Big Sky

For those already in Oz, it would be great to hear how your teenage children settled into the Oz school system, particularly those that moved in year 10. Do you feel that their education suffered?

kt.2006

My son had only completed one term of Year 10 in England and as he was born in January he started Year 10 again in Brisbane. He is now one of the oldest in his year. We were asked if we wanted him to go up a year but we felt he would do better to be in the correct year.

I'm not sure if his education has suffered. The facilities here do not seem as good but I suppose that depends on what school you choose. He has had school reports which show that he is achieving better grades here than he was in the UK. That is probably because it is slightly easier here but I'm really not that sure as he is a typical boy who answers '"fine" to everything. Year 10 is the last year before senior school years and I felt that was a good time to start school. As far as settling in to school he has made loads of friends and has a great social life.

Just a thought - you might get more answers if you change the title - because at first I thought it had something to do with registration plates.

julie hilton

My daughter will be starting year 10 in January 2008. We are hoping to be in oz by September. She is a very bright kid and is in all the top sets. I think she is looking forward to the long break from school. July to January is a long time to be out of school, but I'm not worried, as I'm sure she will do really well.

nev_n_angie

I have one in year 6 - one in year 10 and one in year 11!

Although the School Year starts in January - we are planning to get the kids into the school system in October. We've done this beofre albeit from school to school here, but it makes a massive difference to creating a routine for them and to get them to meet others of the same age.

It's a good idea to get them settled into school ASAP - they can then spen some of the time in the Christmas Holidays NOT Worrying about starting a new school in a new Country. They can also spend time with friends that they would have made.

We are going to Canberra - haven't picked the Schools yet, but have a full list of what's available

Angie

julie hilton

So you can get them into school ealier than that. Good I will look into it when we get there.

Thanks

Munchmel

We have a year 9, year 7 and year 5, we move at the end of August and are putting them into school in September so they can hopefully set up a social network quicker and not think as much about who they've left behind.

Good luck!

Mel

sasbear

Hi,

Good idea - I too got daughter started straight away. She finished Y9 in UK in July and we flew out here in September and she started Y9 in October for the remainder of the term. wasn't really like a step back as she needed to meet the kids she was moving into Y10 with.

See you in Canberra soon!

Carbery

Term 4 in Queensland starts 8th October 2007 - 14th December

Carbery

My 15 year old daughter starts year 10 next Monday at Merrimac High on the Gold Coast. She has attended 2 different Australian schools in the last 16 months (Kedron High in Brisbane & Merrimac). The standard of schooling in our opinion is higher than she experienced in UK and also her social life and circle of friends has increased.
She sayes dont be to reserved when first starting as Aus kids will come and welcome you and expect some kind of reply!

kt.2006

Hi Julie, it's just my opinion, but I would get your daughter into school as soon as you get here. There are 4 terms in a year here and she would still be here for the last term of year 9. Even if you arrive with only a few weeks left of the year I would still enrol her in school. The school holidays here feel so long and she would hopefully make some friends at school that she could see over the holiday.

Good luck with your move.