Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Short courses for O/seas Goddaughter on a visit

6 replies

ReadReadWhine · 12/10/2013 21:27

Hi all

Our 14YO goddaughter is coming over from Korea at the end of December for a month's visit on her own and her parents are keen for her to experience the British education system during that time. Hmm

AFAIK, the idea is that if all goes to plan, she could end up doing her KS4 -5 or an IB here.

She's a lovely girl, but not at all academic - more into dance and sport - and she struggles in the Korean system, which doesn't provide any alternative to academic study. It's also difficult because she gets bullied - with a Korean mum and English dad, she is head and shoulders taller than many of her schoolmates. And although a slender size 8, she is seen as "overweight" in the eyes of Korean society. Angry

Anyway, unhappy at home, she's been pestering mum & dad for the opportunity to check out study in the UK. The problem is that the Korean version of the UK summer break starts around Christmas/January when UK kids are back at school. Ideally we'd get her a few weeks' of "taster lessons" at a local school. A friend of mine seems to think it's possible but I'm not convinced. I've looked at adult courses but OH doesn't think they're suitable for a young teen - besides which most of them go on for a min. of 12 weeks and she is only here for 4.

Something which along the lines of dance, music or media would be great but we've run out of ideas. Please, can any MNers out there help?

OP posts:
gallicgirl · 12/10/2013 21:33

Would your local adult community college have shortercourses?
Does Connexions still exist? They might be able to suggest courses.
Perhaps a local dance school?

ReadReadWhine · 12/10/2013 22:42

Thanks Gallicgirl. I've been scouting around the local community colleges but at the moment a lot of the courses last a minimum of 12 weeks. Those aimed at 14-16YOs are very limited (beauty, building, plumbing and electrics industries), last only 1 day and require the student to be doing relevant coursework at their local school. I've written to a couple of colleges to get see what - if anything - they could offer that fit our circumstances. As for Connexions, well they closed all the drop-in centres in Surrey about three years ago.

I'll keep on scouting, but our limitations (her age, length of time she's in the UK, time of year for visit) are making it almost impossible to find anything suitable.

OP posts:
gallicgirl · 12/10/2013 23:44

Is it worth talking to a high school to see if she could at least pop in for the day to discuss the possibilities of studying there?

If she does gcses in UK, she will have to study "academic subjects" in addition to her favourite classesso be good for her to know what would be expected.

EBee57 · 13/10/2013 17:47

It might be worth contacting girls boarding & day schools in your area to see if she could try a few days with them: many in Surrey have girls from China, Korea, US, Europe for varying lengths of stay - from a month or so up to several years for GCSEs and A levels. There's usually lots of sport, drama and not all are overly focused on just the academic side of education.

As she has you to stay with she would not need to board; and I imagine some would be happy to have her visit them - particularly if they thought there was a chance she might come to study with them for KS 4 -5!

mary21 · 13/10/2013 18:30

Hello places like Sylvia young do a1/2 term course.
Indie school were my bil teaches has short stay students

titchy · 13/10/2013 19:01

What about your local state comprehensive?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page