle ground which would be a bilingual private school, wouldn't help much with the cost initially (although local private schools tend to be cheaper)but could act as a "bridge" into the local system in later years while keeping open the option of moving back into the international system, including if we end up moving again.

Lots to think about as a lot has to do with me (I'm suffering in my current job and would love a break from the rat race but cant afford it currently) which makes me feel selfish... And i suspect dc1 in particular who is more academic and less sociable would suffer in the transition as she would go into an environment where shes not very good academically (at least initially) plus shes not as street-smart as other girls her age.

Aarrghh what to do!

Does the local school have some kind of "welcome" class for new students that don't speak the language? Or at least some support?

My children are- according to DD - "3rd culture kids". I tried to switch DD at age 11 with disasterous results, and ended up moving her back to the international school very quickly. On the other hand, DC3 enjoyed local school and speaks the language perfectly.

How this would work in practice for your DCs would depend on how good the local school is, how nice the kids are, how easily your DC can learn a new language (from what I have seen, children vary enormously in how quickly they can pick up a language, even with the kind of immersion that local school requires).

It also varies with what their talents are. For example, if you have a very literary child who likes to read and is enjoying doing creative writing at the international school, putting such a child into a local system is much harder the older they are. On the other hand, if you have a DC that likes maths and science, it is much easier for the child to be good at those in a new language, rather than if their relative strength is in English.

If you do put them into the local school, I do think it is possible to switch back if it doesn't work. Not ideal, but certainly possible.

As for accountability in international schools, they would be subject to local regulations, and also to the regulations for international schools if they are offering standard programmes such as PYP, or later, MYP and IB.