One of the reasons we decided to move to the UK was for our children to get a better education. At least, that was our intention. Has it turned out the way we expected? Well, let’s just say the jury’s still out on that one. We’re considering letting them take the CAT (California Achievement Test) this year, to see how they compare to last year, when they were home-schooled in the US.

We chose the school based on Ofsted reports, even though two head teachers sort of pooh-pahed the whole thing. (Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.)

As it turned out, the Ofsted reports were completely unreliable, as I’ll explain later. The school is OK – it is not terrible. However, it does not seem that academically superior in any way to the school they had previously attended in the US.

I especially oppose the school’s notion of combining classes of different levels. For some of those mixed classes, it was based on their birthdays. The older kids of one year combined with the younger kids of the next year. We had been told that the kids were taught based on their ability, not on their age. Yet, when you combine a classroom like this, how are you distinguishing them based on their ability?

Does that mean that our daughter, who is a younger member in her class, will be moved to the mixed class where she will be with the older kids from next year’s class? From what I’ve seen of these mixed-classes, one of which our other daughter is in, all the students are taught the same material, but given work based on their school year level or ability (I don’t know which criteria is really used).

Our older daughter seems to be doing work she has done in previous years of schooling and with which our younger daughter is already familiar.

Our goal is to get them into academically strong schools to give them an edge for the future. But are the schools living up to our expectations? Even the natives complain. There have been so many changes in the way kids are taught nowadays (it’s exactly the same complaint in the US).

We were told to look up Ofsted reports to determine which schools are good. We have since determined that Ofsted does not reflect on a school’s academic performance in any way. They are an organization that is focused on children’s welfare. Not only do they give reports on schools and daycares, they are also involved with social services for child welfare.

Therefore, their ratings of schools are based on how well the schools offer support to children of all backgrounds. It is a social report. A good or positive Ofsted report does not equate to an outstanding school. Neither does a bad or negative Ofsted report reflect a bad school. Lesson learned.

We’ll see this year through and have them take some tests at the end to determine where they’re at. At the moment, we cannot afford to send them to private schools, so we’ll have to look at other options.

Visit An American in Britain for more of Mr and Mrs American in Britain's fresh – if not always rosy – perspective on Merry Olde England and, from time to time, advice for those venturing over from across the pond. Because "let’s just say, I’ve made some mistakes along the way."