We’re often faced with life-changing decisions in our lives, but none are as heavy as having to make choices for your own children. The most important being where they get an education. There are more and more educational institutions coming up all over the place, and if you have no idea what your criteria are, it can be really difficult to make a choice. This is why we’re going to provide you with 6 important things that you need to think about while looking for a school for your kids.
1. Understand the Different Systems Available
Before you choose to follow the crowd of people going towards one or two schools, in particular, it’s important that you know what you’re getting yourself and your child into. Depending on where you live, you will have the choice of picking between a number of different educational systems. There is often a national system to pick from, or if you can afford it, you can look into a number of international systems. It’s important for you to know what is taught, how the grading process works, and what approach is taken. All children are different, and you need to pick a system that suits your child’s personality.
2. Sports
You need to look ahead when it comes to picking the right school for your child. You need to assume that they will find interest in some sport or another as they get older, and so you need to see if the school provides a solid sports program, and what kind of sports are available. If they are heavily involved in interschool competitions, and some may even be involved in international tournaments as well. Let’s say your child has taken a liking to rugby. Even though they might be training out of school, it does help to have the sport given at the school as well, because, down the line, you’ll find that this could contribute to their future. Both in the given sport and in their education. There is a Rugby school based in Thailand that provides boarding facilities as well as academic support. This is the aim – in case your child becomes outstanding in any sport, they can utilize it and move forward with it in their future.
3. Extracurricular Activities
You want to have your child go to a school that gives your child as much creative exposure as possible, as well as build on their skills that they can use when they get older. Look into what kind of extracurricular activities they offer. The best schools will be able to change things up from term to term so that the kids have as many options as possible. There needs to be a fine balance of fun and education, after all.
4. Their Behavior Policies
School is much more than just an academic education. Your children will be spending the majority of their time at school, and so as much as you try to integrate morals and life lessons into their lives, a big part of their upbringing happens at school. Look into the school’s behavior policies, and see if you can visit the school a couple of times to just pick up on how the kids treat each other and how the teachers react as well.
5. Talk to the Parents, Teachers & Principal
The school’s administration will always paint a pretty picture for you, naturally. This is why you need to delve a bit deeper and do your own investigation to be able to really get a fuller and more comprehensive picture of what the school is all about. Talk to the teachers and principal a couple of times, and also try to get feedback from parents, because they’ll have the most useful information about the school.
6. Safety & Facilities
While fees do matter, you should see what kind of facilities are available and if this reflects in the fees. This way, you’ll know whether it’s going to be worthwhile or not. It should have a decent library, sports field, and science labs amongst other things. Along with this, look into their safety protocol and if they have things like a fire drill on a regular basis, as well as educating the children on how to stay safe in emergency situations.
The points provided here will make narrowing down to the right school much easier for you. This is because you do need to list out your priorities when it comes to picking out a school for your child. We all have different requirements, but the points mentioned here are universal and necessary, regardless of what kind of education you want for your child.
