Managing extension and schools

[pitterpatterrain]

So we may stay longer than originally planned working outside the UK, now potentially until 2028 - and would most likely be a hard stop no further

Yet the extension and potential hard stop becomes a bit of a mess for schools as eldest DC will start yr7 next year so 2028 would be start of yr10, and would be yr7 for youngest

I would welcome ideas if you have experiences of this

For oldest DC one potential idea was boarding school to avoid disruption. Another could be move into UK school yr10 for GCSE year if we can find a place?

Assuming you are coming back to England (I know Scotland works differently, don't know about Wales and NI), Y10 is the absolute latest you want to be starting a school. Y9 would be preferable - don't underestimate the amount of learning that needs to happen just to move country. Add in very different teaching even moving from a British school abroad to an English comp, and Y10 would be very tough, and GCSE choices would be determined by where has spaces.

Moving for Y7 is fine, if you have a number of decent schools nearby.

The boarding school would work - do you know what area you will return to? Can you pick a scholarship that the oldest could be a day pupil at once you return? Or would you be boarding til the end of Y11?

Assuming a 2 year extension isn't possible, could one parent come back with the kids for Y6 and Y9 (or, the youngest could stay abroad and skip SATs!). Depending on where you live, this would give chance to settle, and for the youngest apply ontime for secondary.

It's early, that's very much a brain dump. Hope some is useful. Ask if anything raises more questions. Good luck!

Thanks appreciate the reply helpful! We’d (at the moment) be going back to London

Eldest is the one most resistant to shifting schools mid-way (unfortunately probably due to our move out) so is quite enthusiastic about boarding from yr7 to be there from the start / no change - where we’re looking would be boarding until end yr11 in that situation - most schools that seemed to flip between boarding/day/flexi seemed to have less going on for those as full boarders

Trying to wrangle it out in my head - feeling a bit sad about how to make it all work, know there is nothing ever 100% just feels tough if the DC have such different experiences

What kind of school are your kids currently attending? Is there one based on the British curriculum where you live? Or a school with the IB programme (and then find another IB school in the UK when you move back)? I work for an international organization, so colleagues use various options depending on the duty station (and how long they expect to be there).

Id just add that ideally a child would be at the school where they plan to take GCSEs from Y9 onwards as a lot of schools atart covering the GCSE curriculum from that point onwards as there is so much content to cover.

Currently attending a school that claims British curriculum but only does IB

No GCSE and that is my concern to switch late - the lack of prep / alignment

Id hâve thought staying in the IB system would give your kid the most curriculum stability. I assume that there are boarding schools that follow the IB curriculum.

IB MYP is unusual in the U.K. as Most schools (state or boarding) move to GCSEs for year 10/year 11.

If you are looking at independent there are quite a few schools that offer IB and so the switch will be ok curriculum wise.

State schools have to do GCSEs and quite a few start from year 9.

There are state schools that do MYP and then GCSEs. not many.

These schools do the myp.

whichschooladvisor.com/uk/school-curricula/ib-myp

And you cannot/don't want to do IB when back in the UK? I've never put kids through school in the UK but I know a few colleagues that brought their kids back to the UK and stayed with IB (at least, I thought that they did).

Sevenoaks does IB and boarding. Might be worth a look

Just throwing this into the ring because I don’t know where you are based.

https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/ib-schools

There are quite a few UK boarding schools that only start in Year 9 so he could start at a natural entry point. Just make sure you hugely kick the tyres on how many children actually stay in at weekends- get recent/current personal experiences and not "my friend's dad went there in 1965 and only went home every 5 years". Do not assume that because the school only offers "full boarding" that it doesn't empty at weekends- many are effectively weekly boarding with a very high % of students going home most Saturday nights. Boarding is becoming more local with most parents living within an hour or two of the school. As a former expat, I would be most comfortable with Marlborough, Oundle or Sherborne for an international boarder. There is a boarding school board on MN and you could also ask on there for personal experiences (bearing in mind it can vary by year or even house within some schools). HTH.

Also, to add, state boarding may be an option for you? Then you'd only pay boarding fees.