phuket international schools BIS or HeatStart

[ArranP]

Hello,

Currently 2 of my children goto BIS, I also have a 3rd child just turning 1 year old.

I can afford to send all 3 to BIS but due to the 3rd child I have had concern to evaluate the cost vs benefit to the children.

A point I have contemplated through discussion with family, is a child can goto to a top tier school and perform average, also, a child can goto to a mid tier school but perform very well. i.e. it is in the child whether to perform well or not.

Given the above fact, the child can do just as well when sending them to a mid tier school like HeadStart instead of a top tier school like BIS.

Would most welcome feedback thank you.

Regards

Arran.

[mikebell]

I taught for 38 years in UK schools. They had tiered schools in the 60s: Grammar schools; Technical Schools; Secondary Modern. Eventually they were merged into Comprehensive Schools.

As Head of English in a Sec Mod I kept complete dossiers of results achieved in English & English Literature. I continued to do this when we merged with the local Grammar school. At Sec Mod schools 'good' students felt valued and achieved more - big fish in little pool. In Comprehensive schools they merged in and became ordinary/less valued. My records over the 1st 5 years after Comprehensivisation showed that results were DOWN in comparison to sum total of Grammar school results and Sec Mod results when viewed separately over the previous 5 years.

[ArranP]

I taught for 38 years in UK schools. They had tiered schools in the 60s: Grammar schools; Technical Schools; Secondary Modern. Eventually they were merged into Comprehensive Schools.

As Head of English in a Sec Mod I kept complete dossiers of results achieved in English & English Literature. I continued to do this when we merged with the local Grammar school. At Sec Mod schools 'good' students felt valued and achieved more - big fish in little pool. In Comprehensive schools they merged in and became ordinary/less valued. My records over the 1st 5 years after Comprehensivisation showed that results were DOWN in comparison to sum total of Grammar school results and Sec Mod results when viewed separately over the previous 5 years.

so does this show that it was not due the the school being a Grammer school or a Sec Mod that affected the results, but due to the school enlarging ?

[mikebell]

A good point. The new Comprehensive school was 1500 students. It was split roughly 50-50 Sec Mod & Grammar school (if you include their sixth form.)

The high flyers in the Sec Mod became little fish in a big pool. Some suffered from a dive in self-confidence in the presence of GS students. Even after nearly 30 years in the Comprehensive system, I am not sold on it. Given the chance a significant number of (male) students leveled down.

My conclusion vis-a-vis your situation is that it is better to be a big fish in a little pool. Also the position in the family plays a part. I had 3 children - a boy between two girls. The middle child syndrome can interfere with academic progress. First born can be pushy/ambitious for success but feel insecure because of younger, cuter siblings. The 3rd child can either sink without trace and not compete with their older brother/sister; OR (as in my case,) demand attention in an extrovert way.

[ArranP]

i think the number of students is about equal for the 2 schools. the only difference is BIS has 3 classes of 15 children per year and HeadStart 2 classes of 23 children per year.

[mikebell]

Sheer luxury! Most classes I taught at GCSE level were 30+. I frequently had 20+ for 'A' level. Any teacher would relish and get the best from classes of 23 or less. Obviously teacher pupil ratio of 15 - 1 is better than 23 - 1 but with such small group sizes it shouldn't make such a difference. Having your children go to different schools makes for comparison of lesson content & delivery. Your children would enjoy comparing/contrasting these I can recommend the Ladybird series of early learning books. All my own children learnt to read this way & had a head start when they finally started school with Reading Ages 2 or 3 years ahead of their peers.

[alansiporin]

Consider QSI. Smallish total enrollment, small class size,trained/qualified teaching staff, decent, not extravegent, facilities and very well developed US curriculum. Not inexpensive. Children happy and go on to university around the world.

Transparency alert: I used to work there.

[Somtamnication]

I have tutored BIS students and I am astounded at their lack of world knowledge, analytical thinking and just sheer laziness of the hi-so teachers there. And not one textbook ever arrived home.

Yes, their English is great, I can say even native fluency, but terribly overpriced and overrated.

I have always asked my Korean privates to go to QSI. It too is overpriced, not much of a campus, but smaller classes and teacher to student ratio is one of the lowest on the island.

They also seem to hire friends of friends. Not much effort is made to hire local qualified expats with families.

Another option is the "new" KIS on the other side of that hill from QSI. Also smaller classes and they are Cambridge certified. Roughly the same price as QSI.

Transparency alert: I work at a school nearby.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Somtamnication