homewardbound

My son is in year 5 and has been invited to take the selection tests next year... just wondered if anyone else is going through this process.

I've looked through the tests - similar to the 11+ in the UK.

BUT the general ability does include questions on australian culture - so will make a comment about his lack of australian culture knowledge on the application forms - hopefully they will allow dispensation as I know they do for Aboriginal kids and non native english speaking kids who have lived in AU for less than 4 years.

Hutch

Would have thought that'd be the case. Bit harsh to expect him to know the ins and outs of Australian life after a short period of time.

Rudi

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Although the test is important, the report he gets from the school makes up a substantial part of the final "score" If he is bright and an excellent student in school with a good track record he will be fine. It's not worth stressing over either, they are not hard tests as such, but they challenge students to think out of the box a bit. Also, you need to visit your local selective high school to see whether that is the kind of environment you want for your child. My daughter got a place in a year 5 selective placement and we decided not to take it up. It was just all academic and not much of anything else. The kids were very competitive - which can be good, but this was just extreme.

We decided to do the scholarship tests for private schools rather than the selective schools tests. We wanted a more rounded education, rather than one based purely on academics. However, your local selective school may offer that, ours didn't.

Good luck to your son.

Love

Rudi
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