Culture, Community, and Curriculum: When is the best time to move between different educational systems?
What is your child’s school like? Does its curriculum emphasise exploration, independent thinking, and creativity? Is your child studying in an educational system that will help him/her in the future?
What is your child’s school like? Does its curriculum emphasise exploration, independent thinking, and creativity? Is your child studying in an educational system that will help him/her in the future?
These are key questions to consider when deciding which educational system is right for your child, and when the best time to move between systems is.
Before entering a child into a particular system, it is important to understand the values, assessments of performance, curriculum approach, and unique identity of each potential school. This can result in an overwhelming number of considerations when selecting the right system and the best school for your child. To help you answer these questions, it is best to contact the admissions department of any schools you are interested in as they will be able to support you in your decision-making process and have a visit when possible to feel the atmosphere in person.
“Working with parents on deciding the correct system for their child is the best part of my job. It is great to answer their questions, explain the British curriculum, and the nuances between the variety of educational systems. My school offers education for children ages 3 to 18, so we cover all the requirements of the Romanian system and students receive prestigious qualifications that are accepted anywhere in the world,” says Rebecca Elian, international school Admissions Officer.
The education system of Britain is one of the most storied and widely replicated learning systems across the globe, with 45% of all international schools teaching in the English language also offering a British-based curriculum. However, there is a big difference between a school that offers the British curriculum and one that is a British School Overseas (BSO). A BSO school is an officially recognised British school and is certified by the UK Government’s Department for Education (DfE). Such institutions are listed in the get-information-schools.service.gov.uk database.
“When a school has official BSO status, parents can rest assured that a school offers the highest quality curriculum, as well as excellent levels of support and opportunities for the development of each child. The BSO quality seal also means that excellent standards of health and safety, e-safety, child safeguarding, and personal development of students are in place. This makes any school with BSO a safe, reliable, and capable institution with high academic standards,” advocates Jo Wells, international British educational consultant.
Once a decision has been made on the system your child will enter, it is essential to consider the best time to begin studying a new curriculum. If deciding to enter the British system at the compulsory age for education in Romania (clasa 0/clasa pregătitoare), you would be entering Key Stage 1, the foundation years in the British system. Throughout Key Stage 1, your child would develop their skills in numeracy, phonics, reading and writing, all while developing their creativity and socialisation skills in personal development time, art, music, and outdoor play.
