School for Australian boys during sabbatical

[jaw1985]

Hi there,

First time poster here. I am an Australian mum living in Melbourne with my family including two DS (currently 8 and 5).

In a couple of years we are looking at spending a sabbatical of about half a year in the UK and hoping that our DS will spend a term or two at school there (something I did myself aged 8).

Through experience and word of mouth I think this could be a very valuable opportunity for our oldest in particular. (The Australian education system does not really suit him but for now we need to be here for family reasons). For context, he is not into any ball sports (he likes rock climbing, skiing, horse riding and sailing) but is creative, musical, a big reader, and has been assessed as gifted.

Our youngest is more straightforward and I think could fit in wherever his brother is happy!

As the education landscape there is quite unfamiliar, I would love your recommendations please of schools that might suit. The school would ideally:

• be independent (ie not state);
• be co-ed or single sex (boys);
• allow day students as ours will not be boarding; and
• be in an area easily reachable from London (with preference for Surrey or Oxfordshire).

If the school is open to taking international students on a short-term basis that would also be a plus!

Very many thanks.

What a lovely idea, it must have been great to do that as a child. What do your boys think about it?

Where are you thinking you will be based? Surrey and Oxfordshire are rather large areas and there are plenty of independent schools. If someone needs to commute into London each day then it might limit your area a bit.

I don't know which schools would take students on a short term basis, but I suspect ACS Cobham would be one of them. However it might not give the experience that you are hoping for. There may be more choice in London itself. If you go for one of the more traditional schools then you will have the extra burden of school uniform for only 2 terms.

Hopefully someone else will be able to give you some suggestions.

Are you thinking of moving somewhere near the school then? As long as it's commutable to London? Do you need to go to London every day or just want to be able to visit? And whereabouts.

It isn't going to work to live in London and go to school in Oxford.

Thank you so much for the replies (and your suggestion of ACS Cobham, @gato21 )!

Sorry, I should have clarified: yes, we would be looking at living near the school (wherever that is).

My husband has previously commuted from Oxford to London each weekday and we wouldn’t be looking to repeat that experience! Thankfully, I think post-pandemic he’d only need to go into London 1-2 days per week for work. The office of his current company (which is UK-based) is in the City.

In my mind at least, the choice of school would be the priority, whilst also making sure that we are no more than, say, 1.5 hours from London by train.

Thanks so much again for the replies- any further suggestions much appreciated!

His experience in a Uk independent prep or primary school will depend a lot on the term(s) he's there. For example in terms of the timing of the sports played that term. They'll all do ball sports and participation will be strongly encouraged, but he might find cricket more palatable than rugby for example. Also in terms of the timing of the school concert or play(s); not all prep schools will have one every term.
Lots of prep schools will have great art and DT, not many will have climbing as a competitive sport. So perhaps start with a search for that. My son's prep, in South Oxfordshire, makes very good use of its extensive river frontage in the summer if fishing, canoeing etc would suit him.

Ps if you come to near Oxford in the summer there is fabulous junior sailing and windsurfing on Farmoor reservoir.

Thanks so much @NeedingCoffee for that feedback! Use of river frontage sounds fab- I wonder if you wouldn’t mind sharing the name of the school (not sure if there is a private messaging facility on here to do so- I’m very new to it!)

My son was at Moulsford Prep. In our area if you can be flexible on location I would also look at
Dragon (very big and famous, in Oxford, but amazing for the right child and as it's so big more likely to have the niche stuff)

Chandlings - only to 11 and much smaller but again good on music and creativity I think

St Andrews prep - more traditional but a lovely school

I would guess that the below schools in our area might be less suitable either because they're very academically focussed and although your son is gifted, he might not have done exactly the same stuff, or because they're unlikely to stretch him enough
Manor prep
Abingdon prep
Cranford School
Our Lady's Abingdon
Cokethorpe

I'm sure I've missed some smaller ones, but in your shoes I'd start with Dragon, Moulsford, Chandlings and StA for a look.

Thank you, @NeedingCoffee - Moulsford Prep looks absolutely fantastic! I will definitely pursue enquiring there.

Dragon I already knew of, but wasn’t sure what it was like in reality- I’ll do some further investigation, thank you.

And I really appreciate the further list, also. I will research these.

I wish there was so much choice in Australia!

Many thanks again.

Kingham Hill may work - good train connections to London from the local station, lovely rural area and I have friends with children at the school who are very happy.

Have a look at Christ Church Cathedral School, where my DS and nephew are. Lots of international boys and a fair few for short periods, because of the connection with the university. As a small school it’s really nurturing, and easy for new boys to make friends. They do the usual ball sports but it’s done really inclusively, with matches and awards available to all abilities; they’re starting to offer a wider range of other sports too, including archery. The music and drama are superb of course: pretty much everyone learns an instrument or sings, and my 8 year old was in his first Shakespeare play on Christ Church Meadows a couple of weeks ago!

Hi OP,

Have a look at Pinewood School in Bourton, Oxfordshire (on the border with Wiltshire). It’s a coed Independent (day and boarding) that isn’t academically selective. There is a fair bit of sport (I think you’ll find that with all the private UK schools, it was 4 days a week) but does do a lot of music and art also.

I found the school community very welcoming. 14 kids in the class vs 25 in Aus. The uniforms were mostly very practical (waterproof coat instead of blazer). All good provided by the school - it’s hard to go back to lunch boxes!

We are an Aussie family too and spent a year in the UK (with DC at Pinewood for 3 terms).

Pinewood is pretty used to international students coming and going as it is near a military base with lots of short term international students. I think you’d still have to pay the (very expensive) joining fee though.

i feel like there are plenty of schools in Australia for gifted non sporty boys, I probably have one myself although he’s only in prep and expect at least a few of the nearby private schools will cater well to him based on cousins and friends children and our own experience.
what drives the school focus for 6 months for a 10 year old? I would focus more on the travel and experience opportunities, although some of these schools sound amazing. Have you considered the age gap? My oldest would be about a year and a half ahead of where he is now if he’d started school in London, he’d have started reception at 4 1/4 and back here he started prep at 5.5. This meant he was considerably behind what was his uk peer group in education for a couple of years although they do catch up.

I’ve also heard great things about Pinewood. You’re right about different education systems being at different stages. The advantage of UK independent schools is that (unless you go for one of the hot houses) they are able to work with children to different levels of knowledge - they’d probably be fine and would catch up loads - but they are also able to put children in the year below if needed, which state schools aren’t allowed to.

Thanks so much @whojamaflip - I’ll take a look at it!

Thanks so much, @anotherfinemess1 - I did wonder whether Oxford schools might have more international students coming and going because of the university factor! That sounds good.

Thanks so much, @PinkFever - it’s great to hear you had a really good experience when you did a similar thing. I’ll add Pinewood to the list!

Thanks @Codlingmoths. We find that in AFL-obsessed Melbourne, if you’re not playing Aussie rules in winter then you’re somewhat sidelined. Plus there’s the Australian ‘tall poppy’ mentality. Unfortunately we have found that schools here are not willing to think creatively about curriculum, and believe that all children achieving the same state-mandated learning outcomes in lockstep is ‘good enough’. Anyway, a conversation for another thread probably!

I'm interested in a comparison thread with Aussie schools....!

If you're looking for a school in London itself, you might try Wetherby Prep in Bryanston Square. It has a very international clientele whilst being a traditional English prep school. It also offers riding and climbing as part of its Friday activities programme.