Finding A School In The Uk

[AyJ]

Has anybody moved Thai children to the Uk before and had experience finding a school for them.

My wife has 2 sons which I plan to take to the UK with us. One is aged 14 and the other is aged 8. There knowledge of English is about level 1.5 (basic to ok) and this is what concerns me. The oldest boy will be getting ready to do his GCSEs, and I want to know if it is possible to keep him back a year as a transition period. Actually, the whole process involved in getting them into a school is what I want to know.

I am really not sure who to contact about this. I have tried sending some emails to schools, but no response. Should I contact the LEA or someone else?

Help please

AyJ

[the scouser]

As I understand the process, you may directly approach individual schools but they may decline to accept the children. In this day and age with school league tables, they are more likely to raise an objection to taking kids who speak little English as this will have a bearing on the school's perceived standing. However, if no school will accept the kids, you then go to the LEA which will direct a school to take them. Whether or not a school will place the children on the role prior to their entry to the U.K., I don't know.

Scouse.

[mariner29]

My daughter joined a very good school last year age 13 she is now speaking fluent English.

I have given her 10/10 top she has totally taken on the English culture and is currently grounded

One could say she is very settled....

[space1999]

Has anybody moved Thai children to the Uk before and had experience finding a school for them.

My wife has 2 sons which I plan to take to the UK with us. One is aged 14 and the other is aged 8. There knowledge of English is about level 1.5 (basic to ok) and this is what concerns me. The oldest boy will be getting ready to do his GCSEs, and I want to know if it is possible to keep him back a year as a transition period. Actually, the whole process involved in getting them into a school is what I want to know.

I am really not sure who to contact about this. I have tried sending some emails to schools, but no response. Should I contact the LEA or someone else?

Help please

AyJ

Hi Ayj. I am planning to do the same. I get married September and hope to put in the visa app Oct. She has a 9yr old daughter. Would be intereted to hear anyones thoughts on benefits of bring future wife and her daughter over together rather than waiting a yr before bringing her over. Friend told me although expensive at first (£I am told 36000 Baht for children each) it would be cheaper and less hassle...any thoughts.

To answer your question Ayj - I contact my local LEA in Leicester and they advised me that they would not give her a place until she was in the UK - because who knows in my case. You could contact schools direct but my teacher friends tell me the correct procedure is to tel your local LEA when your wife's children are in UK. It's good idea to have some knowledge about schools nearby also. I say this because I know of many schools that are already oversubscribed and have no spaces for this coming Sept 08 - don't mean to worry you - that's the case hear in my city anyway.

You ask about keeping the 14 yr old back a yr...a question for both LEA and school I think. I used to work in a school and remember a 11 yr old boy there. although he was very intelligent the school agreed with the parents to make sure he got all the support in English he needed and put him in the STATEMENT category...does not mean he is thick at all...means the school can get extra funding to support him in English. The lad I talk about was speaking fluent (mostly) English by the time he was 16 and left school with 5+ GCSEs. All in all....with so many international children from abroad now in UK schools (most) seem well prepared to gicve support.

Hope it helps...and any opinions about whether to bring mi wifes to be daughter over are welcome. THX

Space

[mariner29]

I would get them across asap as they obviously can pick the language up a lot quicker and IMO the best place to study English is here not in Thailand.

[roygsd]

Has anybody moved Thai children to the Uk before and had experience finding a school for them.

My wife has 2 sons which I plan to take to the UK with us. One is aged 14 and the other is aged 8. There knowledge of English is about level 1.5 (basic to ok) and this is what concerns me. The oldest boy will be getting ready to do his GCSEs, and I want to know if it is possible to keep him back a year as a transition period. Actually, the whole process involved in getting them into a school is what I want to know.

I am really not sure who to contact about this. I have tried sending some emails to schools, but no response. Should I contact the LEA or someone else?

Help please

AyJ

Summr holidays have just started so perhaps that the reason you have not had a response yet?

Do the boys have a visa yet?

I will try to find out a bit of info from a mate of mine who work in a Secondary school but he is on holiday for the next 10 days and also a guy with a thai wife and kids who is friends with a pal of mine but as their kids are much younger I suspect that may not be too much use but worth a try.

All the best

Roy

[Mossfinn]

Has anybody moved Thai children to the Uk before

Yes

and had experience finding a school for them.

We just contacted the local school, which just happened to be a good school and they accepted her straight away, they would not allow her to be registered until she was in the country.

Remember, some schools are different, although the registration whilst out of the country, I believe in a constant.

Actually, the whole process involved in getting them into a school is what I want to know.

The process is simple, one of the most simple procedures you will go through, ring them up, ask about their system and then be prepared, have the interview and then you start, as long of course they accept you, if they don't after a certain amount of rejections, then you have to appeal as stated above.

One is aged 14 and the other is aged 8

The oldest boy will be getting ready to do his GCSEs, and I want to know if it is possible to keep him back a year as a transition period.

In my opinion, get them over now, the longer you wait the harder it is to integrate and without there being any hard and fast rule, the older they get, the more difficult it gets to receive the visa, the argument being, integration into the country is less manageable.

I have the scars to prove it.

Good Luck

[roygsd]

My daughter joined a very good school last year age 13 she is now speaking fluent English.

I have given her 10/10 top she has totally taken on the English culture and is currently grounded

One could say she is very settled....

and no doubt you are getting used to such expressions as "Am I bovvered". "yea but no but", and finally " and your point is"?

Having four grown up daughters of my own a teenaged daughter now would be very challenging for me from what I see from friends of mine with teenage kids, best get the baseball bat ready, boy friends on the horizon!

All jokes apart she is a credit to you and your wife and herself, take a bow you have earnt it, nice to hear a nice story for a change

Roy gsd