Teenage Thai Children Educated In Uk

[James53]

I wonder is anybody has taken teenage Thai kids to the UK can say how they got on at school. My g/f has a boy of 14 and 12. They can't speak very good English. To my mind thaye are better off staying in Thailand as I can't see how they would survive in a UK school. This obviously puts our future in doubt. No chance of me moving to Thailand as my work is in the UK and I have a 14 year old and 11 year old myself. My last relationship hit the buffers over the same issue.

The other thing I wanted to ask was I belive any child that comes to the UK 15 or over is considered to be a foriegn student when it comes to going to university. Can anybody confirm if 15 is the critical age.

[ignis]

Maybe is more a question of money ?

In the Village where I live 3 of the teenage kids go to English schools, 2 different boys are in Australia, and come back to Thailand for Christmas and for the Sumner Holidays... The one the parents live 2 houses away from me, he is now 17 and has schooled in Australia since he was 11..

Another goes to UK, he is at Wycliffe School, Bath Road. Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. I know this school many foreign students. 13 - 19 yr old. school + Boarding is about 25,000 GBP, age 3 - 13 around 15,000 GBP

The have different large houses around the town of Stonehouse for boarders, all the rooms have TV and a computer.... Wycliffe College itself is set in 52 acres of land the Wycliffe College was first set up in 1882, the main building of 1327 was Stonehouse Court and of course is a Listed Building.

I am sure there are many such places in the UK

[Mario2008]

There will be programs to help them get up with their English and living in England will certainly improve their English. In the long run they should be able to get a better education in the UK.

But moving to another country is always a very big step and you should first consider the options for your g/f in the UK, how will she get along in the UK regarding employment etc.

[James53]

There will be programs to help them get up with their English and living in England will certainly improve their English. In the long run they should be able to get a better education in the UK.

But moving to another country is always a very big step and you should first consider the options for your g/f in the UK, how will she get along in the UK regarding employment etc.

G/F is a nurse. She speaks/writes English but I don't think she is good enough to pass the IELTS exam so able to work in the UK but she can learn if she come here at college. I am more worried about how the kids would cope especially the 14 year old who would be straight onto a GCSE curriculum. Would a 14 year old be better off staying in Thailand for school?

[kennkate]

James. I would like to say my stepdaughter came with us to the UK at age 13 in 2009 She only goes to a State School here in the UK same as she did in Thailand. She is a bright kid but her English was limited.

Since she has been at school in the UK she has made remarkable progress and exeeded the schools expectations.

She does get support from the School. And that in itself has been good for her to help her to overcome the difficulties she was bound to face. The School only as about 10 or 12 non English students.

The teachers have told us that they do not think she will have any difficulty passing her GCSE's When the time comes.

I am sure if your children are going to a good International School in Thailand they will get a good education The same applies to a prvate School in the Uk.

Private School education is not available to me on my income so it was a state school. I do think she is getting a far better Education at State School here in the Uk than she was getting at State School in Thailand

Before anyone starts jumping on the state school education in the UK. I would like to sat that my son want to a state school and went on to Uni got a 2/1 degree and then a masters at Lancaster. worked for a multy national company and retired at 39

I was still working Just goes to show you can't beat a good education.

[wolf5370]

Gouing back a bit, but when I lived in the UK, a friend briought his wife's kids (from 1st marriage) over. Two girls then aged about 9 and 11. Neither could speak a word of English. They cam from Ayuttaya and had only attended Thai Government schools.

They both went to a local state school (this was in Kent). Both could speak English well within the first year. By the third year they were at least on par with the English kids. The 11 year old was more scholastic than the 9 year old and excelled, reaching the sixth form with good grades and above average GCSE's. The 9 year old did OK - i.e. was average in school.

It seemed to me (and their dad) that the 9 year old was young enough to become one of the girls by the time she reached secondary school - and therefore fell into all the tyouth culture etc. The 11 year old started straight at secondary school and only had her Thai upbringing (in a village and being brought up by Grandma) and by the time she could interact at the same level with the English kids, she was aready one of the "good kids", so continued to follow her peer group and excell.

They will learn English very quickly (unlike English kids in Thaialnd, there is unlikely to be any teachers that can speak even a word of Thai - so they will have to learn). The school has to keep up their grades too, so they will get lots of help I am sure. Scvhools get financial and other help from government and council schemes for learning of English.

You may not like the manorisms and traits they pick up in British state schools though!

Good Luck.

[James53]

James. I would like to say my stepdaughter came with us to the UK at age 13 in 2009 She only goes to a State School here in the UK same as she did in Thailand. She is a bright kid but her English was limited.

Since she has been at school in the UK she has made remarkable progress and exeeded the schools expectations.

She does get support from the School. And that in itself has been good for her to help her to overcome the difficulties she was bound to face. The School only as about 10 or 12 non English students.

The teachers have told us that they do not think she will have any difficulty passing her GCSE's When the time comes.

I am sure if your children are going to a good International School in Thailand they will get a good education The same applies to a prvate School in the Uk.

Private School education is not available to me on my income so it was a state school. I do think she is getting a far better Education at State School here in the Uk than she was getting at State School in Thailand

Before anyone starts jumping on the state school education in the UK. I would like to sat that my son want to a state school and went on to Uni got a 2/1 degree and then a masters at Lancaster. worked for a multy national company and retired at 39

I was still working Just goes to show you can't beat a good education.

ok that is interesting. The kids go to a state school in Thailand. I am not sure if that is because of finances or choice. The comprehensive schools where I am are not brilliant as there are 5 state schools that are selective so even the bright kids that go to the 3 state schools that are left are dragged down but the apalling low standards set by the schools. It would be nice if my son's school set some homework now and again.When they do the expected standard is so poor it is hardly worth doing.

I would definitely be thinking of state UK school. The 12 year old should be able to assimilate ok but I am worried about the 14 year old. I worry about my 14 year old and he doesn't have the langauge problem. So the options are state school here or put them through a private school in Thailand and thnn for them to come to the UK every holiday or go to see them.

If the 14 year old comes here I am concerned that he might not qualify as a UK student for the universtities here.

[Roadman]

Not into the UK but into New Zealand. And it is as Wolf has said.

We brought my wife's teen daughter here in April 3 years ago at the completion of her Thai year 10. She was a mid range student from a good Udon Thani public school and her English was virtually zero. As it was April with our school year well advanced and with her lack of English they put her in Year 10 again, so she has done 1.66 years in Year 10. Also they allowed her for a short time to attend the international section of the school where overseas students pay. She has just had her Year 12 results returned and she has passed every credit that was available to her some with Merit and Excellent. She is in the top band for Maths, is very strong in computing and accounting. What has suprised me the most however this year was that despite her early "English" teachers basically writing her off this year she is coming through strongly and catching up. We have assisted her with one hour a week with an English university tutor. She is on target for her dream of going to a New Zealand university.

She has Thai friends here that arrived as her not being able to speak English and they have all picked it up within two years. They are young and when thrown in the deep end most will swim.

I think for 'our' daughter the biggest change was at the end of her first year here as we stood in Auckland airport, her at that stage convinced that once she arrived back in Thailand for her school holiday she was not coming back to New Zealand. It had been a tough year for her in a foreign country, in a foreign school and people speaking another language. It had been one of annoyance turning to acceptance for me with it having been just myself and her mum in out love nest until daughter arrived on the scene. As she was about to leave us I did what my heart felt right then and stepped up and gave her a huge big hug and told her "I love you more than if you were my own, dearest darling daughter". She came back at the end of the school and has not looked back since. We have built a home environment for her, including buying her a puppy, and she has not looked back.

A lot of it is surround them in an environment where they know they are loved and they will learn to the best of their abilities.

[MikeyIdea]

Language is not the biggest problem, like many of the posters have said, the kids will pick up that, no oubt about that

What's going to be more difficult is the culture chock, missing friends and all that. They need a warm and supportive family

Good Luck

[bina]

there are gender differences btw. 14 yr old boys in thailand are more 'man' then boy i think, including the bad habits fi they hung around the bigger boys in the villages. more boys then girls fall out of school in the villages, run with bad crowds ,etc. unless the boys are studious or really into sports etc, they may have more of a problem then girls with finding themselves in a new environment. thai girls are also expected to be more 'well behaved' as well and also at shcool wherease , boys will be boys . 14 is a horrible age for boys anyhow, but if they are well adjusted there, then maybe easier in the move. it also depends on the crowd he will find at school. is he in to sports, rocket science, art, overweight non sport type.: remember, language is the least of the problems and teenagers can be cruel to anyone not like them. dont know mcuh about UK schools but know enough about here and teenagers, new kids in school etc.

also, do the boys have any tools for learning. seems to me that many of the village kids lack tools for learning the way kdis are taught here. do they have learning disabilities as yet unidentified? how is their relationship with their mother? how much patience do u have? time? money for extra tutoring, extra curricular activities? hwo is their behavior there in thailand? are they problematic? drinkers? (yes a big problem in thailand , hubby's 14yr old nephew went from being a decent student to a drinking drop out loser running with the wrong crowd and grandma cant control him....parents are away working and no, he cant come to israel to study.)remember that kids are not puppies, u cant return or sell one if it doesnt work out. or if u cant stand the kid.

bina

israel

[James53]

there are gender differences btw. 14 yr old boys in thailand are more 'man' then boy i think, including the bad habits fi they hung around the bigger boys in the villages. more boys then girls fall out of school in the villages, run with bad crowds ,etc. unless the boys are studious or really into sports etc, they may have more of a problem then girls with finding themselves in a new environment. thai girls are also expected to be more 'well behaved' as well and also at shcool wherease , boys will be boys . 14 is a horrible age for boys anyhow, but if they are well adjusted there, then maybe easier in the move. it also depends on the crowd he will find at school. is he in to sports, rocket science, art, overweight non sport type.: remember, language is the least of the problems and teenagers can be cruel to anyone not like them. dont know mcuh about UK schools but know enough about here and teenagers, new kids in school etc.

also, do the boys have any tools for learning. seems to me that many of the village kids lack tools for learning the way kdis are taught here. do they have learning disabilities as yet unidentified? how is their relationship with their mother? how much patience do u have? time? money for extra tutoring, extra curricular activities? hwo is their behavior there in thailand? are they problematic? drinkers? (yes a big problem in thailand , hubby's 14yr old nephew went from being a decent student to a drinking drop out loser running with the wrong crowd and grandma cant control him....parents are away working and no, he cant come to israel to study.)remember that kids are not puppies, u cant return or sell one if it doesnt work out. or if u cant stand the kid.

bina

israel

The kids live in Udon Thani city. I think they go to one of the top state schools. Their mum is a nurse so good family. There would be scope for private tuition here. My own kids get private tuition. I am not a kids sort of person but that isn't to say I wouldn't support or encourage them but I can rise to a challenge. There is a way to go yet so I think I can get them some English tuition in the mean time.

My own kids are into lots of out of school activities and there is plenty to do in my home town so they should find something to interest them. I am not in a position yet to be making any proposals to my g/f but I just need to understand what I will be up against. My previous g/f of 2.5 years finished with me a year ago and although she never raised the issue I think she decided her kids would be better off in Thailand than the UK and was looking for an excuse to finish things and I don't want to make the same mistake again.

[bkk_mike]

To answer one of the OP's questions...

The residence rule for subsidised education (i.e. student loans etc.) is that you are in the EU prior to August (1st or 31st - can't remember) 3 years before starting at University. Not sure if they adjust for a gap year or not,but it basically does mean 15. (unless you're in Scotland and the kid is bright enough to go to Uni at 17 based on their results at Highers - in which case it would be 14.)

3 years seems to be standard across the EU which can get you into free Universities in Ireland and Germany, not just loans-financed ones in the UK.

One cautionary note. The 3 years doesn't count for children in the UK on a student visa so a Thai family paying for their kid to go to a boarding school in the UK... The child does NOT become eligible for student loans or assisted places...

[NormanW]

There will be programs to help them get up with their English and living in England will certainly improve their English. In the long run they should be able to get a better education in the UK.

But moving to another country is always a very big step and you should first consider the options for your g/f in the UK, how will she get along in the UK regarding employment etc.

G/F is a nurse. She speaks/writes English but I don't think she is good enough to pass the IELTS exam so able to work in the UK but she can learn if she come here at college. I am more worried about how the kids would cope especially the 14 year old who would be straight onto a GCSE curriculum. Would a 14 year old be better off staying in Thailand for school?

International schools have boarding facilities and also provide the IGCSE curriculum. :jap: