Featured article: Moving Overseas with Children by Teachers International Consultancy (part 1)

Moving Overseas with Children

Moving abroad with children requires a lot of planning in advance to make the transition as easy as possible for everyone. There’s no doubt that you’ll be faced with hitches along the way, but everything that you can do to prepare in advance for your children’s new school needs will help you move your whole family overseas successfully.

Teachers International Consultancy (TIC) has helped hundreds of teachers and their families move to new jobs abroad. Here is some of the advice TIC offers to anyone moving overseas with school-age children, whatever the reason for your move:

  • Find out what schools are available in the area that you are moving to. Your company may well offer one, or a limited number of schools that you as a family can send your children to. This may include full payment or a contribution towards school fees. Make sure you know exactly what your company is paying for and the additional costs that you will incur. Tuition fees can just be the start of the expenses with costs for such things as uniform, resources and school trips ending up being very extensive.
  • Investigate the curriculum your children will be learning in their potential new schools. It may well be a school delivering the English National Curriculum or a curriculum that your children have learned in their home country, but the approach to learning and the standards may be very different. Your child may well have done some of the work before or may have missed out on parts of the curriculum.
  • Be prepared for your children to be learning alongside many children where English is their second language. Some parents see this as a very positive experience, others feel that their children are being disadvantaged. Your child may be one of just a few children in the school speaking English. This may be an issue when it comes to making friends. Children can feel very isolated in situations like this or may end up in a very tight group of ‘friends’ they may otherwise not have chosen, just because of language similarities. Help your child to prepare for this, suggesting ways to make friends through non-verbal actions.
  • Check out the pastoral care provided within the school. Some schools have an onsite counselor or assign a pastoral head of year, some schools have a buddy system for new children. Some schools are much better than others at helping new children settle.

For more advice about moving overseas go to www.findteachingjobsoverseas.co.uk

Great resource: Want to work at an international school in Thailand?

International Schools for Bangkok and Thailand

Wow!  There are many international schools in Thailand.  Actually, a high number of visits to International School Community each month are from Thailand.  So, it is no surprise that there are many people wanting information about the international schools there.

The website has a great map of all the international schools in Thailand.


It also has all the international schools listed in a table which shows which curriculum each school has, the city it is in, the level of education they provide to students and main language of instruction.

Other highlights from this page:

“We are often asked for ‘foreign schools’ in Bangkok and Thailand. None of the international schools in Bangkok and Thailand is really a ‘foreign school’ since they are all accredited by the Ministry of Education in Thailand, a legal process that eventually makes them Thai schools. International schools use a foreign curriculum, as opposed to the national Thai curriculum, from the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Switzerland, Germany, Australia etc.”

“An international school is loosely defined as a school that promotes international education, either by adopting an international curriculum such as that of the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International Examinations, or by following a national curriculum different from that of the country the school is located in. These schools cater mainly to students who are not nationals of the host country, such as the children of the staff of international businesses, international organizations, foreign embassies, missions, or missionary programs. Many local students attend these schools to learn the language of the international school and to obtain qualifications for employment or higher education in a foreign country”

So, who wants to work in Thailand???

Check out the international schools listed in Thailand on International School Community.

Blogs of international school teachers: “Follow That Elephant!”

Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad?

Check out the experiences of another international school teacher from the moment they signed the contract to what they are writing about after a few years working abroad.

Our 6th blog that we would like to highlight is called “Follow That Elephant”   This teaching couple seem to be quite experienced in the international school community, having worked at more than 3 international schools.  The part of their blog that we would like highlight is about their experience living in Malaysia working at Mont Kiara International School Kuala Lumpur.

Entries we would like to highlight:

2 Months In…
“Everything continues to be absolutely wonderful: the food, the weather, the people, the shopping and the school. We’re having a great time!…Yesterday we went to the sikh wedding. One of the teachers at school married a Malaysian sikh, and they very generously invited everyone from MKIS! Since we were invited to this awesome wedding, we figured we would dress appropriately.”

How great to experience a wedding in the host country that you are living in!

Life Outside of KL
“Aside from the small, yet powerful cultural differences that have really come to the forefront this month, all continues to go well. We are still loving the weather, food, shopping, etc. It was especially nice to take a trip to the amazing east coast . According to my students Redang is the best island to visit. According to the teachers, it’s the most expensive. No matter what you say, we loved it!”

Looks like the next stage of culture shock has set in 2-3 months after the initial move, but that is when you also now know some of the great places to visit nearby as well….places you possibly didn’t even realize were there before you moved.

The World of International Schools
“When I tell people back home in the US that I’m teaching in Thailand, they usually assume I teach English to Thai children. When I try to explain by saying “no, I teach at an international school”, I’m often met with a blank stare.”

This type of conversation has happened to all of us!  Check out this entry for another great overview of the international school teaching experience, from recruitment to the benefits to and from what type of people get into this community this overview is very informative!

*If you are an international school teacher and would like your blog highlighted on International School Community contact us here.

All about schools

More features

Let's connect

Meet us on Facebook
Follow our Tweets
Join our Linked In Group

IS Community