Parent Guide

Many parents will often ask 'I am picking a school for my kids but I don't know if the school is as good as it seems on its website. What sort of things should I look for to be sure the school is of a good standard?'

This is a really good question, but also one that is extremely difficult to answer without knowing where the schools are that are being considered. A state sponsored school will be very different in faculty (and curriculum) compared to a charter school in the US or an international school in Korea. The first thing to remember is that all schools have problems and redeeming features and only you can decide what is a deciding factor. Another consideration is that the website is a marketing tool, not an in depth review of an institute. Some parents might want a specific curriculum (like A-Level), while others might want a really well run sports program or a vast and diverse extracurricular list. Having said that, there are a variety of things you can check that might help you make your decision.

1. The first is to check how long the school has been running. This might seem obvious, but a lot of parents may use other indicators (like cost, which we will come to later) and ignore it. If you think back to any time you have been involved in something starting (a business or a sports team or even just a group) there is always a degree of chaos. A common misconception amongst parents is that if someone knows the topic (for example, math) you should be able to just drop them into the classroom and they can start to teach. This is not the case at all! Resources have to be written and prepared and that takes a huge amount of time. New schools lack these resources initially and this can impact your child's education as teachers are not only getting to grips with a new job and teaching a full schedule but also writing PPT's and preparing resources. All of this before doing any marking or extracurricular duties they might have.

2. Does the school have the full staff list (with pictures) on their website? If not, do they have a full staff list (with pictures) somewhere on site? If they do not have either, that could be an indication that turnover of teachers at the school is a problem and they have given up constantly updating the list. While it is true that teachers can leave or move for a lot of reasons, a constant revolving door is a clear indicator that there are problems.

3. Ask to see the behavior policy used in the school. In simple terms, this is the holy bible that should be used to manage the behavior of the students and there should be clear guidance on what is and is not appropriate. The policy should clearly show the various steps to dealing with a behavioral issue (sending the students to the head of their year for example). If you decide to have your child join the school you should always check that any action taken matches the policy. If it does not, there could be an issue. PLEASE NOTE that good teachers may not follow the policy to the letter if they are attempting to differentiate for your child. Be aware of this and work WITH the teachers any chance you get.

4. If you can, ask to speak to the parent council (or any group that involves parents working with the school) and ask what improvements they would make to the school overall.

5. Finally, IGNORE COST! I am not saying that you should pay whatever they ask. Instead, consider the following situation: You are shopping for an item and have two to choose from which are Item A and Item A PLUS (which comes with more features). Item A PLUS is cheaper. You would not consider this a good deal, you would assume that the product is inferior in ways you can't understand and might opt to choose neither product as the pricing looks odd. Education is the same. Just because a school is the most expensive does not mean it is the best and, by extension, just because a school is cheaper does not mean it is inferior.

The key takeaway here is to establish what your child needs, explain that to the school and have them explain how they are going to support them. Then follow the steps above and LISTEN to your child over the first 6 months. Have they been integrated into their class? Has an effort been made to support their learning? Is your child happy?