Hi there all! :) I'm new to this site, but I've done some ghosting and haven't seen a post on this topic yet. My DH and I will be moving to RAF Mildenhall this January 2009 and will probably be living off base. Our daughter turns 5 in January and we were wondering what to do about schools for her. Any suggestions? If we live far enough away from Lakenheath we will probably put her in the British schools if possible. I'd love to hear back on this subject. Thanks so much! ;)

I don't have any advice but welcome to SOS!

We don't have any kids, but when I was at RAF Lakenheath several of my friends sent their young kids to British schools, even if they lived just outside the base gate. They didn't ever have anything bad to say about the schools and loved the fact that they didn't have to deal with buying so many school clothes because their kids had to wear uniforms. My friend's daughter developed a British accent when she was at school and went to dance classes in town, but spoke "American" when she hung out with her mom's friends :hehe

Hi there!

My husband and I have been living in England (RAF Fairford) for the last 3 years. Our daughter is 7 and has been going to a British school since September 2006. We are very happy with the British schools. There is a homepage called Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education ): www.ofsted.gov.uk and it's esp for parents that want to look up schools and preschools around their area. You can also read up on the schools and see how they did on their ofsted inspection etc. Hope it helps.

Thanks so much. :) We don't know where we are going to be living yet, but we do know it will be in the RAF Mildenhall area. The chances of getting base housing are slim, and besides I like the idea of living off base. That site will come in handy when we start looking around for a place to live. Our plan is to look online before he goes over, hopefully that way he will have a list of houses to view and people expecting him. I hope that speeds the housing search up. Last time we lived in the UK we were both single airmen, so there wasn't a problem with housing! I'm looking forward to going back, but not to the actual move! :tired we have to do it in 2 stages since I am pregnant and it will be too close to my due date for me to PCS with him. Crazyness.

I don't know much about schools in the area.... just wanted to say welcome to SOS and I'm incredibly jealous that you're moving to the UK!

Nice to meet you!
My husband and i will be going to Mildenhall Jan of 09 as well! (Pending everything go as planned of course.)

We're also looking into living off base, and i hadnt even thought about schooling just yet. Our daughter will be turning 5 in march 09, so we're right about in the same boat. Hubs just hasnt been through any briefings yet, so we havent even started prepping for anything. I have no idea when we're supposed to do whatever it is we're supposed to do, lol. I just know the day we're estimated to fly out of the country!

I hope all goes well for you guys with your move though!

I suggest you start getting your tourist passports now. You'll have to get government no-fee passports and visas for each member of the family, including infants, but those won't be processed until you have orders. The no-fee part is a bit of a misnomer. You pay for them outright, then the military pays you back when you file at your gaining base. Just a heads up, because we were completely blindsided! As for the schools... Gracie (my daughter) will turn 5 in January of 09 and we're kind of hoping to get her in the British school system. I've heard good things about it, but never directly from someone who is living there now and has their kids in school. We also are hoping to live close enough that we can just walk her to school each day. Really saves on gas! (petrol) :D