moving to UK and Secondary Education

[lbubbly]

Hi there,

We are on the move to the UK temporarily and would like to know if std's enter secondary school on age or subject knowledge.
Education in schools overseas is usually taught in their native language ,so do std's receive addition support in all state maintained schools to help with language and understanding and at what age would GCSE'S begin.

Thanks

Not sure what you mean by std 's (students?). GCSEcourses start in Year 10 (aged 14/15) for 2 years but options are decided the year before and may be mroe limited if your dc haven't previously done certain subjects. You'd need to speak to the Local Authority of the are in which you will live to fidn out which school might have vacancies for the children and what language support might be available. How old are they and how long is temporarily?

In UK, students almost invariably move on age.

Where in the UK are you moving to? And are you interested in state or private education?

Some parts of UK have Middle Schools; other than those, children start secondary school in the September when they are 11 (known as year 7). They are in the phase of their schooling known as Key Stage 3, which lasts until the end of year 9. Then the GCSE work begins.

Private schools start at either 11+ or 13+.

If you can find one would recommend that your children go to an "international school" as they have experience of children from different countries.

Children in state schools only get limited help with learning English.

Onimolap-interestingly ,I thought that students go back a yr to go over the subject
yr .Thought about private ,but too expensive.
Thanks.

Lizs-I've had a quick look through the ssubject areas and they are not unreachable though my main concern is making the right choice of schools and choice of additonal help.Thanks

crazymum53-They had studied at a Swiss Intenational school for 2 yr's,but unfortunately changed hands. Both are british.

Being asked to repeat a year is, I believe, common in the USA; but not here.

If you are interested in the state system, then it will be important for you to find out your UK address, as it is difficult/impossible to apply for a place without this. Also, you will need to find out if it is an area with a year 7 move to secondary, or a middle school system.

The school year here runs from September to July. Do you know when you will arrive?

Onimolap- what's the difference between a secondary to middle school system.

Repeating the yr is a positive move forward as it cements the foundation to move on to the correct,evental yr group much easier and possibly higher the standards at the same time!

I guess they will be casual entries to school as no date has yet been set.

Middle school goes up to Year 7 or 8 (ie aged 12/13), Junior system up to year6 (11) then secondary. Private schools have 11+ and/or 13+ entry. Unusual for a chidlto eb put out of year. ds moved from a Swiss International School at 7 - it wasn't an easy first few years.

They will either be late applicants if they are 11 for 11+ entry or the normal age for the move from middle school (this can be 12+ or 13+). Or they will be in year entry. You will not be able to apply until you have an English address.

They will be expected to go into their normal age group year. Children who arrive in the UK with no English only very rarely get put into a year below. Your children do not sound as if they will have that level of language issue (and it usually only happens if they arrive in GCSE years, and causes problems).

They should be able to catch up with few problems if they are prepared to work hard. There is a lot of repetition in the syllabus. A friends child is coping fine with GCSEs in Science despite having been homeschooled until year 9 and not having studied science before.

However the English system is very much geared towards taking GCSEs at 16 and A'levels at 18. So a temporary move to the UK might not be ideal.

Thanks mummytime.I say temporarily just incase they do not adapt. I understand that there's load of support in schools ,but it wil be a good experience either way.
Thanks for your input.

There is NOT loads of support in schools.