killamarsh

I have been emailing schools in Oz - trying to ascertain what year my nearly 9 yr old son would be in and they say grade 4. My son is just about to move to year 5 in September - he was not happy at the thought of doing year 4 again but due to his age he will be with his peers. Has anyone else had this issue and how did they deal with it? I was thinking I would leave it and let him see the class he may go into and the kids are his age and not younger. He either goes into year 3 and is one of the oldest or goes into yr4 and is one of the younger ones. I decided not to tell him about the year 3 thing as I though - the child will run away if I tell him that...

cornishoz

my 9 yr old ,bday 23 april, went back a year when we got here 2.5 yrs ago. most of his friends are the same age but there are also 9 yr olds his age in year 4. socially it was a good move as he found the work easy and could concentrate on making friends in the 1st year here. his eldest brother is young in his year,now 15 in yr 10 and i wish we had put him into a lower year as alot of his friends are up to 16 months older. with all the issues that go with it.talk to your sons uk teachers about his social maturity aswell as his academic levels then talk to teachers in oz .find out what the age range is in their year groups. its not unusual for it to be up to 18 months from youngest to eldest in a school year here.however from what you say year 3 would feel like a big drop back 4 him and he would probably duplicate some work- yr 4 may be the best and he'll soon forget about having been there before if he's mixing with the right age group.

millsde

Hi

My son was 9 and he started in year 3/4 they had a mixed class his birthday is in May, but he tended to go towards the kids in the class that were in Year 3, as they were either his age or a little younger, so now after a year he is in yr 4. Here I do not think its a big deal if older kids are with younger, if kids are struggling they will be given an opportunity to resit a year.

With my son I did not mention to him what year class he would be in, in the uk I just told him about the school and so forth, when we arrived at the school for a look round I did not mention it to him what year the class was, he just went into the class-room and was introduced to all the kids, he was pretty nervous but the school was fantastic and the kids were great, I noticed a big difference between the primary school in Australia to the one he went to in the UK, even though the one in the UK was just a village Primary, its hard to put into words because this is kids we are talking about but the uk one felt more agressive, and the kids seemed more agressive then the ozzy one, is it just me who has noticed this?

sasbear

Hi Killamarsh,

Yeah - when we took Jade through to Canberra she had just finished Year 9 in the July and was due to start year 10 in Oz. I put her into the tail end of Year 9 in Oz even though she should technically have been in Year 8.

Weasy

When we arrived at the end of Jan my 9 year old (born early November) started year 4 again but in a 4/5 class. She was disgusted at first that she had to restart year 4 but it has worked really well and he is very happy at the school.

My 6 year old, however, born 21st June, had already started year 2 in the UK and was struggling badly. She started year 1 again here, in a 1/2 class, and again is very happy.

I think if the school seems a good one then you have to trust their judgement to some extent and things are more fluid here regards moving kids up and down a year. Not like their old school when I asked if my youngest could repeat year 1 I was told she would have to have severe special needs for that to happen. In fact she's just a late bloomer as she's doing really well now.

Hope this helps.

Lou
xx

Hoola

What a difficult decision it is with schooling, different states have different starting ages & cut off dates although the Commonwealth government is trying to standardise things as we speak.........taking years though.
My 2 oldest children started school at 4 years in WA but on transferring to Sydney had the same issue with age differences.
In WA no parent gets a choice to "Hold Back" their child to start a year later, but in NSW you do get a choice. So in my childrens classes (Kindy, year6 & year7) there is a vast age difference of 2 years from the youngest to the oldest. All mine have just accepted the age of the children they are in class with & do not seem as stuck on the issue as the parents and/or school. We've had to move the kids several times due to work changes & each time the decision gets no easier which class to aim for (I think my oldest has been in 5 schools before he got to high school) I have learnt for mine the crucial part is to determine exactly where they are at academically throughout the year in order to have some certainty which class they should be in. You can advocate for your child with the school, offer proof of acheivment through reports etc if you think the higher year would be better suited, listen to the schools concerns about age differences & address those yourself. You may decide (as you know your child better than anyone else) that to take a repeat year would give them breathing space to create new friends and fit in with the changed environment. Huge amount to be said for this approach, as it's already a massive move away from all their friends & family so something that makes it easier for them must be a good thing.
No one wants their child to repeat work appearing to go backwards, just as we don't want to over stretch/push them leaving them struggling & stressed either. I find the split composite classes very handy, aiming for one of those every time. I find it gives mine a chance to mix with age peers while having a chance to maintain the academic levels previously held, but this may not be an option where you are going.
Alot of what is worrying you now unfortunately cannot be sorted until you move.
You can PM me if you'd like to discuss further
Hoola

TraceyW

At what age to children start compulsory education in QLD? Does the academic year run from the end of January as it does here?

Famous 5

Qld also runs a Jan to Dec academic year. The system for starting school in Qld is changing - see following extract from Qld government website:

"Primary
To be enrolled in Year 1 in January, children will need to be five years old by the last day of December of the previous year. From 2008, children will need to be six by 30 June in the year they enrol in Year 1. For more information see Preparatory Year of schooling.

Under special circumstances, children may be enrolled at a younger age. Parents may enrol a child in their local primary school by contacting the school directly. For a child entering Year 1, schools require proof of the child's date of birth, such as a birth certificate, passport or visa.

Secondary
Students are eligible to enter the first year of secondary school, Year 8, after completing seven years of primary education. Parents may enrol a child in their local secondary school by contacting the school directly."

The link is http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/...g.html#primary

On the point about children transferring from the UK, we moved to Oz mid year (July) and two of my children repeated the end of the year they had just finished in the UK (year 8 and year 5), which as a previous poster said meant that they could concentrate on settling in and making friends as they found the work easy. The school put them into extension classes in some subjects to ensure that they didn't become bored.

My youngest child was one of the youngest in his year in the UK and was struggling a bit so we decided we would put him back a year and that has been fantastic for him as he has gone from strength to strength.

It is important that you get the right level for your child and my experience has been that there is much more flexibility here than the UK. All three children are doing well in school and the year level would only be a problem if we decided to go back to the UK.

Famous 5

killamarsh

Many thanks to all for their comments. It's hard enough knowing what to do without not having an other half to discuss the issue with. All I care about is my son being comfortable in himself and happy at school whatever year he is in. I have no issue with what year he goes in but don't want my son getting upset and thinking himself to be 'stupid' as he said the other night just because the systems are different. He is nine tomorrow going on 13 and I think I will take on board all the comments (nice to know it is not a special situation) and leave it until we get there. Perhaps letting him see that the kids are the same age will persuade him into being happy about the decision. I guess I am so consiuoc that it will be an upheaval for him that I just want the best for him and want to make the move as easy as possible for him - don't care how much stress it causes me as long as he is ok with it all. Thanks again for taking the time to comment - much appreciated.

northernbird

We arrived at similar stage to you. She would have entered year 3 back in England in the September. She did 2 extra terms of year 2 here in Perth before entering year 3 in the following February. Don't stress too much about it as any stress you have will be picked up by your child. Personally I am glad my daughter did the extra time as it gave her time to settle and make friends. Some of the work she had already done but some was new so for us it was a good mix of both.

Mrs Jackaroo

My daughter was six when we arrived - turned 7 in November and went into Year 1 (only 5 months behind the UK).

Streaks

Hi there, now I'm confused. My son is 10 (birthday September) and was in year 5 in England, he has been put in year 6 in a mixed 5/6 class here in Perth but I was told it is the equilvalent to the same year in England?? maybe it's because of the difference of academic year dates.
S xx

northernbird

Yes if he was born in 1996 then the old school cut off dates apply here in WA.

Streaks

Thank you.
S xx