Moving from Sydney to London with 2 boys!

[northbridgesyd]

Hello
Our family is moving from Sydney to London at the end of the year. We have 2 boys (7 and 5). We will be living near Regents Park/Baker St tube and working at Moorgate.

Having a tough time trying to work out schools remotely. Options we are considering/hoping to get into:

1. Abercorn (currently have a spot for 5yo but not 7yo)
2. Southbank (waiting to hear back re spots)
3. Lyceum (have spots for both boys and close to work.. but too alternative?)
4. North Bridge House (have a skype with head lined up... looks v nice but 2 drop offs!)
5. International Community School (v close to home but looks small/poky facilities)
6. Devonshire House (waiting to hear back and also want to meet boys face to face)

Main concerns are:

• logistics with pick up/drop off
• ease of transition.... in Aus we start school at 5/6 yo so both boys will be behind their peers in the UK. Be great to have a school which can accomodate that transition.
• facilities.... all the London schools look so small with so little outdoor space compared to what we are used to. But that seems to be the norm.
• nurturing environment but also providing good academic grounding. We dont need an exam prep hothouse but want both boys to achieve their potential.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Hello,

I only know people at Northbridge and Devonshire and both families happy with the schools. A bit more nurturing than some of the more pushy London schools and lots of international kids so they are used to settling in kids. Think they are both pretty good at helping kids which are maybe a bit behind.

Thread caught my eye as we are going to Sydney - probably North shore with similar aged kids. If you've any advice about areas and schools (public rather than private) I would love to hear. I've a thread on living overseas.

Hope your move goes well. Regent's Park a fab part of town to live.

I wrote a long post but it disappeared!
In short: as foodfairy says, schools with large numbers of "international" students are used to accommodating children from different countries and different educational systems, so I wouldn't worry at all about the fact that your boys might be a bit "behind". In any case, they are so young, they will be able to catch up very easily.
You're right that London schools tend to have very cramped facilities. Many manage to offer excellent sports/PE, though, by making good use of local parks and community centres.
I was intrigued by the Lyceum, which I hadn't heard of, so I googled it. Seems like an interesting school with a creative approach. However, the range of "sport" might not be sufficient for young boys -- especially if they like football and rugby! There are lots of weekend sport programmes so they could pursue sport elsewhere but you might like to find a school that offers the type of PE your boys will enjoy.
One thought: some schools(For example Thomas's and Hill House and possibly Newton Prep) have good bus services to different parts of the city so you might not have to constrain yourself to schools near Regents Park or Moorgate. As the boys can travel together, they might enjoy a bus ride with other children and it might be more convenient for you to pursue that option rather than do the "school run" yourself every day.
Good luck!

School age is 5 here too. Think of Reception as being like Kindergarten. It only seems compulsory as once you are in reception you are guaranteed to get a place on year 1. That forces most people to start then. I don't think you need to worry about transition or your children being behind.

Nynaeves... I think there is a difference between Reception here and Kindergarten in Australia. I've met a few Australian children who have moved to our school at age 5/6. In kindergarten in Australia, the children I know were not introduced to reading or writing or phonics so they arrived in Year 1 "behind" their London peers who had already had a year of Oxford Reading Tree and similar schemes. However, at that age it's very easy for children to catch up so I don't think OP should worry. As many people say, there really doesn't seem to be much difference between children who get an early start in reading/writing (as in UK) and those who start such "formal" education a bit later (ie Germany and Australia).

I wouldn't worry either about them being 'behind' - we made the move from Australia to the UK last year when DTs were nearly seven. In reality it was only one term that they missed because of the difference in the way the school year runs (we moved in December when they had just finished Yr 1 in Aus and they started into the second term of Yr 2 in the UK in January, so they actually only missed the first term of Yr 2). They were not behind in anything and the transition was very smooth. Good luck with the move.

Thank you for the responses. Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing?

Food fairy - exciting you are also making a big move! We actually live on the north shore in a suburb called Northbridge. We love it here - easy commute to cbd but lovely suburban lifestyle. The local public school is wonderful. Happy to provide more details if you like. New to this but I think there is a way to private message?

Reassuring comments regarding transition to school. Probably first term will be tough but hopefully they will settle in quickly. Now....to find the right school that we want ....and who wants us!

Had a wonderful Skype with northbridge prep head Mr Bibby and my elder son tonight. My younger son would be in the junior campus. Anyone experienced with those logistics? Otherwise NBH is v appealing.

Hi, there is a shuttle bus that runs between the 2 buildings both in the morning and the afternoon. You have to drop both at the junior school in the morning and the elder one will be taken to Camden. The same for pick up - your elder one will be taken back to hampstead

Actually, just checked - shuttle runs both ways so you can drop and collect at either Camden or the Junior school

Thankyou Bertie. Do you have children there? The shuttle idea sounds good but wonder how would work with after school clubs? We may just need to go the nanny route for afternoon pickup at the junior school.