English for foreign kids

Today we went to Ina's and Leon's new school to visit and get the school uniform details we couldn't get elsewhere - ties, cardigan, sweaters, PE shorts and t-shirts with the school colours and logo on them. I asked a lot of questions around their routine in handling children without any knowledge of English, and they were quite relaxed about it. Until I started asking lots of detailed questions on lunch routines, which was the proper tie knot and other things they take for granted everyone knows. I think they got a bit worried after that.

My image of UK schools was that they were really old (and old-fashioned) and that the curriculum was more about talking about ancient battles and polo than teaching things of actual value - an image that got underpinned by David Cameron as he worried about the London school his children should be going to after he moved to 10 Downing Street.

But the school seemed really nice, and was refurbished a few years ago - and completely changed that image. They are a bit slower in teaching subjects like maths and foreign languages than at the school the children came from in Sweden. Even though both Ina and Leon are skipping a year, they are ahead of the school's plan for the year they are going to be in. And they started school at the age of six - here they start when the children are four years old. But having said that - they focus on a considerably broader curriculum with for example music and art/crafts rather than just focusing on the core subjects like maths, literacy and science. And the atmosphere seems quite a lot more adjusted to the children's actual needs here.

When I looked for literature for my children to learn English from, I found my old English textbook from fourth grade - probably a reason for my image of the English school system...