Schools Guide

Search this site:

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office operates via a global network of 261 diplomatic posts: embassies, consulates, missions to organisations such as the UN, EU and NATO. Diplomatic Service (DS) staff may be posted to any of these, sometimes at relatively short notice. Postings are mostly for three or four years. With a few exceptions – for example, on security or medical grounds – staff are accompanied by their families. Members of the DS do not usually have to face the separations that can be part of life in the Armed Services. But there are still challenges for FCO parents, who face the prospect of more than half their working life overseas in a wide range of locations.

The Diplomatic Service Families Association

The Diplomatic Service Families Association (DSFA) was created to provide advice and support to spouses, registered partners and families of Diplomatic Service Officers. A team of DSFA advisers respond to enquiries and offer courses on education, employment and family welfare, as well as publishing useful information and consulting with the FCO on members’ concerns. Unlike the family associations of other foreign ministries, the DSFA is not run by Civil Servants, although we are funded by the FCO, as well as by our members’ contributions.

My own role regularly features advice on education choices at post, applications to state schools on return to the UK and guidance for those looking at UK boarding schools. We cannot recommend individual boarding schools, but we do issue guidelines to set parents on the right track with leads to professional organisations and advice on the types of school that they might like to consider before drawing up short-lists and planning visits.

Local or boarding school?

For those unable to contemplate separation from their children, there are many excellent English-language schools around the world. With a bit of luck it may be possible to secure the right posting at the right time. Or parents may prefer their children to attend local schools and thus acquire fluency – after a few initial tears – in another language. But there is no certainty that the next posting will be to a country speaking the same language; nor to a post with an equally good British or International School. Another common worry at the moment is access to good UK state schools on return to Britain. Given these concerns, and the nature of life in the DS, it is not surprising that many FCO parents do opt for boarding. The FCO provides support and assistance for both boarding and local schooling overseas.

Choosing a school

The process of selecting a boarding school can be a challenge, and websites and guide books can take you only so far. There is no substitute for personal visits. Fitting these in during what might be a short trip back to the UK with children in tow is not ideal, but is often the only practicable solution. So, what to look for?

When it comes to the subject of boarding, parents may have, to borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan: ‘big ideas, images and distorted facts’. The advice I give parents is to try to identify what elements most matter for them: is it academic excellence; a homely, caring atmosphere; proximity to grandparents/family; coeducational or single-sex schools; all-through (taking children from 7–18 years); SEN support, the International Baccalaureate, and so on?

Different parents will have differing views on the relative importance of these and other criteria. I would encourage them to follow their instincts – assisted by professional guidance from, say, the Independent Schools Council or the Boarding Schools Association – and to arm themselves with plenty of questions when visiting schools. A lot is at stake in terms of the child’s welfare and education, so research is a very necessary investment.

The heads and other school staff appreciate this and will be ready to give prospective parents the time needed. After all, they are the experts whom parents rely on to pilot us through the labyrinth of boarding school information, and to answer our shy and tentative questions!

Generally speaking, it is reasonable to assume that FCO staff posted overseas will want their children to be happily busy not just from Monday to Friday but also to have friends around them and structured activities at weekends. And boarding schools that offer this will prove most attractive if they also offer the FCO a discount, as some do already – that’s a big bonus!

As a postscript, I was struck in the last issue by Sir Richard Dannatt’s recollection of driving away from one’s child, left at boarding school for the first time. I can identify with that. Our four children attended schools in three countries before settling in to UK boarding schools – three different ones, in fact, each with different term/holiday dates. The airport departure lounge was my second home. Mum and dad never really adjusted to this, but the children seemed rapidly to accept that they had two lives: a stable one in beautiful surroundings in Sussex and Kent, punctuated by a parallel existence comprising holiday visits to post. They were happy and they thrived. At our eldest son’s recent wedding we were delighted to see so many of his school friends, many of whom had stayed with us at post during school holidays. They have all remained close – a valuable support network and a tribute to a successful boarding school experience.