chris955

Fashion wise I dont see any difference at all, as I said we are rural and school kids around here dont seem obsessed by fashion. In the cities and even the towns I doubt there would be any difference in the 2 countries.

Shipton

Hi. I'm just wondering why you think that "oz schools are behind in education. U.K. schools are miles ahead". Is this just a personal observation or do you have any information to back up this statement. Cheers.

riccardo1888

Yes my daughters are covering course work in year 6 that she had already done a year and a half earlier which resulted in her being moved up a year again. She is now covering the course work I'd say 80% new stuff and 20% she has still done. My youngest daughter was learning things in year 1 that her nursery has been teaching her since she was 3.

I'm not complaining about it, if anything I'm glad they knew a bit in advance however I can only tell it as I have experienced it.

I think a national curriculum will help, when it gets released.

As I said, that's my experience anyway

Shipton

May I ask which state you are in please?

carolinephillips

I would agree with you that there is a bit of a gap in the primary school years. Remember they start school later here, and it isn't so driven to teach to the tests as in the UK, although there is Naplan testing. The curriculum is broader too rather than the narrow focus on academic subjects that was the case for us when DD was going through primary school in the UK.

HOWEVER, certainly in the later senior school years it tends to even itself up- at least from the experience we have had in NSW. I can't obviously speak for other states. They also finish Y12 earlier than the UK. DD is off to Uni on monday, whereas her friend in the UK won't start until September/October.

BadgeIsBack

Just a thought:
You don't need to work hard to pass exams at secondary level...you just need to be equipped to deal with learning in a school environment : parents contribute a lot to this. A child has to want to do it, of course.

Shipton

:

Totally agree

Shipton

Agree with this too. As I said previously my kids switched between both education systems ie to UK and then back to Australia with a minimum of effort. It was more a matter of certain subjects were at different stages but the transitions were no problem. But I am talking about from Sydney to Oxford and back so I can't talk about other States.

Shipton

Agree. It depends on how much the student wants to work in high school (and boys in particular don't always see the urgency in putting in that extra effort through these high school years) and I guess as long as they get the marks they need to get into the university course or whatever else they decide to do, this is the main point.

Remember that the English school year starts in September and the Aussie one starts at end of January. This obviously makes a difference to what year the student goes in to.

Molly Coddle

Hmm, that's just what my Aussie cousin said.

Molly Coddle

Very true, I have two teen boys, one who I would call average academically but a genius in science and one who is academically bright but lazy! ARGHHHHHHH! It's so frustrating, all they care about right now is sport!


They are so blazé about school work, it drives me insane!


I mean what are you supposed to do with teen boys like that? Seriously.......
I know what I'd like to do with them...

northernbird

you can lead a horse to water.......

Shipton

I had three boys (and a girl at North Sydney Girls) and two boys were at a top selective school (North Sydney Boys). At the Year 12 farewell dinner, all the parents on our table (all the boys were friends) were looking back on the five years at the school and saying it was a great school but that their boys hadn't worked particularly hard, were more interested in going surfing (some of them) and were pretty laid back as far as the school work went etc etc. We all asked the same questions - what is it with boys!!!!!! But they had made lifetime friends, loved school and had a wonderful time and they all got into the university courses they wanted and went on to do extremely well in their chosen careers. So guess that was all I could ask.

carolinephillips

...And with the ATAR system out here if you are good at sport you can get up to 5 bonus points, which will help you get to uni.

Shipton

What State is that in and please what is the ATAR system? In NSW, being good at sport has nothing to do with getting into Uni.