We are now nearly 2 terms into our first year in a British school. I have to say that we love it! Below is a rundown of what classes my kids take and how these classes differ from our experience in Oklahoma. Remember that my experience is not vast. I am comparing one British school to one American school. I'm comparing one private school to one public school. In fact, since
British School Muscat (BSM) has won 2 international school awards this year, it's a bit unfair. It's definitely an apples and oranges situation.
An obvious change you will note is the definition of grades. My boys are currently in their 3rd and 5th years. These would correlate to 2nd and 4th grade. After 6th year, the children are in senior school with various year definitions that I don't fully understand yet. There are terms such as GCSE level, A level, and 6th form thrown around. I don't know.
We are also in a standards based grading system, but that is actually not different from what we're used to. The boys were in an elementary school that was pioneering the program for our district. They received "grades" of 1-4 rather than A, B, C. Here, I believe the grades go up to 5 for primary school. I could be wrong about that. The idea of standards based is that rather than the grade being an average of all your work (including that bad test from way back when you didn't understand the subject), the grade is a reflection of how well you know the subject at the current point in the year. The goal is to be at a 3 by the end of the year. A 3 means that you fully understand the subject. It's not unusual to have 1s or 2s early in the year when the subject is not fully understood as long as you are working toward a 3. 4s should be hard to receive, and indeed they are in the British system. A 4 reflects understanding the subject matter above and beyond what is taught. A student who receives a 4 can teach other students the subject matter.
