wannabekiwi

Just a quick one before bed time....

Our son just turned 6 a few days ago.
He will start in year 2 (this September)in the UK.
If we manage to get to NZ in January 2009 would he be put together with children of the same age or would he have to go straight into year 2?

Thank you and good night from here

Am Loolah

Hi wannebekiwi,

I hope I get this right as I usually struggle just remembering my kids' names never mind what year at school they're in.

But my youngest is 5, she'll be 6 at the beginning of November. She started Year 1 the day after she turned 5.

The school year starts in February. She will be 6 in November and will start Year 2 in February after the summer holidays.

So if you get here in January you and he will have a lovely extended Christmas/Summer holiday until school starts in February (Like UK September start.)

Confused?? I didn't mean to - it all seemed to make sense in my head before I started typing ...

UKNZAUS

Oooh thanks Caroline! I had a hard time working this one out and gave up trying. By your reckoning it will be just under a year away from getting my middle one into school and just over 2 for the last one... I can deal with that! Thought we still had 18 months til middle one went.

On another note, I just enrolled eldest one into COLLEGE last night !!!!!!! Gosh, I'm getting old Need to get a mortgage for his uniform, donations, kits and materials before Feb - anyone any recommendations?! $105 just for the sweatshirt... he will bloody sweat if he loses that one like the last 2 years sweaters

luvwelly

My understanding of it is that the NZ school year is behind the UK one, while UK kids are having their end of year Summer holiday....NZ ones are still doing the school year the UK ones have just finished......so in practice depending on your child's birthdate, a child who was old in his class in the UK may end up in the next school year earlier than in the UK and a child who was young in their year in UK may get the opportunity to hang back for longer.

If you choose a smallish state school, it may not be such an issue anyway as many have multi-year classes providing a wider and slightly different peer group. The UK is overhung-up on peer groups based on the arbitrary birthday cut off point in the UK...it is rare for a child to be allowed into a non-standard peer grouping in the UK when often it would be in the child's best interest to have slightly younger peers.

Your child as Am Loolah says will probably get to start Y2 later than they would have done in UK but at the same time as the appropriate NZ peer group. Try to view this as a consolidation of learning rather than being held back....if your child is a bit shy..this extra time could really help their confidence level...during what can be a difficult transition for everyone.

luvwelly

Found this on an NZ school's website: it probably just adds to the confusion but it does show there is more flexibility here

What do the Year levels mean?
If your child starts before or on July 1st, then he/she is a Year One child as far as the Ministry of Education is concerned. If your child starts after July 1st, then he/she is a Year Zero for the rest of that year, and then becomes Year One in the following year. These dates are for statistical purposes for the Ministry of Education.

However, within the school, we find that a child who starts after May 1st or thereabouts should then do the rest of that year and then two more years in the Junior School. This is not a hard and fast rule, and we look at individual children. Why? Basically because 19 or 20 months in the Junior School does not usually give the children a solid enough start in their Literacy and Numeracy.
We do not want your child to be a very young Year Six child going off to Intermediate, when the extra time would have given more maturity and confidence. This is a very important point, and should be carefully considered by all parties.

wannabekiwi

Good morning,
Thank you all very much for your input but I am still not sure I understand it fully.
Do kids in NZ start the reception year when they are 5 in January?
If yes, and my son will get into the same peer class that would mean that they will only start year 1 in February 2009.
My son would be in the UK in February in year 2 (which he started in September 08).
It would be great if he could hang back and join them in year 1 since he was so young when he started in the UK and always seems to be behind the almost one year older children in his class.
My daughter turned 3 this March and would ahve to start school in the UK in September 2009. Does it mean that she would only have to start school in NZ in February 2011 (she would be 5 then)?
Am I getting the idea?
Looking forward to your reply.

Hokey-pokey

Children in NZ must be 5 years of age before they can start school. Legally they can start school at 6 years if parents choose.

This is how it works at my childrens school... ( they're all a bit different )

Your daughter will commence school the day she turns 5 in March. She will be termed a New Entrant. Sometime during the year she will become a year 1 pupil. She will start the following year as a Year 2 student. However it would not be unusual for her to be placed in a composite class depending on the class sizes / mix or your daughters ability. ie Year 1 and 2 / Year 2 and 3.
Children whose birthdays fall after April/May have the advantage of staying New Entrants for the rest of the year and start the following year as a Year 1 student/ composite Year 1 and 2.

One of my children turned 7 in May and is in a composite class Year 2 and 3. Is working well for him as he is having to work a bit harder to keep up with the older children - quite a few are 8.

Hope this helps. It is confusing. The teachers seem to get it right though!

luvwelly

So in NZ your child as an August birthday would probably have started school in Y0 on his 5th birthday and done Year 1 from the February 2008 which means he will start in Year 2 in February 2009 instead of in September 2008 in UK - which is the same as Amloolah's child.
Sounds like it will work in his favour.

Hokey-pokey

I also have a child with a birthday in August. Has just turned 10 and is in a Year 5 class.
It is really confusing but certainly at our school the teachers put a lot of thought into getting the right class mix.

CCGM.IN.NZ

Michelle, if the college has a second hand uniform shop, use it! I have two at college and buy most of their stuff from the second hand shop, as do most people. There's no stigma about it here. BTW, I just got the bill for my daughter to take her AS levels in November. Its going to cost us $500 for her to take 4 exams

Soppydot4

My son turned 9 in July would have been going into UK year 5 in September but we are moving over to NZ on 28 August. Therefore I am assuming he will go into the end of year 4 and then move up to year 5 in February. Can anyone confirm I have got this correct. Ta.

Hokey-pokey

I have friends with children whose birthdays fall in July. They have all turned ten and are in Year 5. At my kids school they do their utmost to avoid having composite classes for years 5 and 6. I think it would be fair to say your son will be Year 5 next year Soppydot4. ( At our school anyway ! )

wannabekiwi

Thank you for all your great replies.
Correct me if I am wrong but when a child in NZ is 5 in February it starts school in year 0 (Reception). So children like my son who were 5 in February this year would now be in reception and move to year 1 in February next year.
But my son started reception when he just turned 4 in the UK and is now starting year 2 in one month time.
When he will be in NZ in February next year he is suppose to start in year 2 as well and not go back to year one with children his age?
Please forgive me for double checking again.
I was hoping he could hang back and at last be with children his age in year 1 (he has just turned 6 one week ago).
Thank you.

luvwelly

My 6 1/2 year old has been in Y2 since Jan 2008. Your 5 year old will be fine going into Y2 as he has already had 2 years of quite formal stuff in UK and will be starting Y2 several months later here than he would have done in the UK. Most kids here because of the later school start (on 5th birthday) don't serve a full year in Year 0....in that respect the system is different.
My son did most of his reception year in UK system but only had 2 terms (4 terms per year here) of Year 1 here before moving to Year 2. So to my mind he missed out on two terms of Y1.
If you put him back to Y1 he would probably be with much younger kids and get bored...you can always enquire though they will want to place him where they think he best fits which is going to be Y2 I'd say.

Hokey-pokey

Hello again. The best thing to do is to arrange an interview to meet the Junior School Syndicate Leader or the Principal prior to your child starting school.
Many things are taken into consideration regarding the placement of an individual child. I think you will find the maturity/ social development and even the physical development of your little un' will be mulled over just as carefully as academic ability, prior to Year allocation. In my experience teachers are very understanding and approachable and genuinely have the childs best interest at heart !