"We've relocated from Washington to Wimbledon – how do we find a good school?"

When Trish Brandt moved to the UK from the USA, she had to take a crash course in the British education system to find the right school for her two children. Val Proctor hears how she did it

UK education

We’re so lucky that our first choice has worked out for us. The children love their new school
Trish Brandt, mother, journalist and globetrotter

Trish and Michael Brandt are globetrotters and experts in relocation. Over the years, thanks to Michael’s career in medical technology, they’ve lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, Eindhoven in Holland, and Connecticut and Seattle in the USA. They were unfazed at the prospect of yet another move when they prepared to relocate to London in the summer of 2008.

Yet even this flexible, confident couple, both in their mid-40s, were left bewildered as they tried to negotiate the education system and find the right British school for their children Stephanie (14) and Ross (12). Here, Trish, an award-winning journalist, explains how and why they eventually chose King Edward’s, an independent, co-educational school in Witley, Surrey.

An awfully big adventure…

“In many ways, my life has been one long adventure," says Trish. "As a writer, it has been a privilege to live in so many countries, but as a mother I’ve always worried that my children might struggle to adapt. Of course, education is a key issue. This is why our recent move from America to England was so challenging. We knew that finding the right school for Stephanie and Ross at this stage of their lives was crucial.
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"But where to start? My first choice of information was the internet. The web is a fine source for facts, but it doesn’t convey the atmosphere of the schools, what the people are like, who works there and, more importantly, what the pupils are like and if they are happy. Ultimately, the more I surfed, the more confused I became.

"Speaking to people only made things worse. I knew they were speaking English but it seemed like another language: ‘Have you read the Ofsted report? Why don’t you call Gabbitas? Are you looking for selective or non-selective? What subjects for GCSEs? A-levels or International Baccalaureate? Have you considered grammar school?’ And so on...

"Then, as I slowly began to sift through the information, I discovered the single most terrifying stumbling block of all. Supposing, at the end of our search, we found a school that matched our criteria, yet we still couldn’t register because the children needed to pass entrance exams and the school wasn’t able to accommodate them both? I decided to look at the problems more systematically.

State or private?

"Having had a good experience with American government schools where the education was free, we thought we could do the same in England. Surely, all we needed to do was to choose a house in a reasonable neighbourhood and then send our children to the local state school around the corner? How wrong we were.

"In order to understand how different this was for us, let me describe the American school system as we knew it. (I say this advisedly because it differs from state to state.) While there are national education standards, all state schools are funded by local government. So if the community is affluent, then the schools benefit. Where we lived in Washington State was Microsoft territory and so our community, and the schools in particular, benefited from the best of technology and all that money could buy – from teaching assistance in the classrooms to playground equipment to computers for schoolwork to individual electronic keyboards for music lessons.

"Additionally, the school district operated an online personal tracking system for each child, which enabled parents to have instant access to the educational process – in terms of both curriculum and performance. At any time, you could log on and see if your child had any missing assignments or if they had received extra credit for a project, or if they had passed or failed a particular test.

"In contrast, the more we investigated local state schools in England, the more horrified we were to learn about overcrowding and poor test results in some schools and that, because of the catchment area system, our children could easily be educated miles away from where we lived. We finally ruled out this option and, since we had missed the testing period for local grammar schools, we had no choice but to opt for private education.

No big yellow school bus

school bus

"The next reality that hit us was no big yellow school bus to transport children to school for free, which is the system in the USA. We would need to take our children to school every day or allow them to use public transport.

"Immediate dilemma: could the children cope alone in this big city while we were out working? In addition, were we comfortable allowing them to do so? Eventually, we decided that a good boarding school might provide the safest solution. We also thought this might give our children extra stability and a sense of belonging to a kind of extended family.

"We didn’t want to separate the children, so we decided to look for a co-educational boarding school.

A-levels or International Baccalaureate (IB)?

"This decision was easy. As an international family, we want to make sure our children are prepared for life anywhere in the world. We thought the International Baccalaureate would be best for them because the qualification is recognised by universities throughout the world. The IB has a balanced combination of subject focus, which offers flexibility and broad intellectual, personal and creative development. It also encourages people to become 'critical thinkers, lifelong learners and informed participants in local and world affairs'.

Making the right decision

"Finally, having worked out what it was we were looking for, we were ready to begin the actual school search. We briefed our relocation support company, the Relocation Support Group, which called schools that matched our criteria to determine which ones might be able to offer our children places. They also set up the interviews for us. King Edward's

"We visited several boarding schools before deciding on King Edward’s School in Witley, Surrey. Apart from being a co-educational boarding school, and one of the best-rated schools for the IB, we really liked the way our children were treated in the interview.

"While the headmaster was happy to answer any and all of our questions, he seemed to care more about Stephanie and Ross. He asked what they thought about a whole range of topics – from history to sport to favourite television shows, what it might be like to be a boarder and how they both felt about school uniforms. Surprisingly, both children were looking forward to wearing uniforms because they thought that, in America, they were often judged by the clothes they wore.

"The other factor that influenced our decision was that the school’s philosophy seemed to mirror ours: that while children need to learn and become successful, ultimately education is about so much more than scholastic achievement, it’s about being prepared in a broader sense for life.

"We’re lucky that our first choice has worked out for us. The children love their new school. They have had to make some adjustments as far as the curriculum is concerned and they think the English can’t spell, which is cause for a laugh or two. But they find the change stimulating and seem to enjoy the history and tradition, as well as the social aspects, of boarding school."