With another school year coming to an end, I’ve been in a nostalgic mood all week. Coincidentally I’m also prepping for my daughter’s USA summer camp trip where excess British school uniform labels have wonderfully come in handy (insert sigh in a happy way – I never thought ironing would bring this much joy).
It’s been almost 3 years since we left England which means 3 years since their last big school move. This leads me to all my thoughts about our former British school as they head into their next American one.
Why my British school nostalgia?
The one reason that nearly held us back from moving with our kids to England was me. Yes, me!
I was terrified about moving our kids to England and what school would be like for them. Would they fall behind? How would they “catch up” to the American school education system if we returned? What negative impact would attending school in England have on the kids permanently if/when we returned to the USA?
I remember negotiating with my husband when we were trying to decide if we should make the move or not.
As long as we can get them into an American school so they don’t fall behind…
That’s what I remember well. I was so so wrong. And I’m so glad that getting our kids into an American school didn’t work out.
Visiting their British school in 2022 that left a big impact
The one thing my American kids miss most: British school
My kids attending school in England, even though for only 3 years, ended up being the one reason I’m most grateful for the expat opportunity. I have many favorite things about living in the UK, but my kids attending school in the UK is #1. And it’s by far the one thing they miss most (The St Albans Pudding Stop & Marks Percy Pigs are a close second).
It’s so crazy to me now how I was so torn and worried about the kids not going to school in America.
I interviewed all my American expat friends about what it was like taking kids to a foreign country, attending a foreign school, and if they would do it over again. My expat friends and family encouraged me that moving to another country would be amazing, and to not even question how the kids will do. They loved it and absolutely assured me our kids would love it, too.
I still hemmed and hawed for weeks (felt like months). I really wish I could go back in time and change my mindset to a more enthusiastic can’t wait for my kids to go to school in England vs my incredibly nervous Nellie totally stressed out one. I was terrified of figuring out how this would all work between the American education system and the UK.
And that’s why I’m shouting from the rooftops…
If you’re stressed and nervous about this part of moving to the UK from USA, don’t be! Your kids attending school in Britain will be better than OK. They will be amazing. It will be such a learning experience that it will likely be the top reason why you and they never want to leave.
American kids have the experience of a lifetime at a British school
Now I’m teary-eyed looking at my kids’ 5th grade (Year 6) and 8th grade (Year 9) American school photos compared to when they first started school overseas, then Kinder (Year 1) and 3rd grade (Year 4).
Seriously, how cute are they?
What a gift to start and experience education in a different country.
My daughter learned the alphabet differently from the get-go (h is ‘aytch’), sang “God Save the Queen” in her most British accent (which sounded far less American by the day), and gained a tremendous amount of speaking confidence from LAMDA. Forever thankful for that!
While my son reveled in all of the in-school sports activities, both academic and non-academic curriculum, and design and technology classes. In fact, he used his Britan Year 4 DT project for his USA 8th grade Algebra project…and I was worried about him falling behind.
Those 3 brief years attending a British school over an American one were packed with moments that have positively shaped them forever.
Starting new USA schools again
Now I look at them ready to start another new chapter in the fall: Junior High and High School.
While I would have loved to photograph this end-of-an-era moment in their sharp red Hogwarts-style blazers, the truth is I couldn’t be happier where they’ve been and how they got to this milestone.
Confident, ready, willing to try something new, meet new people, make new friends…they are so ready and in a position to tackle it head-on. No matter what, they’ve got this.
Whether attending their small British school in England played a small role or a fairly big one in developing their confident independent personalities, one thing is for sure – everything has turned out better than ok. And I couldn’t be more proud of them.
p.s. When or if you move back to America, keep the labels.
4 comments
Hi! I see that most prep schools have 3 terms, the 3rd being summer which goes until the end of June in some cases. Do British children typically attend all 3 terms and would the fall and spring terms be “equivalent” to the typical US school year? Tnank you!
Hi Lauren! The British school term is longer than the USA. For example, our prep school started on Labor Day (September) and ended on/around the 4th of July. All 3 terms are required – you don’t opt out of the 3rd term. Honestly I thought we’d hate it but it’s so much better than the way the USA does it because there are more breaks and opportunities to get away be trying to cram in a holiday during the summer (when everyone else is too). Hope that makes sense!
Came across your blog, I’m currently the nervous nellie worrying about what to do with my kids if we move to London. (It’s looking like we are). I have a child entering 2nd grade and a child entering 4th grade. How did you go about finding the right school for them?
Hi Lindsay! We basically listed out a few areas of interest we wanted to live and then toured a few schools. In the end it came down to where we rented a house and availability of private schools within a 30 minute radius because we missed the state school window. It’s totally stressful but it worked out better than we could have imagined. I have several posts about finding a school – let me know if you need help finding them. Also, I have the Moving to England workbook with a school section. Totally check it out in the Shop if you haven’t yet. x