paulry

The tasks are endless. This had better all be worth it

Good luck!

RenShen

Its been more than worth it for us. Hope its the same for you.

scrubbedexpat020

I remember my darling daughter wrote on my whiteboard, let me get this right -

"I don't want to go to sh***y Australia"

Obviously, I was more interested in her swearing as I didn't think she did.

Guess who has the best social life and settled in the best?

He's a lad. They love sport in Aus, and wait until he sees the girls.

I still think a lot of them wear their school dresses too short, including my own daughter when she was at school.

Ian

sunworshipper

Been reading this thread with interest. We are having ANOTHER talk about our situation again tonight.We are going to Australia in March and my eldest son is in year 11, he is 15 and will be 16 in June whilst doing his GCSE'S. He wants to go to Australia asap and thinks getting into their education system is more important than doing his GCSE'S. He has promised me that he will stay in Oz until he has his SACE certificate even if he is unhappy and wants to return to the Uk. The SACE is recognised by Uk uni's. (similar to our A levels) but i am worried about him not doing his GCSE'S and think it may be best to stay until he's done them. Husband has to start job on the 8th April and my son thinks it's best to all go together and start school in Oz asap. Am i worrying over nothing???? would he go into year 11 in Oz or year 10???

Thanks

paulry

A tough one which in my opinion there's no perfect solutions. I'm sure some more experienced Australian resident BE'ers will put you better in the picture than I can but (for what it's worth) here's my take on it:

He's already missed the beginning of the school year in Australia and as I understand it years 11 and 12 need to be completed in their entirety. Add to that the upheaval of moving to Australia and I would say that in your particular situation he might be best finishing his GCSEs and then starting year 11 in Australia next year. Then on arrival he can choose between entering year 10 (this year) to maintain the studying/school momentum or he can take the rest of this year out before resuming school in year 11 next year. The only danger with the latter being that he might get bored waiting from June to February to resume school.

Since it's very early in the school year, another option (which in your circumstances may or may not be do-able) is to get him over there right away and into year 11.

I recommend you email a couple of the schools local to where you plan to settle and ask them for their opinion.

Good luck, and please let us know what you decide.

Sally Simpson

Excellent advice P!

Alfresco

Good luck P, hope it all pans out the way you plan.

quoll

I am not sure that you will find SACE an equivalent to A levels - it seems that Aus year 12 results will need to be very very good to be considered even average for UK uni entry. And you will be up for international fees for his degree should he decide to go to uni in UK (and may well have to do a foundation year beforehand at international rates as well) so his options may be curtailed by financial constraints.

As he is only 15 when you get here, he would be better going into year 10 even if he is technically able to go into year 11 - he will just be very young moving on to uni otherwise and a bit of maturity never goes astray. So that would give you the chance to let him finish GCSEs and then go into year 10 half way through - even though the GCSEs on their own will mean nothing here, they may stand him in good stead if he decides he doesnt like it.

jad n rich

I was looking through the sussex uni site, for qld kids to even consider entry they need a top OP, think it was 5 or above. Given only a handful of kids get an OP of 1 or 2, they are really talking about the absolute top of the academic scale.

Quite scary.

Also our friends from singapore, their oldest two boys were top of the pile in QLD year 12, very high scores, they did 2 years national service in Singapore, but then the QLD scores were not high enough to get into Singapore UNI (their home country ) they are back in Brisbane doing Engineering and Sports Science, both courses requring top scores with very competitive entry.

I had assumed aussie high school results were going to be considered world class ( to coin a aussie phrase !! ) seems in reality that is simply not so.

xLaLax

Can anyone advise me??

My son is 14 and in 3rd year of High School in Scotland, any ideas of which year would be suitable for him in Australia? He has been there since Nov and is coming home to Scotland on Thursday so he has missed some school and I'm wondering if it would benefit him going back a year.

Thanks in advance

L
xx

paulry

Thanks A. It's slightly less complicated for my eldest because he's currently in year 10 and we're planning to move late in the year so that he can begin year 11 in Canberra. The hardest challenge has been convincing SWMBO who was insisting that he must first do his GCSEs next year even if they mean little in Australia.

But if I was in yours or Sunworshippers situation I would follow suit with the wisdom of what you are doing and what Quoll has suggested in post number 38.

Everything of the best to you all

paulry

Hi Lorraine,

Sorry, your post is a bit confusing. I lost the plot when you said he's coming home to Scotland on Thurday. Shouldn't he have started school in Australia already?

Regards,

Paul

xLaLax

No he's been there for a holiday and didn't attend school while he was there. He's coming back on Thursday and waiting for us to get our visas. Sorry for confusing you

L
xx

IndieG

Yes, I wouldn't underestimate how quickly children adapt and settle down in their new school/country.

If your child is bright and academically inclined then don't make him repeat a year! We did that (she's repeating year 9) and in our experience it was a mistake.

PS: We put her in year 9 based on advice we received from the DEECD.

paulry

If it's possible for him to catch up and remain in his UK school year I would go with that. It'll probably be best to arrange a meeting between him, you and his school to discuss.

The correct school year in Australia would depend on when you make your move over there as well as how he's coped with getting back into the school routine in the UK. For the moment it's probably best to concentrate on his British schooling.

Good luck, I hope it goes well for you.

I agree with you IndieG particularly for the pre year 11-12 years. It does depend a lot on your childs performance and/or attitude but repeating a year might be worthwhile if it means the transition to the Australia and it's education system is going to be smoother one. Whatever is decided it needs to be with the child's agreement.