Overseas Boarders
According to the British council, there are approximately 24,000 non-British pupils whose parents live overseas at UK independent schools. People from all over the world have chosen the UK to educate their children, they are usually attracted by academic achievement especially with traditionally difficult subjects such as maths, science and modern languages. One of the benefits for overseas boarders is they tend to become more independent and mature when they have studied at an independent boarding school.
However, boarding for overseas students can be a little daunting because of the distance between family and school. For this reason, parents need to find a school that has much experience in helping children settle quickly, making sure that regular contact is maintained between student and home. As overseas students studying in the UK alone the facilities at weekends for full boarders are very important. When choosing an independent school the ability of your child to adapt to boarding life may be dependent upon the comprehensive boarding facilities. When parents choose an independent school in the UK, they not only need to consider the school rankings and academic achievement, they need to focus upon other factor including an emphasis on pastoral care. For example, parents need to know the size of the school, the number of students, the ratio of overseas students and so forth. Another consideration is that when a school has a number of international students, those students often communicate in their native language, which makes it more difficult to integrate and as a consequence their standard of English suffers. It would always benefit them to mix with local British students for both cultural and custom exchanges.
In the UK, the regions where boarding schools are located can be very different, for example, in large towns or cities, whilst others are located in more remote villages or the countryside. Most schools have advanced computer equipment and independent accommodation. Some schools are located in the inner city and will be relatively small, but have a warmer and more friendly family atmosphere. Different children adapt to different environments, so we encourage parents to base their choice on their child's personality, hobbies and life skills. Before applying to a school, parents need to first determine whether the selected schools are able to provide a better language curriculum for their child. Many boarding schools provide one- to- one English tuition improving your child's level of learning English quickly.
Therefore, our advice to you is to contact Durrant Education on beverley@durranteducation.com for a more informed choice.
