Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
STRESS AND PRESSURE
Most kids will experience pressure in the final years of high school, but in many
schools in Asia, that pressure is on from the get go. Find out if your school has an ex-
pectation that students will be burning the midnight oil from the time they're 8 years
old, or if sport and other recreational activities are encouraged. The more local in-
fluence the school has, the more likely that your child will feel the pressure of extra
testing and extra study.
SPECIAL NEEDS
Not many schools have extensive services for either high achievers or kids with spe-
cial needs. If your child has mobility challenges, accessibility is definitely something
you'll need to investigate, particularly with more local-style schools. Beijing is not a
particularly easy city to live in for people with disabilities. Understanding of capab-
ilities is shockingly low, and well-placed ramps are sorely lacking.
ARE LOCAL CHINESE STUDENTS ADMITTED?
Most international schools are open only to students holding foreign passports,
and local Chinese students are not permitted to attend. Some international schools,
however, do enroll local students. You may want to consider this because schools that
are exclusive to foreign students have greater independence and next to no influence
on their curriculum from the local government. If local Chinese students are permit-
ted into the school then the government is likely to have greater involvement in what
and how things are taught.
BUS SERVICES
Most of the larger international schools have extensive bus services and will deliver
your child from the door of your compound to school and back again. Not all provide
weekend services. Unless you live in some out-of-the-way location, the school may
be able to adapt a route if it doesn't already go to the place where you'll be living.
WHERE TO LIVE
Unfortunately the majority of the international schools are about an hour away from
the CBD, and juggling work, home, and school life can be especially difficult when
