Meet Gemma Collins. She’s five years old, lives in Manchester, and she’s going to America . . . to live! She’s excited.

Meet Nigel and Jill Collins, Gemma’s parents. They’re British, born and bred, and yes, they’re off to a new, albeit temporary, home in the US – their first assignment out of the UK. They’re apprehensive. Yes, they are looking forward to this new experience, but they have concerns and questions too. Nigel’s employer is posting them to Connecticut. They know there are no British schools in the area where they will live, and they don’t know how the public schools will provide for Gemma (five years old) and David (10 years old) during the two to five years they expect to be posted there.

No matter where the international posting – even for what is perceived to be an easy international relocation, for example from the UK to the US or vice-versa – parents who may already be feeling guilty about taking their children abroad will inevitably worry how their children’s education will fare. In other words, will the children be able to fit in with their year group when they return home?

Georgia Bennett, president of Bennett Educational Resources, the West Chester, Pennsylvania education consulting firm, says these concerns are universal: “Parents worry about the transition from the ‘old’ country to the ‘new’ country; about how the children will adjust to their new school; if they’ll be perceived as behind. And they worry that when they return home, the children will have difficulty fitting into their year. They have a lot of worries – sometimes unfounded – but lots of worries nonetheless. ”

These issues may seem more acute for the British family, particularly those going abroad for the first time. The single greatest concern for a British family leaving the UK is the British National Curriculum, and how and if the standards and objectives fit into other systems. In the US, where there are neither uniform standards nor a standard national curriculum, British parents can be expected to have concerns.Parents coming out of the UK thus view education through a lens of centralised structure, and consequently may be perplexed and uncomfortable with the seeming latitude permitted schools and school districts in the US.

However, as the saying goes, things are not always what they seem. A closer look at US standards, as presented in the acknowledged premier reference of US curricula, the MCREL Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education, compared to British National Curriculum standards finds few substantive differences between key skills and outcomes during Years or Grades 1-8.

Bennett Educational Resources conducted a major curricular comparison study in 2002, comparing the standards and objectives in science, mathematics and English language of the British National Curriculum and those presented in the MCREL Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education.

Differences do, however, present themselves at the secondary level, in respect of early specialisation in the British system as compared to the typical American high school course of studies. British students in American high schools who do not graduate in the US and return to the UK midstream are likely to experience difficulty, unless they are enrolled in one of the 425 high schools in the US offering the Diploma of the International Baccalaureate (IB).

The IB Diploma Programme is a rigorous two-year pre-university course of studies leading to externally judged examinations, which result in the awarding of the IB Diploma to successful students. This Diploma is recognised worldwide and facilitates entry to higher education. In the UK, the IB Diploma is considered equivalent to A-Levels.

But, it is the age at which formal schooling begins in the US as compared to the UK that may lead British parents to conclude that American schools are “behind”. For the Collins children, Gemma and David, the age issue might play out as follows: Gemma, at five years old, has been going to school since she was four. She has completed the Reception year, and has already begun Year One. When the family enrolls Gemma in their local school in Connecticut, they may be surprised to find that she will be placed with her age peers in kindergarten, a half-day developmental programme. This may be seen as a halting reversal in academic progress to the Collins.

Lobbying by Gemma’s parents to place her into Grade 1 will likely be rebuffed by the school administration as placement with age peers is usually the rule in American schools. However, many schools and school districts have, in the past few years, been responsive to parents who seek a more academic focus at an earlier age by incorporating more paper and pencil activities to the classic developmental kindergarten curriculum.

Roddy Gow

The philosophy behind American education is to individualise instruction to accommodate many levels of academic, emotional and social growth within the same classroom. However, depending upon what they witness in a classroom setting, British parents may or may not be persuaded that such a goal is achievable.David Collins’ placement in Grade 5 (age 10) will likely find him happily engaged and challenged in school. David may be the only international child in his class and find himself quite popular with classmates who find his British accent charming. The education crunch for David will depend upon the length of his stay in America – from the age of 14, a smooth transition back to British schools will become more difficult with each passing year.

A related issue is that of discipline in American schools. The disciplinary structure in US schools could be perceived as informal and even lax compared to such structure in British schools. However, many British parents appreciate the outcomes of less teacher direction over self-learning activity in the schools, particularly on the elementary level perceived chaos notwithstanding.

If the parents’ sponsoring company will support private schooling in the US, should parents utilise such an option? Possibly. However, depending upon the children – and particularly if special needs are involved – public school placement may be a better option. Families are advised to consider employing the services of an education consultant who will, after reviewing the education records and consulting with parents, guide the family toward the best educational “fit” for each child.

In respect to finding a British National Curriculum school in the US, there are, at the time of writing, only four, and in the following cities: Washington DC, Boston, Chicago and Houston.

More information on these schools may be found through the following website: www.britishschool.org.

Overall, whether in a British school or in an American school, the experience of schooling in a new country can be anticipated as having the potential of lasting and positive effect on each child’s life. Here are some things British parents can expect to find in US public schools:

FACILITIES AND PROGRAMMES

• Purpose-built school buildings with ample classroom space, dedicated areas for technology, science labs, gymnasiums and playing fields
• Free school bus transportation (big yellow school buses) providing virtually door-to-door transport to and from school (residences within one half mile or less of the school are generally exempted)
• A 180-day instructional year, with less holiday time during the academic year, but a longer summer holiday than in the UK
• Little emphasis on teaching metric measurement, possibly not until 5th grade. (The imperial system of weights and measurements still reigns in the US)
• At the Kindergarten and Grade 1 levels, the teaching of reading and language arts through “invented spelling,” which permits (and encourages) children to write their own stories without concern to the correct spelling of words
• Computers will be a part of the curriculum by Grade 1 and possibly at the Kindergarten level. Teachers will assume that a computer will be available at home for use with homework assignments
• Heavy schedules of extracurricular activities and sports, particularly at middle and high school level, which often require parents to arrange transportation through carpooling and so on, for shuttling children to and from their respective activities

TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS

• Teachers may have a more informal relationship with students in American classrooms than would be true in the UK
• US educators are generally not articulate or knowledgeable of the similarities or differences of the British National Curriculum as compared to the curriculum of their respective district or school.Parents may wish to refer to the website for the British National Curriculum: www.nc.uk.net

Mary Rabbitt can be reached through www.schoolplacement.com