Features Parents Look For in International Schools

Education is an integral part of a child’s development. It allows children to learn the important things in life, have experience working with kids their age, and provides guidance as they transition from being children to adults. Because your child’s education holds such importance, parents often struggle to pick the right school for their children.

It’s already tough picking a school for your child in your home country, but even more so when the parents have no choice but to live in another country. With the environment and culture being so different, getting your child in a high-quality international school can make the adjustment period more seamless and ensures your child will have a high-quality education.

If you’re still not convinced about how international schools can help young students, here are the most important things international schools should have, and you need to look for, according to parents like you:

Native-speaking teachers

For most parents, enrolling their child in an international school that has a faculty of native-speaking teachers is an attractive prospect. In a new country, you can’t expect your child to learn the country’s language quickly. If you want them to do well in school, it’s always important to ensure that the school will use a language that your child understands; your native language.

For example, if you’re a British living in Thailand, you need to find a school for your child that offers the British curriculum. In this way, you can be sure that your child will be in an environment where they can understand the lessons and everyone around them.

Facilities

Since your child will try to get their education at school and spend a significant amount of time at school, you need to ensure that they are enrolled in an international school with the facilities for your child to learn and enjoy their interests.

Furthermore, enrolling your child in an international school is a commitment. You’re paying good money for it, which means it’s only right to expect that the school will have facilities where your child can be comfortable to learn and enjoy.

Opportunities to learn other languages

Since you’re in another country, it would greatly help if your child learns the country’s native language, especially if you’re looking to settle down and stay there permanently. It will make life much easier for your child and allow them to interact better with other people.

Furthermore, it doesn’t have to be just the country’s language, as learning any new language is always great. It’s a good learning experience that may be of help when your child has to go to other countries in the future, too.

Whether it’s German, Italian, French, or any other language, it will be a good opportunity for your child to learn another language.

Extracurricular activities

Other than academics, make sure to look for an international school that will offer your child the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities. It can be about sports, art, interests, or many more.

Extracurricular activities allow students to have a much more complete learning experience that isn’t just limited to academics but also allows them to explore their interests and have fun exploring them with other students with the same interests.

Class size

The international school you’re going to may have the best curriculum and activities in store for your child, but it won’t be worth it if the classes are too big. 

Now, what does it mean to say that a class is too big? Generally, it can be considered as too big a class if it goes above 24 students. If possible, try to go for an international school with a class size of around 12 students, which is just the sweet spot in terms of the most ideal class size.

By having the right class size, your child can enjoy proper attention and effort from the teachers while also allowing them to be in an environment with a lot of other students with different backgrounds.

The less important factors

  • Distance – When parents start looking for international schools for their children, they usually do it when they’re not even in the country yet, which means distance is less a consideration. Furthermore, even if the school is a little bit far, most parents live with that if they can enroll their child in a high-quality school.
  • School size – School size shouldn’t be much of a factor. As long as the school has a good environment, offers high-quality education, and will provide anything your child needs, it’s a good school, no matter the size.
  • Price – While price is an important consideration in the long run. However, It’s not that big of a factor for most parents, as most international schools aren’t expensive. With this, price is often a secondary factor when it comes to making the final decision.

Conclusion

Finding the right international school, like Bangkok Prep International School, is a significant step towards ensuring that your children will have the education they need. It will also ensure your children will have a better chance of having a bright future.

We included many factors to consider in this article, and while they are numerous, it’s really important to ensure that the international school you will pick will have all of these factors for the good of your child. It may be hard to find the right international school, but it’s worth the effort if finding the right one puts your children a few steps closer to their dreams.

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