Schools
Children go to school from 4 and finish at 16 after taking GCSE exams. There is an optional year at school for 3 year olds.
Falkland Islands schools broadly follows the English National Curriculum which is adapted for the local animals and environment and includes Falkland Islands history. The schools teach exclusively in English, apart from Spanish language lessons.
Primary
Primary age children (3 to 11 years old) will attend the Infant and Junior school (IJS) www.primary.ac.fk in Stanley or Camp Education (CE) in more rural areas (Camp, from the spanish word “campo”, is the local name for the countryside). IJS&CE is one school with the same curriculum being taught wherever children are. Children in Stanley are in a class of children of a similar age; children at Goose Green, Fox Bay and Port Howard are taught in a mixed age class; children at farms are taught together by a travelling teacher.
Secondary
Secondary school students (11to 16 years old) attend the Falkland Islands Community School www.secondary.ac.fk. The school has a wide range of facilities, including science labs, music and art facilities and a student kitchen. There are also good sports facilities with an indoor pool, playing fields and a sports hall.
Students take a two-year programme over the final two years of school with British public examinations (GCSEs) at the end of the course. It is unusual for children to join the secondary school after 14 due to the challenge of joining the GCSE programme midway through.
Families are encouraged to contact the schools to ask questions about SEND and how about how children experience changing to the English National Curriculum.
Extra information
– The school year runs from September to August (as in the UK). However as southern hemisphere schools, the summer holidays are from mid-December to the end of January. There are winter holidays in August which are three weeks.
– Lunch – the schools do not have canteens, so children either go home or to childcare
– More information about the schools is available on their websites:
Moving with your family may seem like a big step, but you will find a welcoming and supportive community waiting for you on the Falklands and will quickly settle in.