Doesnt matter where we move or live, the issues pertaining to schools would be the top most on our priority list. When we moved from Australia to Malaysia, we went to the extend of renting a house in an area which we never liked, rather than staying in our own house closer to the office, simply to send our children to a school which we deemed the best for them. This time around, the same principle applies, find the school first, then the house will follow.
Enrolling a child into a school here in London , is not as straightforward as we thought. It makes the matter worst if you are planning to send your child to a private school. Registration for private schools are made at least two years in advance or else the chances of having a place is very slim. Tried our luck contacting a few private schools within the Hampstead, Camden, St John's Wood area but places for any of the children are to no avail. They are full and withdrawal of current students to make way for new enrolment is almost impossible. The schools in fact are not willing to tolerate even an extra student per classroom in order to keep their schools at a very high standard. I kind of agree with the way they are doing things in terms of strict enrolments and number of students. They take quality of education seriously. From what I've read (correct me if I am wrong) over here most private school students perform better during major exams than state school students...which is contrary to Malaysia. Even then, the number of pupils in state schools, are legally limited to 30 maximum per classroom. That is still a relatively small number. A few days back, there was an article in one of the free newspapers (yup, there are heaps of free daily newspapers with quality news) which highlighted about a few state schools illegally having more than 30 pupils per class.
Back to our childrens school...we are left with the option of sending them to International schools instead. International schools seem to be more flexible with their enrolment. Students turnover is relatively high because expatriates come and go more often. We are indeed happy to send them to international schools which offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. Coming from IB background ourselves, we are very positive about what the IB programme has got to offer for an overall development of a child.
We have visited 3 international schools which we think is rightly located in the areas where we could be staying.
1)International School of London in Acton
2)International Community School which is very close to Regent Park
3)Southbank International School in Hampstead.
All the three schools offer IB Primary Years Programme (4-10 yo) and IB Middle Years Programme (11-16 yo). However, among the three, we personally like ISL the most. A very small school with 100+ number of students from 4-18 yo. That is really small and you can feel the family atmosphere there. They even serve halal meal and very flexible about wearing hijab and solat.
ICS ranked second and Southbank third. The ranking may change though.
In the midst of the school search, we received a very important piece of advice from Malaysian expatriates who have school going teenage daughters. With that in mind we seriously tried to pursue Islamia Girls High School for our daughter. Islamia is a girls private school which has indeed obtained a very outstanding report from the OFSTED -( a body which inspect and regulate to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages). They basically obtained 5 Outstanding ratings out of 6 categories. The schools GCSE exam results are excellent too and ranked among the top 50 schools in London. There is also the primary section of Islamia ie. Islamia primary school and it is a state school, not private.
We have to go through a strict enrolment process for Islamia . Alhamdulillah there is a possible withdrawal next year, thus a place is available for our daughter provided she passes an entrance exam and an interview with the headmistress. She sat for an entrance exam which covers English, Math, Science, Reasoning and Islamic Studies last week and passed the exam.
Today the daughter and the parents have to attend an interview with Mrs Fauzia Islam, the proprietor and headmisstress of the Islamia schools.
To cut the story short, our daughter is officially offered a place at Islamia Girls High School. Alhamdulillah.
Islamia Primary School is really full. They already have 30 per classroom, which is the maximum number. Withdrawal is also impossible as it is a state school. Theres nothing that the school could do to help us get places for our sons there.
The school search is still on for the boys.
Enrolling a child into a school here in London , is not as straightforward as we thought. It makes the matter worst if you are planning to send your child to a private school. Registration for private schools are made at least two years in advance or else the chances of having a place is very slim. Tried our luck contacting a few private schools within the Hampstead, Camden, St John's Wood area but places for any of the children are to no avail. They are full and withdrawal of current students to make way for new enrolment is almost impossible. The schools in fact are not willing to tolerate even an extra student per classroom in order to keep their schools at a very high standard. I kind of agree with the way they are doing things in terms of strict enrolments and number of students. They take quality of education seriously. From what I've read (correct me if I am wrong) over here most private school students perform better during major exams than state school students...which is contrary to Malaysia. Even then, the number of pupils in state schools, are legally limited to 30 maximum per classroom. That is still a relatively small number. A few days back, there was an article in one of the free newspapers (yup, there are heaps of free daily newspapers with quality news) which highlighted about a few state schools illegally having more than 30 pupils per class.
Back to our childrens school...we are left with the option of sending them to International schools instead. International schools seem to be more flexible with their enrolment. Students turnover is relatively high because expatriates come and go more often. We are indeed happy to send them to international schools which offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. Coming from IB background ourselves, we are very positive about what the IB programme has got to offer for an overall development of a child.
We have visited 3 international schools which we think is rightly located in the areas where we could be staying.
1)International School of London in Acton
2)International Community School which is very close to Regent Park
3)Southbank International School in Hampstead.
All the three schools offer IB Primary Years Programme (4-10 yo) and IB Middle Years Programme (11-16 yo). However, among the three, we personally like ISL the most. A very small school with 100+ number of students from 4-18 yo. That is really small and you can feel the family atmosphere there. They even serve halal meal and very flexible about wearing hijab and solat.
ICS ranked second and Southbank third. The ranking may change though.
In the midst of the school search, we received a very important piece of advice from Malaysian expatriates who have school going teenage daughters. With that in mind we seriously tried to pursue Islamia Girls High School for our daughter. Islamia is a girls private school which has indeed obtained a very outstanding report from the OFSTED -( a body which inspect and regulate to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages). They basically obtained 5 Outstanding ratings out of 6 categories. The schools GCSE exam results are excellent too and ranked among the top 50 schools in London. There is also the primary section of Islamia ie. Islamia primary school and it is a state school, not private.
We have to go through a strict enrolment process for Islamia . Alhamdulillah there is a possible withdrawal next year, thus a place is available for our daughter provided she passes an entrance exam and an interview with the headmistress. She sat for an entrance exam which covers English, Math, Science, Reasoning and Islamic Studies last week and passed the exam.
Today the daughter and the parents have to attend an interview with Mrs Fauzia Islam, the proprietor and headmisstress of the Islamia schools.
To cut the story short, our daughter is officially offered a place at Islamia Girls High School. Alhamdulillah.
Islamia Primary School is really full. They already have 30 per classroom, which is the maximum number. Withdrawal is also impossible as it is a state school. Theres nothing that the school could do to help us get places for our sons there.
The school search is still on for the boys.
Hi, Just to clarify that Southbank offers the Primary Years Programme at its primary campuses in Hampstead and Kensington and the Middle Years Programme at its Westminster campus. Good luck in your search for a school for your boys.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Any suggestion?
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