Category: Relocating Families

Which Comes First – House or School? Part 2: State schools in England

‘Which should we find first – the house or the school?’ This is one of the most common questions we are often asked by relocating families, and the simple answer is, ‘it depends!’

You may have read our recent blog for families considering Independent schools or International schools, which can help to secure great school places before you move – click here to read more. Today we’re continuing our conversation to answer this question, this time focusing on local state schools.

For many families who want to look at local state schools for their children, it is a very different picture and involves lots of preparation, research and then often taking a leap of faith! It is vital to have both a good understanding of how it works, and reasonable expectations for the outcome for your child.

The good news is that in many areas of England you will find great local state schools, offering a fantastic education for your children, with no fees to pay! However, the challenge for relocating families is about actually securing available spaces in the schools, and finding your way through the rather complicated application process.

In almost every area in England, you can only apply for local state schools once you have secured an address, and in most areas you can’t apply until the children have actually moved and are resident with you in your new address. This can leave things up in the air and needs to be managed carefully.

If you opt for state schooling there is always a degree of uncertainty about whether the local schools will actually have spaces for your children by the time you move and apply. Unlike in some other countries, children are not guaranteed a place at a particular school based on where they live. You can express a preference for which schools you’d like – which will be considered – but the actual school you are allocated will be dependent on a place being available in that classroom for your child, at the time your application is processed, after you have all moved in. If you live next door to a fantastic top-performing school, you may well find it to be full, and you would then be offered an alternative school nearby.

For families choosing state schools, it is always helpful to consider both house and school at the same time, before committing to a property.

It makes sense to decide where to live based on good quality big-picture overviews from reliable sources, and also more detailed relevant information on specific schools in the area, as your search narrows. Depending on the ages of your children, and the stages of education they are in, this can be crucial. Whether you are applying for the main entry points into school or occasional ‘In Year’ places, this can make a huge difference on the application process and your chances of success. Understanding whether your plans are realistic and ensuring you have a number of options to fall back on, will help you to steer your way through this process with a good outcome.

Informed decisions can be made initially by considering the performance of schools, exam and test results, and Ofsted school inspection ratings. Vast quantities of data is available – the key is knowing what to look for and how to best interpret it! This should be used, where possible, alongside information from the schools and Local Authorities about the current picture of availability or waiting lists, which can be a helpful starting point. Sourcing and collating this information can be incredibly time consuming and this is one of the areas that having the support from an experienced education consultant can really make a difference.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that available places can change on a daily basis as families move in and out of areas – the situation can feel like shifting sand. By the time you have actually finalised your home, moved in and had your applications processed, the situation with spaces in your preferred school may well have changed but if you have taken on board the guidance your consultant provided you should still have some sound alternatives available.

So, to answer the proverbial ‘chicken or egg’ question – which comes first, the house or the school? For relocating families looking for state schools, the answer is to consider both at the same time while deciding where to live, but you will need to secure the house and move in before you can apply for the school.

Receiving high-quality personalised schools information and assistance can ensure that you are making really sound decisions on where to live, to minimise the risk and to maximise your chances of your children being allocated places at great schools when you move.

The good news is that we can help!

We specialise in helping families through this whole process, so your children have as smooth a transition as possible to their new school.

At Bowker Consulting we have been successfully helping relocating families for many years. We provide bespoke research and advice on all types of available schooling as required, including International schools, Independent schools and local state schools. We work closely with parents, relocation companies and schools to ensure a joined up service is delivered every single time.

Do contact us to see how we may be able to help you.

Article written by Deborah Gregg February 2020

© Bowker Consulting Ltd. February 2020 All rights reserved.

Which Comes First – House or School? Part 1: Independent & International Schools

‘Which should we find first – the house or the school?’ This is one of the most common questions we are often asked by relocating families, and the simple answer is, ‘it depends!’

For Independent (private) and International schools, you can apply well in advance of your relocation even before you have secured a property. This is a massive help for you if want to firstly choose your children’s school, apply and secure places for your children, and then find a suitable home nearby or on the bus route for the school.  

This way you can really ‘get your ducks in a row’ and have everything in place before you move. It can also help you to prepare your children for their transition to their new school. You may have taken them to visit the school ahead of your move, and they may have already seen first-hand the building, cafeteria, sports facilities and playgrounds, and met some teachers and classmates, all of which should bring them some reassurance as they will know what to expect when they arrive and start school. If they haven’t been able to visit with you in person they will at least have been able to have a good look with you at the website for their new school, maybe even had a chat on Skype with the Head or class teacher, and you can talk with your child about the school, to help them to begin to get prepared and excited about joining in all the lessons and activities on offer.

There are many different criteria to take into account when looking for the right Independent or International school for a child, depending on the individual requirements for each family and child. It can be a real challenge for parents to research this and decide which schools to shortlist – it can help to get some ideas down on paper, about what matters most to you for your children’s education.  

Of course one key factor to consider are the fees charged by Independent and International schools, which can vary significantly in terms of tuition fees (from around £15,000 up to £30,000 per year) and then all the extras (e.g. meals, busing, equipment, uniform, trips, specialist tuition for languages or music etc). Each school also varies in terms of what they can offer, e.g. overall size, profile of nationalities, facilities, curriculum, religious ethos, extracurricular activities, boarding options, languages and support.

Some schools may have waiting lists, and occasionally may not take children into certain year groups that are more tricky, for example when coming towards crucial exam years, and often a certain level of English language is required, particularly for older pupils. Occasionally schools may be flexible regarding which year group your child would join, to make sure they have a smooth landing, depending on what is right for your child. All this will take careful research and discussion to get it right.

An additional challenge is to then navigate any entry requirements and assessments – this is not always straightforward and varies from school to school. International schools tend to have more paperwork to complete with the application (e.g. teacher recommendations, reports, student essays or questionnaires) but may be happy to offer a place without meeting your child in person. Independent schools will usually want to meet your child, and there are often entrance exams to sit, taster days to arrange and interviews to be held before an offer may be considered. You may even find with some Independent schools that you – as parents – are also ‘interviewed’ by the Head, to see if you are the right fit as a family for the school. Don’t be afraid to come with a list of questions to ask the school – to see if they are also a right fit for you!

When the right school is found and secured you can then focus on deciding where to live. You may want to live close by if you want your children to walk, cycle or scoot to school. Alternatively the house of your dreams may be slightly further away meaning you need to look at any bus routes offered by the school or consider how practical the drive to and from school will be. The decision is yours.

State schools

Some families may be looking at local state schools, where it is a very different picture and involves lots of preparation, research and then taking a leap of faith! It is vital to have both a good understanding of how it works, and reasonable expectations for the outcome for your child.

As there is such a lot to consider with state schools, we’ve written a separate blog post all about this in Part 2, which you can find here.

Need assistance? We can help!

We specialise in helping families through this whole process, so your children will have as smooth a transition as possible to their new school. Receiving high-quality bespoke schools information and assistance can ensure that you are making really sound decisions on schools for your children, to help you to decide where to live that will work for your family.

At Bowker Consulting we have been successfully helping relocating families for many years. We provide personalised research and advice on all types of available schooling as required, including International schools, Independent schools and local state schools. We work closely with parents, relocation companies and schools to ensure a joined up service is delivered every single time.

Click here to contact Bowker Consulting today, and find out more about how we can help you!

Article written by Deborah Gregg, February 2020

© Bowker Consulting Ltd. 2020 All Rights Reserved

Christmas is all around us…

It might be your first Christmas in the UK or perhaps you have lived here for a few years and are wondering about the weird, but wonderful traditions. The first sign the season is upon us, is when shops suddenly become very busy with people and you may wonder where everyone is hiding during the rest of the year. Starting in mid-November, you hear Christmas carols and songs everywhere and these will become real earworms.

The main priority of course is the Christmas shopping list; gifts, Christmas cards, decorations, mince pies (which are not made of mince), crackers (but not those that go with cheese), and of course the traditional Christmas dinner meal. This consists usually of a turkey serving a family twice your size, and Brussel sprouts which will inevitably be left barely touched.

If you have young children, you will be invited along to the school nativity play. As there are only three main characters, don’t be surprised if unusual costumes are required to be made and featured on stage; lobsters and octopus are classics, but other rare animals might have an appearance.

While in many countries the Christmas period is observed contemplatively, many British families enjoy this time of the year partying. Pantomime also plays an important part, which you may be surprised to know has little to do with miming but is more a slapstick comedy with audience participation.

Christmas Day traditionally involves getting up very early in the morning and unwrapping gifts, and then preparing the feast (often known as ‘dinner’ but eaten at lunch). Christmas crackers are always a highly anticipated part of the celebrations, each traditionally containing a party hat (inevitably tearing a couple of minutes into use), a small gift or toy, and of course the infamous ‘Christmas joke’ (yes, the British often don’t find them funny either). Feeling thoroughly stuffed and festive families retire to the sofa and the TV is turned on for the Queen’s speech.

If you need to work off some of the turkey consumed over the festivities, a walk in the bracing English cold (although very rarely featuring the snow for which most of us wish on Christmas day, despite the chaos that inescapably accompanies it) you may be surprised to find the otherwise shy neighbours excitedly wishing you a Merry Christmas.

Boxing Day is a particularly English tradition when the sales begin and often includes waking up early yet again, this time to go shopping (of course with the time-honoured English tradition of queuing…), returning home in time to watch the traditional Boxing Day sporting fixtures of football and horse racing.

Merry Christmas!

Article written by Katharina Grimm, December 2019

© Bowker Consulting Ltd. 2019 All Rights Reserved