In international education, we have become increasingly adept at focusing on belonging, holistic education and the school as an entire community. And central to this work is our partnership with parents and guardians.
However, I think we could broaden how we see our responsibility to serve the child’s family, particularly in an education system so vitally connected to global mobility.
For day schools, a child’s successful transition into a new school is inseparable from the family’s experience of uprooting and starting over in a new country.
Part of the global mobility system
A child’s wellbeing and success at school is highly dependent on that wider family experience, just as parents’ wellbeing is significantly influenced by their child’s happiness and sense of belonging.
So, while we most definitely know that a successful international school requires a partnership with parents, I think we need to go a step beyond this. We need to see ourselves as an integral part of a wider global mobility ecosystem.
That includes the corporations and organisations whose families we serve, relocation agents, community liaison officers, HR specialists and, of course, parents themselves.
This is why, since I took over the role of principal at The British School of Brussels (BSB) and reflected on how the city is steeped in global mobility, we have engaged in a more deliberate partner engagement strategy.
Reaching out
This has involved outreach to HR, global mobility and talent mobility colleagues in organisations whose families we serve, as well as conversations with relocation agents and community liaison officers.
We have also hosted and contributed to webinars, attended relocation-sector events and gathered parent perspectives on relocation pressures and the ways families can support one another.
The more I have engaged with this wider network, the more I have come to realise that everyone involved, and ultimately the students, would benefit if schools were to see themselves as integral to it.
Many HR and mobility professionals recognise that school satisfaction matters profoundly, particularly in the first 18 months, when it can often serve as a proxy for family settlement and retention of the employee parent or parents.
It also speaks to how well that parent can focus on their raison d’être in the move: their employment and contribution to the organisation.
According to , based on responses from 262 global companies across 30 countries, difficulties with employee or family adaptation were the second most commonly cited reason for moves ending earlier than planned.
Three practical approaches
Engaging with global mobility specialists, and considering their perspectives and priorities, is therefore vital work for schools. In my experience, three practical adjustments follow.
1. Social infrastructure
First, in many families who have relocated, at least one adult has moved at the expense of a prior professional identity.
They may also have little by way of a support network. Both of these things can lead, slowly and quietly, to an erosion of confidence if that person feels isolated.
In this respect, providing a substantial parent network goes far beyond being a welcoming gesture.
At BSB, our Families of BSB association has its own dedicated villa on the school grounds, serving as a hub for parent connection, clubs, café gatherings and a safe play area for very young children.
The network that our parent volunteers nurture serves as vital social infrastructure to help families settle.
2. Family partnerships
Second, from enquiry through to admissions and acceptance, we need to focus our efforts not simply on welcoming the child, albeit this remains our priority, but the whole family.
This might mean asking not only what the child needs in order to settle and learn but also what the family needs in order to feel orientated, connected and confident in their new location.
At BSB, we have recently partnered with Families of BSB to match new and prospective families with at least one other family, typically from a similar place of origin.
3. Departures and arrivals
Third, a key point emphasised by experts in global mobility is that successful transition is about departure as much as arrival.
Schools can help by ensuring a supportive transition strategy for children and their parents, through conversations, communications and opportunities to come to terms with and prepare for the next move.
This could include structured transition conversations, guidance for parents, opportunities for children to say goodbye properly, and thoughtful information that helps the next school understand the child’s wider experience, not only academic progress.
Ultimately, international schools are deeply connected to the wider ecosystem of global mobility around them.
By acknowledging this, and by making purposeful adjustments to the way we work, we can play our part in helping the children in our care to feel they belong and are ready to learn, while also helping families to become more integrated into the experience of relocation, living abroad and moving on well.
James Penstone is the principal and CEO of The British School of Brussels
Ìý
Ìý
Ìý
