With the new regulations for BN(O) passport holders, many Hong Kong students are thinking about moving to the UK. This is a great opportunity to experience a different culture and access world-famous schools. But many parents worry about the effects of a big move, especially one a child makes alone when going to a boarding school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feedback from students at a variety of UK schools helps Seven Springs Education\u00a0know which place is right for your child. We\u2019ve shared some of their thoughts about overseas students below to help you make an informed decision on this exciting journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Home-away-from-home or an immersive experience?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The UK is a popular destination for Hong Kong students, which can be great if your child isn\u2019t ready to step out of their comfort zone. Hannah Patient is a former student at Colchester Royal Grammar School<\/a> (CRGS), and her sixth form had \u2018thirty boarders in total split across Year 12 and 13, and most of them came from Hong Kong or Macau.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Choosing schools with large populations of familiar peers can ensure a strong support network in a new country. The school is also able to cater well to the needs and interests of a child like yours and settle them in with events they\u2019ll enjoy. At CRGS<\/a>, Hannah says, \u2018The school runs lots of trips and social events at the weekend (e.g. to Thorpe Park, London and Cambridge), and boarders have access to all the facilities outside of school hours.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools with smaller international populations give your child an immersion into local life. Ryan Wightman went to Sale Grammar School,<\/a> which \u2018had a few international students, and they quickly became a part of the school team\u2026All students made an active effort to include international students in their groups and to hear their stories; they were treated very well and thrived in the school!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over a third of boarding school residents in the UK come from overseas. These numbers vary from school to school, and many places are popular with those from certain countries. Make sure to ask about the student body of schools you\u2019re interested in to find the right fit for your child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoid lonely weekends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools like CRGS<\/a>, with plenty of week-round boarders, make sure to pack the weekends with fun activities. However, this isn\u2019t the case at all schools. Those with mostly day-students or week-day boarders can be lonely places at weekends. Get statistics on who stays at the school at weekends, and ensure your child isn\u2019t left to fend for themselves for two long days out of every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, it isn\u2019t just the other boarders who help create a support network. A strong population of local residents can be fantastic at the right school. At Dwight School London<\/a> (formerly North London International School), Clare Males got to share her neighbourhood with her international peers: \u2018About 30% of the students were from London originally and 70% were born elsewhere\u2026 Many teachers were also international, which helped them make connections with international students. It was nice to have some Londoners too, who gained a stronger appreciation for their city as they shared it with their classmates.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be realistic about language levels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Expats in Hong Kong rarely become fluent in Cantonese. At best, they pick up a few essential phrases, and they mainly communicate in their native language with the large populations here from overseas. Learning Cantonese from scratch is very difficult, even in an immersive environment, and the same is true with English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your child can\u2019t communicate confidently in English, they\u2019ll seek out Cantonese speakers and stick close to them. To truly benefit from the immersive environment in England, children should boost their English before arrival so that they\u2019re able to make local friends. This doesn\u2019t mean they need to be completely fluent though. Many schools provide support for second-language speakers, and you should make sure this is sufficient for your child\u2019s needs. Ryan Wightman from Sale Grammar School<\/a> said overseas students there were \u2018provided with additional English support if they needed it.\u2019 And at Dwight School London<\/a>, Clare Males was pleased to see that \u2018The school provided ESOL lessons for those with weaker English so they could catch up quickly.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the new regulations for BN(O) passport holders, many Hong Kong students are thinking about moving to the UK. This is a great opportunity to experience a different culture and access world-famous schools. But many parents worry about the effects of a big move, especially one a child makes alone when going to a boarding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,37],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bno","8":"category-school-selection"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions\/804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seven-springs.co.uk\/resource-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}