IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, PHUKET

I want to share my impressions of teaching my children at British International School in Phuket. Since we live in Irkutsk and geographically we are closer to Phuket, not England, we decided that our children - Arseny, 11 years old and Evelina, 13 years old, will begin their studies at the British International School in order to better learn English and enter England in a school with a higher rating.

The school is very well located, in the center of the island, away from the bustle of the city, surrounded by mountains and several elite villages with villas. Children can live at school in a boarding house or, as many live, with their parents. Children who live with their parents are brought in in the morning and taken in the evening by comfortable minibuses to anywhere on the island. Children living at the school are very comfortable: under 13 years old - 2 people in a room, and from 14 years old - in single rooms with private facilities. The daughter, who is now studying in England, says that the boarding house in the Thai school is like a 5-star hotel. Everyone is cleaned, washed and ironed, but in England now she does everything herself. The food at the school is very good (now my daughter, having studied at Queen Ethelburgas College since this year, constantly recalls how tasty and varied they were fed at this school). Everything is relative. She was eager to go to England from Phuket, and now she constantly recalls how good it was at this school.

The school building is very beautiful. The territory is very large, surrounded by a fence and security. There are two swimming pools - 25 and 50 meters, and a lot of sports fields. You can play football, tennis, swimming and golf professionally. Of course, not as great a variety as in England, but after the lessons you can sign up for various activities (circles and sections), make music and sing in a musical choir or group.

Ethnic composition: many British, Americans, French, Germans, Russians, mixed Thais (dad is European, mom is Thai, already educated and intelligent enough), children from about 50 countries. There are about 40 percent of Asians, but, as I already wrote, mostly mixed.

An international holiday is very interesting at the school, when all the children dress in the costumes of their country and prepare performances, and the parents prepare various treats. And everyone first watches the parade of countries and performances, and then tries the cuisine of different countries. A very beautiful event. In England, for example, one school does not have so many nationalities.

Only native speakers teach subjects. For example, teachers from England come to take exams in drama. Upon graduation, you pass the IB - International Baccalaureate, with which you can enter any university in the world. Various universities come with presentations. In foreign schools, I like the fact that children are helped very early in making their choice of a profession. After the Russian school, my children were delighted with the learning process in Thailand. In class, they constantly use laptops and practically do not write anything, only tests or essays. At home, they do their homework in a laptop using special programs and send them to the teacher. They were delighted with teaching physics, chemistry and biology: there were many experiments, everything was clear and interesting. And there have never been so many sports in the life of my children, the climate, of course, is favorable. In rainy, windy and gray England, the daughter constantly recalls sunny Thailand.

In general, there are several English schools in Phuket of different cost, but this one is the most expensive, but also the best. Having lived for several months with children in Phuket and talked to a very large number of parents, including those from other schools, I can say this with confidence. But it is still 2 times cheaper than in England, and if without boarding it is almost three times cheaper. You can improve your language at this school in the summer camp. By the way, my son really liked the summer camp at the school. He has something to compare with (he was in England and Switzerland).

There are 3 classes in parallel, 18 people per class. Children are tested in all subjects, and they are taught in a class of the level that corresponds to their knowledge. Relations between children are very good, of course, there are no oligarchs' children here (they are all in England or Switzerland), mostly children of middle-income parents. We have achieved our goal. After a year in this school, my children entered Queen Ethelburgas College - a school with a very good rating! But our son, since he is still 12 years old, we decided to leave for the time being at school, where he enjoys studying in warmth and beauty.