UK to Taz move - help with school year conversions
 

Hi,
We are starting the process of moving to Tasmania from the UK and I’m starting to research schools and how the education system works.

In the UK our children are currently:
1/ Year 3 DOB 04/01/12
2/ Year 1 DOB 16/07/14
3/ pre school DOB 25/12/15 (who would start reception September 2020.

We are confused as to what Kindy, Prep and year 1 in Taz equate to, is it:
A/ pre school, reception, year 1
B/ reception, year 1, year 2 (as in UK Key Stage 1)

Could anyone clarify this for me and explain if my children, repeat or skip years due to the move?

TIA

Re: UK to Taz move - help with school year conversions
 

What visa do you have?

Re: UK to Taz move - help with school year conversions
 

We haven’t got as far as Visa’s, we are still in negotiation stage of the job.

Do different visa’s affect school options?

Re: UK to Taz move - help with school year conversions
 

In Tasmania the cut off date is 1 January (unusual compared with other states)

So a child who turns 4 on or before 1 January in any year will go to Kindergarten in that year (part time school)
A child who turns 5 on or before 1 January will be in full time school (Prep)
6 - yr 1
7 - yr 2
8 - yr 3 and so on

Technically your 8 year old child misses the cut off for year 3 in 2020 by 4 days - given that they have been in school you might get lucky and they will put them in yr 3 for 2020 but dont be surprised if they religiously police the cut off date (that's what cut off dates are for after all, they're not a moveable feast)
Your second child doesnt turn 6 until well after the cut off date for yr 1 so would be in Prep in 2020
Your youngest will start prep in 2021 so could be in Kindergarten in 2020

Bottom line though, dont sweat the year level labels, when you move, just put them with their age cohort and dont agonise about what year level they would have been in in a foreign country. Chances are they are already going to be well ahead of their Tasmanian peers in many regards - early education is less rigorous in general in Australia but it all evens out by the end of University. Dont think about skipping or repeating years, and remember that all states are different, they cant even get their nomenclature settled between the states, they have bugger all to do with what is going on in UK - a foreign country

Your visa may have an impact in some states where temporary residents are charged fees for their kids in school but IIRC Tasmania isnt one of them https://publicdocumentcentre.educati...Subclasses.pdf

Re: UK to Taz move - help with school year conversions
 

Thank you so much for your reply, it’s very helpful.
I was concerned about them seeming to repeating academic years, but I suppose as long as they are with the same aged children it shouldn’t be too different in terms of levels of learning??? Plus the move alone will add more to their development as people I suppose.

So the 8 year old would be the oldest in their year with a birthday in Jan and the 4 year old being born in December would be the youngest in their year?

I will look into the visa options, thank you for clarifying.

Re: UK to Taz move - help with school year conversions
 

Yup, that's right!