Secondary school info

[rubywoorocks]

Hi

     I’m looking for British education Thai private school not International. Bkk eastern region. My Step mother is from Thailand so we were hoping to be able to get my daughter into school that way and my son a special needs school. Does anyone have any info on the best schools and who to contact? Thanks in advance 

[OishiRefill]

I think you tend to find the non-international English programs will tend to hire a mixture of nationalities to be their 'foreign' teachers. Some will insist on native English speaking foreigners, and some (those with the lower tuition fees typically) will also employ non-natives. Native English speaking teachers cost the schools a lot of money to be fair. In the past, salaries could be (and some places still are) increased by 5000/year from a starting salary of between around 45k up to 90k in the more elite English programs. Is there really much difference between a westerner with a BSc/BA + a teaching qualification who lands a 45k job or a 90k job? Probably not. Mainly the thing is that the latter had better interview skills, or in some cases the door was opened for them by a friend who had already sunk their own roots into the higher paying place. It's partly snobbery of the clients/customers... sometimes, if a parent can, they put their kid into a school of equivalent educational value to a lower priced school, that has a higher price point, simply for the purpose of having their kids friends coming from more affluent families. About curriculum, many EPs will follow a modified form of the Thai curriculum which is used in the government schools. Many EPs will have opportunities for the kids to sit some externally assessed exams such as Cambridge, for example. Cambridge Fliers/Movers etc. These demonstrate ability at a certain level of proficiency to communicate in everyday English. From my observations so far, if you want to get 'specific' in terms of the nationality of the teachers and/or the curriculum and school ethos, you're usually looking a notch higher than an EP- at least to a 3rd tier international school. There are sure to be exceptions to this of course. Teachers at 3rd tier internationals start to present with actual teaching qualifications too, albeit not necessarily certified (IE: QTS). Over the past eight years or so many former EP teachers have learnt and earnt their PGCEs from Oxford, Nottingham, or Sunderland (to name three) universities, and these often move into the 3rd tier inters. If your child already speaks English, and your budget doesn't stretch to 300k+ per term for 1st tier/2nd tier - it could be worth considering one of the top government schools' EP programs (such as Kaset [insert name of university here]) which basically guarantee entrance to their uni after M6. The grey middle area of highly priced EPs and lower tier inters may, or may  not afford your child much in terms of education and life outlook than a really great gov't EP. Many Thai kids have no daily exposure to English language so they do benefit obviously from the sheer volume of English spoken in a 3rd tier inter or an expensive EP with westerners. But if the English is already there..... worth considering ALL the options. Bear in mind too that some "International Schools" are really only that in name. It's sales and marketing for some. Personally I am now looking for a secondary school for my daughter here in TL, probably BKK. She has the English already.... I must find the best fit for her. Not a small challenge. I quite like the look of POTISARNPITTAYAKORN https://www.ps.ac.th/psth/ I would rather that the teachers (whatever their nationality or pronunciation of English) know their subjects well and are here for the innate rewards of teaching (IE: got their teaching qualification before visiting Thailand), than to pay a premium term fee to support beer-tokens and/or lavish expat lifestyles of some.... 

Edited December 24, 2021 by OishiRefill

[OishiRefill]

.... " I’m looking for British education Thai private school not International. Bkk eastern region."

 

REPS Rayong,  https://www.repsbanchang.com/ the sister school to the well known Garden International School https://gardenrayong.com/, might be a good fit!

 

The head of primary is very experienced and has a good eye for teaching talent and for good nature of applicants.

 

REPS is an EP with a good reputation so far as I know. It is one I would personally consider should I relocate to that region.

 

Cambridge English Qualification Examinations are offered annually to our Primary and Secondary students, where the four main English proficiency skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening are tested among the global community. We are proud to be an official certified Cambridge International Examination (CIE) school and offer the Starters, Movers, Flyers, KET, PET and FCE Cambridge English Qualification Examinations to our students. Our students perform at a very high level across the tested standards in demonstrating their English proficiency on these examinations. REPS remains as one of the top bilingual school in the surrounding area as well as Thailand in producing exceptional levels of English language skills development.

 

If I am not mistaken, the students at REPS can take IGCSE exams over at the Garden Inter. Need to fact check this though.