<span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/taxonomy"><a contenteditable="true" data-id="13815" data-name="Prince Archie" data-slug="13815" href="taxonomies/13815">Prince Archie</a></span>, seven, and <span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/taxonomy"><a contenteditable="true" data-id="15464" data-name="Princess Lilibet" data-slug="15464" href="taxonomies/15464">Princess Lilibet</a></span>, five, will have to be prepared for some cultural changes awaiting them when they start their new life in the UK.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's plan to <span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/article"><a class="--edited" contenteditable="true" data-id="844248" data-name="return to live in Britain" data-slug="844248" href="articles/844248">return to live in Britain</a></span> was announced on Wednesday, and their children's schools have already been chosen ahead of their entries into year three and year one.
But according to Good <span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/taxonomy"><a contenteditable="true" data-id="13598" data-name="School" data-slug="13598" href="taxonomies/13598">School</a></span>s spokesperson Grace Moody-Stuart, the <span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/article"><a class="--edited" contenteditable="true" data-id="829614" data-name="sibling duo" data-slug="829614" href="articles/829614">sibling duo</a></span> will have a lot to adjust to a UK state of mind when they start preparatory school.
"There'll be some traditions, cultural traditions that are different how people approach food and eating food. I think these [English] schools are quite wholesome; it's lots of fish and chips. It's not like all about granola and blackberries.
"But then again, depending on where they end up, there are certain areas of the country that are much more like that. I imagine they'll choose somewhere which won't be too much of a culture shock when perhaps some of their friends have gone."
<span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/article"><a class="--edited" contenteditable="true" data-id="505265" data-name="Archie and Lilibet" data-slug="505265" href="articles/505265">Archie and Lilibet</a></span> should be prepared for the 'rigorous' UK schooling system
One thing that Grace noted was just how rigorous the UK preparatory schooling system is; while it isn't officially 24/7, it is as close to that as possible, with a timetable packed full of not just academic subjects.
Grace explains: "The rigorousness of the teaching and the homework [is different]. I get the impression that's much more full-on even in a school that isn't highly academic and highly pressurised; it is more rigorous than it is in the States."
"One thing we should be proud of as a nation is that our private prep schools are a gem that we've slightly overlooked in recent years. They are an amazing resource for the reasons we've been discussing, in that they offer a very holistic education.
"I don't know much about American schools, but I do know that academically they're a bit behind. Our system is much more structured from a very early age. So, when people move from the US, they tend to have to catch up a bit with the English curriculum, and I think if Harry and Meghan - who knows what their long-term plan is - but if they are planning a kind of English public school for the next stage, then they'll need to be prepared for that."
"These schools really prepare you for that kind of environment, where you need independence, you need to be able to think for yourself, to organise yourself, and you need to be able to show that you can get stuck in. That's a phrase that they love in these prep schools: getting stuck in, throwing yourself at every opportunity and really taking advantage of what's on offer. That's one of the distinctions.
"We have a huge range of schools in this country; they have their own distinct characters. They have their own histories, and I think there are those schools in America, but there are far fewer of them. And so I think here they just have so much more choice in terms of the actual environment they want them to be in."<br id="eZQ-_sd0at_"><br id="ennHT-j6d4J">
Their school days will finish at 5:30 or 6:00 pm
One of the most important things UK preparatory schools pride themselves on is the opportunities they give their students to embrace a whole range of activities outside of academic studies.
Grace explains that importance is placed just as much on climbing trees, music, sports and arts and crafts, which means their school days end late in the evening.
"<span class="fr-deletable" contenteditable="false" data-type="mention/article"><a class="--edited" contenteditable="true" data-id="505265" data-name="Archie and Lilibet" data-slug="505265" href="articles/505265">Archie and Lilibet</a></span> will have full days. A lot of these schools offer boarding. They might offer flexi boarding, weekly boarding, all kinds of different kinds of boarding, but the days are long either way, so it's action-packed.
"It starts early in the morning, and then there's plenty of time for activities, sport, music in the afternoon, but even within the curriculum they will have specialist classes in art, in music, in languages, and these schools will have specialist teachers for specialist subjects. So you wouldn't just have one teacher, maybe in the early years, but from age seven onwards you'd probably be having specialist teachers.
"Instead of picking up a child at 3:30/3:00 pm, which you might do in a primary school, you'd be picking up, you know, you might be picking them up at 5:00 pm depending on their age or even 6:00 pm."
