If you are getting ready to move to Bangkok, or you are already there, it can feel overwhelming at times trying to sort out a good school for your children. Your best bet will be an international school, as they usually have a diverse student body, internationally qualified teachers, as well as a generally international mindset within the school.

Depending on their age, you might be looking into different schools. Perhaps you’ll need a quality Kindergarten international school or even an international middle school in Bangkok. Some international schools will offer programmes for all ages. Typically, schools and/or programs within schools are broken up into these broad categories:

  • Kindergarten or Early Years
  • Primary Years
  • Middle Years
  • High School or Secondary

Dependent on your child’s age, they would enter one of these programmes within a school.

Kindergarten or Early Years

Children entering school will always start in one of these programs. For many schools, these can start as young as 2 years old. At this age, there is less focus on academic instruction and typically very little in terms of formal testing. Learning is taught more through exploration, play, and discovery.

Primary Years

In their primary years, children are introduced to a curriculum, and formal testing starts to appear in classes. While a lot of coursework may still be focused on play and group work, there are also benchmark tests and end of year assessments for students. Standards are usually introduced so that teachers can gauge where students should be by the end of the year.

Middle Years

The academics start to have a heavier focus, and the idea of a homeroom teacher tends to fade away in the middle years for students. As children, they usually have one teacher that will teach them multiple subjects. In the middle years, these teachers are specialised in these subjects, so the students will receive more focused instruction in each class.

High School and Secondary

This is the end of formal education within a school. In this programme, students may have different classes than their peers, as they will move towards subjects that they are interested in studying as a career. Students prepare for university at this stage.

Some parents prefer schools with only one programme to ensure their child is around the same age group during their educational development, while others with multiple children prefer to have them all enrolled together. Whichever you choose, be sure to look at the curriculum to ensure your children are getting the quality education that they deserve.