Beyond coping –
Soar shows expat teens how to thrive

Soar ensures teens make the best possible start to their high school education – whether they are new to a country and needing support to best settle in, or experienced global learners beginning secondary school for the first time.
What is it about?
Well, first let us tell you what it’s not about. It’s not a travel guide about the new country your teen is now living in. We don’t cover languages, the climate, cultural differences and so on. There are many resources out there already to help young people learn about the place they are now living. We also think discovering these things for oneself is part of the joy of this new experience.
Nor is it a book about ‘third-culture kids’. You might have heard this term already – it refers to children who are raised in a culture other than their parents’. Again, there are already many books on that topic.
This book is the book that the teenagers, and the international schools we have worked with, told us was missing.
It is a book that supports young people with the issues they told us were important to them the moment they entered the school gates. It’s a guide to how to make (and keep) healthy friendships, how to appreciate the experience of studying and living overseas, and how to do their best academically.
We reveal the most effective secrets to studying and show teens how to:
- Get up to speed on the system at their new school
- Set up a workspace and study routines in their new home
- Use planners to prioritise their time, plan assignments and prepare for exams
But life is about more than assignments and tests, right?
We offer practical advice on:
- Making friends and resolving conflicts
- Enjoying the expat experience
- Staying grounded and positive through gratitude practices, visualisations and affirmations
Throughout Soar we pose questions, and there is room for students to write their own responses; we want them to be able to customise the book to suit their unique situation.
Schools may choose to make a time where they sit down with new enrolments and review their responses to ensure they feel supported and settled. Parents may want to work through Soar with their child so that they better understand the journey too. Or, it may simply be used as a resource for teens to work through independently.
However Soar is used, we know that it will become a much-loved go-to guide.