How I organized a year abroad for my SHS Japanese son

For as long as I can remember my son's dream was to go to school abroad for a year. I say "was" because he has just fulfilled that dream. Last week I brought him back to Japan after a year in secondary school in Ireland. Secondary school is the equivalent of Japan's Junior and Senior High School combined. 

I have alluded to the fact that I had a child studying abroad in posts over the last year. But for security and privacy reasons I was purposefully vague. Now that he is home, I can share information more openly. This post is about the experience of organizing a place for him in 4th year, the equivalent of Japan's Senior High School (SHS) Year 1, in a school in Dublin, Ireland.

The key takeaways:

• make sure the school in Japan allows students to do a year abroad and also check what conditions they have for such an experience. 
• start contacting schools well in advance and if necessary, appeal any "no" decision!
• organize any necessary PPS numbers or equivalent social security type numbers in advance.
• make sure they have an up-to-date passport.

First and foremost, if you are interested in sending your child abroad to study during Senior High School, it is important that they chose a school that allows it. My son had chosen the Senior High School he goes to in Japan purely on the basis that he knew they allow students go abroad for a year. The only condition was that he provide school reports from his school in Ireland to the school in Japan on his return.

There are schools that actually organize a year-long exchange, but they are not common. It is more common for schools in Japan to host an exchange student from abroad. Moreover, the few schools that do offer the service, usually have a fixed country they use. Most often the United States or Australia. There is a school in our area that sends students to England, but my son was determined to go to Ireland. 

As such, I had to organize his placement and accommodation myself. And at exactly this time last year I was under a lot of stress trying to find a school in Dublin (Ireland) that would take him. This involved me literally contacting dozens of schools directly. Ironically, it was the very first school I contacted that eventually offered him a place, after initially letting me down gently! 

An important thing to note. My son has a personal public service (PPS) number for Ireland. It wasn't about (not/) having an Irish passport. Anyone living in or coming to Ireland is entitled to apply for a PPS number, but it takes time and paperwork. It is most useful to have it in advance. Without that number, it would have been a lot harder, more time-consuming and cost a lot more money to send him to school in Ireland.  

I was lucky to get him a place just two months before the school year started. The school year starts in August in Ireland, and I was contacting schools in June. Most of the schools I contacted shut me down straightaway because it was too close to the start of the school year. What you can learn from mistake is to start contacting the schools a year or more before your child hopes to attend them.

But I would also say, don't take "no" to mean "no!" As above, the school that took my son had initially said "no" to me, but when I followed up, with a more personal email about his dream and my connection to the area in which the school was, they surprised me and said "yes"! There is a chance if you appeal the decision the school will surprise you too.

It was the only school that I appealed their "no" decision, because it was our first school of choice. But I feel, that if I had also done it with the other schools that said "no" too, there may have been another that also reconsidered. The point is - don't give up too soon if your child has their heart set on doing a school year abroad.