NickyP

I will take you up on that . It will be fine and she will settle very quickly I am sure.
Good luck.
Nicky

Far Fae Hame

Thanks Wendy.
I suppose we could try taking the text books, but most are in Spanish and the English teacher was using our kids to help out the others with their English.

We have been doing a lot of stuff ourselves with regard to keeping their English up to scratch, so hopefully we have done enough to keep their own English standard high.

Thanks Again.

Wendy

Ah, never thought of that

I found both of the headteachers that I saw really helpful, just have a good talk to them when you get here.

Margaret3

Hello there, i got lots of help on the Britvics site

try here
http://z7.invisionfree.com/BritVics/...showtopic=2836

Margaret3

Wendy, could you please fly over to scotland and talk some sense into me, i am sooooooo worried about everything, i cant eat that's a whole new experience for me

NickyP

You almost certainly won't need reference etc but if you get them then at least they are there if a school asks for them. The schools like to see reports especially if you are looking at building up to VCE years.
Don't worry about it as I am sure that she will do well, she is academically able and into sports the schools here will be fighting over her .
Nicky

Margaret3

Nicky, once again, thanx , she is SERIOUSLY into sports, which just now is about the only good thing going.
Anyway latest update: she might be coming to validate and flying back to sit her exams in scotland can't say am happy about it , but hey ho, such are the consequences with teens

Wendy

Arrange for her to do her exams here if that's what she wants to do. Then tell her to try out school here for 12 months and if she doesn't like it then you will support her in getting back to Scotland. My guess is that she'll be just fine after them 12 months as she'll have new mates and lots going on in her life (Join her up for everything you can find )

NickyP

If she can get through year 12 here she will be fully able to head back to a Scottish Uni if that is what she wants. It might set her mind at rest if you speak to a good Uni in Scotland and get them to confirm that they will accept the VCE for entry to degree courses. The reality is that her exams that she wants to fly back for will be pretty well worthless here and will be superceeded by her year 12 studies anyway back in Scotland. It is very hard for your daughter to understand that the exams aren't going to be as important to her as they would be to her friends at school and this is why she is being difficult. It is the same in the UK your GCSE results are pretty well ignored if you get good A'Levels and although they are really important at the time in reality they are only a stepping stone if you continue in school. They only remain important if you stop your schooling there.
She may be able to sit her exams in Australia (I know that Sam could have sat his at the British Conulate). The time that she misses by flying back to sit her exams will mean that she won't have a full choice of VCE subjects unless she is VERY lucky as they will only offer the subjects with places available. This will affect her experience in her final 2 years and she really needs to be aware of that.
Good luck I know it is difficult at the moment but she is trying very hard to keep her options open and do what is best for herself and you should be proud of that . She just needs to try to look at what she wants out of schooling in general (ie Uni or not) and then decide whether these exams are really vital or whether getting settled and getting her best possible results at VCE is more important.
Nicky

Australia Immigration

Hi

You are right that Yr 4 is equal in most states to yr 10 and so on.

However, if you have any reservations about the stress or anxiety etc for your daughter, you can opt to have your daughter held back a yr to allow for adjusting and preparation for the last two years of senior school in order to complete this.

In Australia completing yr 10 a certificate is issued showing that the pupil managed to pass and stay for the minimum term of senior school and thereafter they can go onto to college (TAFE) or stay for senior college yr 11 & 12 and then get to enjoy the big formal night (passing out evening).

I would recommend bringing school reports especially if you wish to go to private school.

With the reports showing attendance etc and then completing yr 10 (holding back) should allow a certificate to be issued for your daughter.

I have enclosed a comprehensive education portal for Australian system that will allow you to navigate around and answer most if not all questions.

http://www.education.gov.au/goved/go

Good luck

Kind regards

Chris

NickyP

I have heard of people having certificates for finishing year 10 in some states but not seen any of the year 10 children here get anything. They get an end of year report with exam results in which they use if they change school, go to TAFE etc but nothing more as year 10 doesn't seem to be seen as important here. Most of the TAFE courses that I have looked at for our son require year 11 to be finished as a minimum, even more so with the introduction of the VCAL certificate which is more geared towards practical skills. There are large differences from state to state (although the news at the moment seems to be pointing towards an eventual standardisation between the states which would be good).
We found the schools to be really helpful when we were deciding what level to put each of our children into and I am very impressed with the flexibility regarding ages in each year level here. It is good that things can be looked at on an individual basis rather than being strictly controlled by age.
Nicky