FREAKY14

Hi I am new to this so hope I am doing the right thing. We have 3 children, our oldest is 14 (UK yr 9) and registered gifted and talented for english, maths, science and music. We have our visa, just need to sell the UK house. I am now starting to panic about good schools for her to go to. Does anybody have any suggestions? We will probably move at the beginning of her UK GCSE so a really bad time for her to arrive in BRISBANE.

Any advice about the best school we could get her in (preferably south of the city) would be more welcome than you could imagine!

Also does anybody know how good Bond university really is?

Thanks guys

quoll

Actually it would be a really good time for her to arrive in the Australian system - the final two years of study are what leads to a university entrance score and so it will be just perfect for her. GCSEs are totally irrelevant here and unless there is a chance she would be going back to study in UK at some stage, you can ignore them quite safely.

Sorry cant help with Brisbane schools and here are some university ranking tables http://www.australian-universities.com/rankings/ Bond had a big beat up when it was first established but you dont hear that much about it now.

BTW as a general rule, Aussies dont pay much attention to gifted and talented as a special entity and there arent that many special programs for them or often even acknowledgement - it's a very egalitarian sort of place. Mostly their skills tend to be developed and supported by parents outside of the school environment. You may get a slightly better reception at a private school than a public one generally.

FREAKY14

Thank you. so, given her school excellence, would she be immediately forwarded to her "A" level equivalents, or just do a year of GCSEs (possibly failing because of ciriculum differences)?

quoll

We dont have A levels or GCSEs, it is a completely different system. Most schools will place her with her age cohort so all depending on her birthday she would probably be year 9 here now. That means she would have another year - year 10 - before she started the final two years of schooling. In most states it is a 2 year course with some specialization but much broader than A levels and usually it is more continuous assessment than final exam style. So, if you arrived tomorrow she would probably have the rest of this year and all of next year before she began those final two years. Remember that our school year is January to December so the school year here has just begun.

Schools are reluctant to accelerate kids here because it is seen as more appropriate for them to move through with their social cohort than to be put into a cohort which will be quite disparate (especially true in those final years of schooling where activities which may engage a 17 year old would be totally inappropriate for a 14 year old!). The argument is usually that all kids can be accommodated within their year level - Blooms Taxonomy rules! (The way that the same content can be used at different levels to support and extend kids depending on their need)

FREAKY14

Thanks for that. I really apppreciate your clarification. I think that my blood pressure might just be coming down now. We are flying across in April to validate our visa and will probably look around at the schools then.

DARRENG487

HI, WE ALSO HAVE BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT EDUCATION AS WE HAVE A SON IN YEAR 9. WE ARE THINKING OF HEADING TO SUNSHINE COAST EARLY NEXT YEAR. STILL WAITING FOR THE VISAS YET THOUGH. SINCE RESREACHING I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THEY DONT TAKE GCSE'S IN OZ AND THAT THEY ALL TAKE A SET EXAM AT THE END OF YEAR 11 AND CAN STAY ON TILL YEAR 12 IF THEY SO WISH. THE WORRY IS THOUGH IS IF FOR SOME REASON WE EVER CAME BACK TO THE UK. FOUND ALOT ON THIS SUBJECT ON ********.COM. THINK AS LONG AS YOUR SURE YOU WONT BE COMING BACK THAT THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. SOMEONE HAD MENTIONED TO SPEAK TO THE EDUCATION IN BRISBANE TO FIND OUT THE CORRECT DETAILS AS I HAVE ONLY JUST STARTED TO SCRATCH THE SURFACE MYSELF AND STILL NEED MORE INFORMATION. I WAS GOING TO WAIT UNTIL WE GET THE VISAS. HOPE THIS HELPS A BIT. TRACY

quoll

Just as an aside - if you are really desperate to hedge your bets, I think that some examination syndicates still do A Levels by correspondence so that could be an option if there was ever a need to return to UK for education. Alternatively you can hunt around and see if there is a school that does the IB (International Baccalaureat) because that does have international standing being the French equivalent of A levels. We have a couple of schools in Canberra that do it so I would think there would be that option up in Queensland as well. From all reports it is more rigorous than the local assessment process.

FREAKY14

That sounds about right. I know that her local college offer the baccalaureat too, so it must truely be international! What languages (other than Japanese) are studied in Oz? At the moment she is studying French and German.

quoll

All depends on the school as to which languages they offer. Indonesian is popular - generally the asian languages are generally preferred as universal options, european languages seem to be more specialized. You may be lucky and find somewhere with French but German is a bit harder to find (certainly around here anyway). Latin - forget it!

paddyo

aarrgghh!!! turn off the caps!!!!!!

paddyo

Are you sure you want to move to Oz? This decision has to be made taking into consideration all family aspects and yet you seem rather naive as to what happens outside the UK border. EVERYTHING is different, and you need to ensure you both appreciate and respect that. You will need to forget about UK, if its a permanently thing especially, and look to what may or may not be possible for your FAMILY.
Not being judgmental but really surprised at your questions.

chris and farideh

We are in the Gold Coast & the school that my children goes to is excel in French, so French is being taught at some schools here, they also do Japenes but its optional.

Here is the website for the school that my two goes to.

http://www.benowashs.qld.edu.au/


Check this if you want your children to study International Baccalauret in QLD.


http://www.qldacademies.eq.edu.au/

Amandabee

what part of the south of brisbane are you thinking about? there are VERY big differences with the schools there.

QLD has some academic academies but with very high entrance exams. students go there to complete year 11 and 12. I know that they are attracting very high level teachers, and the courses are of a very high level.

Going into year 10, (as mentioned by a previous poster) would be the best idea, this will give her some time to get used to the school and her peers, without the pressures of year 11 and 12. It will also give her time to choose what subjects to do. there are many differences from a UK school.

The IB has a large following, but is not all its cracked up to be. it does allow students to take a wide range of subjects, but if a student has a desire to specialise, or is science or language orientated (for example) it does not allow specialisation in one area. But for some people thats not a bad thing.

Bond Uni is a new uni, and some traditionalists don't like the 'different' way it has been established and run. It all depends on what your after.

JAJ

It's not part of the Group of Eight:
http://www.go8.edu.au

debsy

Have you thought about entering your child for a scholarship if they are gifted? I think some of the schools like St Hilda's on the GC will let you sit the exam offshore at testing places in the UK etc.