superam74

Hi everyone, we've recently got our visas & have to be in Oz for 20/12/06.This obviously gives my son ample time to complete his English schooling (GCSE's). But by the time we get to OZ all the students his age will be in summer holidays looking forward to their last year.My question is ,will this be to late for him to join & catch up with the Australian schools curriculum. regards, Pete.

Ozzy dog

Hi,

My son came here Dec 2004 and has managed to join secondary school and do an OP in one year. Many on here have commented that this isn't a good idea and for my son it was odd as they go straight onto uni from high school here not college or 6th form like in UK. So basically he's had two proms, finished school twice etc.

For him it has been the best thing, we found a really good private school in Queensland, we're about 45 mins from Brisbane city. He has had to apply himself and work hard but he got a good OP (overall performance) which is the hight school qualification here. I also think it has been good for him to finish school here and make friends. Your son could go to TAFF (college) to get the qualifications to move on but for mine school was the best.

Remember private school here is so much more affordable than in UK, about $6K a year.

Some school namely state, did not want to offer us year 12, but wanted him to do two years, its a matter of what might be right for your child, and many do the two and finish at 18/19.

If you have some specific questions pm me.

Hope my waffle helps

Tracey

sherie_in_oz

We started renting on the Gold Coast 19/12/05 and had to wait till the new school year 3rd week of Jan 06 for our kids to start school. Some schools were open as early as the 4/5th Jan so we started looking and making enquiries to visit schools then, some of the most popular private schools are often full with long waiting lists, so if you want him to attend a really popular private school its a good idea to enquire before you arrive.
Lots of kids move to new schools on the GC from interstate and overseas so your son won't be only one coming here in year 11 or 12...there were lots of new enrolements straight into year 12 at our sons school, many kiwis, poms, japanese, and other nationalities who just slot in.
Only year 12 really matters for an OP score and uni entrance, so altho your son won't have done year 11 it wouldn't count anyway. If he needs a very high OP score for uni entrance he may prefer to go into year 11 and then do year 12 a year later, my son had the choice to go into year 11 or 12 and chose to go into year 11, as he was only 16 in January.
The other option is to resit if he doesn't do too well, quite a few kids here seem to resit, and you get a variety of ages in one year some kids are ahead and some are behind.... he will have lots of options here school/TAFE/apprenticships, traineeships etc so theres more flexibility here than the UK in general, so I wouldn't worry too much!

superam74

Thankyou so much guys, more information than I could of possibly wished for. Feel a lot more at ease now. Pete

kevinbloomfield

Please remember you do not have to send your child to a private school, there are plenty of good state schools around that do just as well. Not everybody is fortunate enough to be able (or find the need) to go private.

I would send them back to school for the social reasons as well as academic. The most important thing is finding friends to hang out with, this is much more important to a 16 year old than obtaining good grades.

kiwichild

Good points: There are plenty of good state schools. As for friends well a balance between social and academic. An academically inclined student will probably gravitate to others who are likeminded. Kids need to have fun and learn to goal set. Parental encouragement may help here.

Scotty123

Well I thought I would input my saying as im a 17 year old guy moving to Brisbane next week. I have completed my GCSEs and got decent enough grades (10 A*/A/B) and so I am hoping to just join year 12 as I feel my academic ability is decent enough. There was no sense on me completing my AS Levels this year for the point you can only do a maximum or 4 (any more and it would be too much) whereas in Australia I believe you do more subjects but not as in depth. I would say go for it after he has completed his GCSEs and depending on how he feels he could get the chance to go to Uni a year early depending on whether he joins yr 11 or yr 12...

Sandra

the posters who have responded come from Queensland - you need to look into the state education, eg Victoria, where you are intending to live. The rules are different in every state. NSW for example you usually need years 11 and 12 to get a grade in your High School Certificate, HSC and these marks count towards your UAI, University Admissions Index.

So the information you have received is specific to Queensland. I think you might intend to move to Melbourne. This might make some useful reading http://mams.rmit.edu.au/bznzueb0ug3s1.pdf

or it might be useful to state the area you are thinking of moving to when you re ask the question on this site.

I apologise if you are going to queensland...ignore above and have fun.

Cheers