Hi we are in the process of moving to Australia from England, i have a 15 year old son and im interested in feed back from people that have done the move and to let me know how they got on at school and adjusting as im a worried mum. Many thanks x

Hi Victoria and Welcome to BE.

I have moved this to the main Australia forum for you.

Good luck!

Hi Victoria

Welcome

Have you checked out what year/stage of education your son will be at? If he's 15 that may be significant, perhaps unless you feel he will have completed his education by the time you make the move?

There's some excellent schools in Adelaide, both public and private. Great selection of after school activities, depending on the schools, there's focus on sciences, sports, music, agriculture - you name it!

Is your son happy about the move?

Hi Victoria,

I made the move to Adelaide with my 17 year old son in April and he will be starting Year 12 in January to study for his SACE (South Australian Certificate in Eduction) He will also be given some points for his UK GCSE's

The SACE takes two years and is completed in Year 11 and Year 12. At 15 your son 'may' be entering at Year 10 (The school years are slightly different here) The new school year starts at the end of January 2013 so they may suggest he starts back at school then because there are only ten weeks or so left of this year.

I phoned the school directly, we got invited in for a mini meeting, my son chose his options and then we filled in the enrolment form.

Good luck with the move

Thanks for the reply !! if we was to come out there just before he takes his GCSE how would that work over there ?? as i realise it is a crucial time how did you decide what school to send your son ?? as thinking my husband might have to go on ahead and we stay behind until GCSE are done do you feel that this would be necessary as could my son get the qualifications over there ?? Thank you for your help as i have lots of books but cannot get the answers !!

If you're planning on a long term (don't like the word 'forever') then by all means come before he takes his GCSEs. If however it's just going to be for a few years or you're not sure then I'd possibly wait until he's taken them before the move. I've forgotten the age/school year in the UK, but I'm guessing he's due to take them next summer. I think I'd wait to be honest, come over next summer, our winter and get him into school for the last couple of terms of Grade 10, so he's ready to go into 11 & 12 and have time to make friends.

Hi he is due to take his GCSE June 2014 do you feel this would be ok do they take exams in oz at 16 ?? is the curriculum similar thanks

Hi, like Penny said it depends on how long you plan on staying for. If you came over before his GCSE's then he would just not have any UK qualifications but he will gain his Australian ones (SACE) in Years 11 and 12

I knew which suburb/area I wanted to live in before I got here so I researched the local schools. Like the UK, catchment areas are used and luckily we fell in the one for the school we decided on.

Years 11 and 12 here are like Year 10 and 11 in the UK (The years work out differently here - Secondary school starts at Year 8) so I guess working towards the SACE will be the same as him taking the GCSE's in the UK

Like with GCSE's he will need to decide on options i.e. Business studies or History for example and then there are the core subjects too.