liz and mark

Hi my son is just choosing his options for his GCSE's and the course work starts september here. We are hoping to be in Oz end of year so he will start school in Feb. What school year does the equivalent of the GCSE's start in Oz.He will be 14 yrs old in June and here will be going into year 10 in september ( uk school)
I f anyone can help I would be grateful.

Liz and Mark

surfsbabe

Hi:

I can tell you a little about the situation in Victoria, the other states may vary.

Generally a 14y.o. can be in year 9, but many of this age would be in year 8, I will explain why.

In the past there was a cut-off date of June 30 that the child had to be 5 years old by then in the year of starting school. More recently that has been changed to April 30. What this means is that some parents choose to have their child start as a 4 year old turning 5 during the year and others keep their child back so the child is already 5 starting school. Thus a 14y.o could be in either year 8 or 9.

The school would be best able to advise you but I think it is important for kids to be amongst others of their own age group.

Hope this has been of some help,

Good luck!

Kate

Dame Edna

Hi
Our daughter will be 14 in Aug 2003 and she is in year 8 ( as from this Jan, just gone). If we were still in the UK she would be in year 9 and year 10 in September. She is in a goverment all girls school and she finds it very easy and laid back, hardly any homework.

She is academically bright and is in the top class for her year, but there is no challenge, but she loves it! We want better for her but she wouldn't go into the year above due to the age difference and the selective schools in the Sydney area are full for all years, except entry into year 7. We can't afford private (which so many parents seem to choose), so we are in a dilema what to do at the moment.

So please be careful when choosing a school for your son. Just be aware.

Cheers

kevmitch

Hi

We're hoping to hit Sydney around September. My son will be looking to join in year 11 in Jan 2004 having taken 10 GCSEs in the UK this June/July.

From your experience, do GCSEs match up directly with the NSW Certificate, or indeed the Higher Certificate - and does this laid back approach follow through into the 'non compulsory' years 11 and 12?

On a similar subject, how easy did you find getting into a local school - is this based strictly on catchment area, or did you have any choice?

Thanks

Kev

Wendy&Mike

Hi
I'm off to Qld in Aug and have children aged 10,12 and 14 so have had to do quite a bit of research into their future education. I found lots of sites (govt and individual schools) which i can direct you to if it's Qld you are off to.

wendy

Sandra

What area of Sydney do you live in - did you check whether any local schools run additional streamed programs, my sons local government school run a GAT (Gifted and Talented program) my son has plenty of homework! He is 12 turning 13 in May and he is in Year 8. We did check when we came over, he is one of the youngest in the year but because academically he is able it hasn't caused a problem (and moving back a year at the time would have meant going to primary school - he decided being one of the youngest wasn't the worst issue!).

I do understand the problem my Daughter who would have been finishing year 5 in the UK, was put into mid year 4 here. It is a complete pain in the arse watching her lay back and make little effort - she needs to be pushed. We are now considering private tutition for some areas because we also would find private education too expensive to consider and to be honest not necessarily better.

cheers

debs&tim

Hi Wendy
We are hopefully going to Brisbane by the end of the year.
Youngest is 6 in year 1, eldest is 9 in year 4. Can you direct me to the sites which you have used.
Thanks in advance
Debs

Wendy&Mike

Hi to all intending to go to Qld
I’ve posted a few times regarding Qld and its education system, unfortunately I haven’t got clear answers to questions posted. From the answers I have had and looking at various education sites this is what I think happens in Qld. If anyone out there can fill in the gaps or correct me if I am wrong it would be most appreciated. My children are aged 10,12 & 14 so I have not really looked into schooling for younger children.
Here goes - The school year is from Jan to Dec. Therefore, anyone transfering from Eng will be in the same year if their birthday is Jan to Aug, if their birthday is Sept to Dec however they will drop back a year when they go to Oz. They don’t go into main school until year 8 (here it is year 7) and they can leave at end of year 10 (here it is year 11).
Children may begin their education with preschool. This provides a year of non-compulsory education for four- and five-year-olds. By law, children must attend school between the ages of 6 and 15. Primary school is the first compulsory stage and covers Years 1 to 7. After that, most children attend secondary or high school from Years 8 to 10. On completing Year 10, students have the option of continuing to Years 11 and 12 or leaving school. Secondary certificates and assessment
State secondary schools issue a Year 10 Certificate that shows the student's levels of achievement in each subject studied in Years 9 and 10.
On completing Year 12, students receive a Student Education Profile containing a Senior Certificate and, if eligible, a Tertiary Entrance Statement. The Senior Certificate records individual subject results, including applicable vocational education and training (VET) results and the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) Test results, if applicable. The Tertiary Entrance Statement is the key to university entrance and contains an Overall Position and Field Positions. OP ratings seem to be the item most australians quote when asked about how they achieved at school and not individual subject scores etc. This is rated 1 to 15, sorry can’t remember which is highest 1 or 15 !.
There does seem to be a lot of variety between schools, the subjects they offer and the quality of education. As there are no league tables, as in england, word of mouth and thorough investigation of individual schools is required.
I found the individual school websites interesting (a list of them is given in www.education.qld.gov.au), some are just vague info, others actually list subjects and options. Some go as far as giving you the complete ‘option blocks’ so you know how many subjects you can take and at what level. Sorry I forget which sites had best info on them.
Browse through the site (www.education.qld.gov.au)mentioned above, hopefully it will answer most of your other questions.
I’ll stop now before I bore you too much
Hope this helps
wendy

Wendy&Mike

The site Wendy mentioned above does not seem to be working at the moment. However, if you goto http://www.qld.gov.au/ and follow the education link there is lots of info there.

Mike.