Dann2000

Good evening/morning,

I have a 16 yr old (17 in January) transferring from a uk school into an Oz school in January. I'm assuming she will go into year 12 and just wondered if years 11 & 12 are taught separately or (like the GCSEs she has just completed) they are directly linked with 2 years of learning & coursework with examinations at end?

Thanks,

Danny

carolinephillips

In DD's case, because she is doing the IB it is 2 years linked with assessments right from the beginning as well as extended essay, Community/Action/Service work and then exams. Can't speak for the HSC but I think it is also 2 years, but far more relaxed in Y11. There are a set number of hours per subject that you have to cover though I think.

ps. I used to live in Chesham, so relatively local to you, and DD was born at Stoke Mandeville.

Dreamy

You don't say which state you're heading too but I had a similar situation with my eldest when we moved to Queensland. We put him back into Year 11 so he could do the two years needed to get his uni grading and Year 12 certificate.

His only grievance was that it put him in the same year as his younger brother so they shared a lot of classes. Other than that, he was fine

moneypenny20

In QLD you need the two years, particularly if going on to Uni. Age wise it won't be a problem, she won't be the only one slightly older than the 'norm'.

quoll

In all states you are going to need to put them into yr 11 as the final two yrs are crucial. Is there any chance at all you could let hem finish A levels then move over - that way they keep all their options opn for uni in either country(no international fees for UK uni and A Levels travel really well to Aus. They will be quite a bit older than the cohort and sometimes schools don't like having an older kid in the group.

Dann2000

Thanks, really wanted the girls to do the IB but the schools we are considering don't have it as an option. Also both our girls were born in stoke mandeville!!

Dann2000

Thanks for taking the time to respond, it is Queensland we are moving to. We are looking to take your advice about starting her in year 11. She will also have to share some classes with her younger sister which didn't go down well!! How did your boys settle? Our eldest is very sad at leaving friends and family but is positive its the right choice. Our youngest, however was devastated and is still very against the move. I'm sure (97%!) this is the best decision for the family and their future but causing all this upset on the way is difficult to handle.

Dreamy

I have three kids - they settled really well but they were all upbeat about the move beforehand. Having said that, although they had a circle of close friends in the UK (they kept in touch with them via MSN/Facebook/Skype etc to begin with, but on the whole they've all mostly moved on with their lives) but they weren't big social animals.

They did make friends quickly here in Australia.