will my son have to resit gcses?

[Quoll]

Originally Posted by nurse sue

just reading some of the posts regarding GCSE to get some inspiration.
We have been in Australia since April my son is doing year 12 after advice from the school but he came home raging today His Taffe teacher informed him that he wouldnt have enough credits to pass the year 12. (he is 17) they dont recognise GCSE qualifications what i cant understand after several hours in april with an education advisor at the school he attends she advised him of what he needed to do and added he did not need to do year 11 again the subjects he chose were limited due to not doing year 11 here in OZ but he prepared himself and has worked hard So we have had the stress of move new school reajustment for what why didnt they tell us this before as you can imagine my son isnt happy and mum gets the blameI am on nigts but will heading of to the school tomorrow for a few words.
any one been in similiar situation would be grateful of any advice

OMG that really was bad advice - I am surprised that they said that becaIuse it is well known certainly in other jurisdictions that they dont give credit for GCSE as being year 11 equivalents. It isnt "doing year 11 again" it is really that the last two years are a contained course and you really have to do the whole course or you will be significantly disadvantaged. If your son had done some A level courses then they are able to give credit for them apparently. You may find that there are bridging courses (we have one at one of our universities) for people who fall through the gap of year 12. He could move to year 11 now without too much of a detriment other than to his self esteem - missing one semester will still make it tough though.

I hope you can sort something out for him!

[Quoll]

Originally Posted by planky

Did you all sort out your kids schools before or after you moved to oz, I don't know if I should be looking at it now or wait till we get there so we can find local schools and see for ourselves what they are like...any advice would be appreciated.

Also, my 15 year old is causing havoc at the moment saying he doesn't want to come to oz, if i leave it till next year he definitely wont come as his dream has always been to join the army when leaving school, (at the moment i don't think it would be a bad idea....may teach him how to behave)...he is a nightmare at the moment and the school are always on the phone. He is not a badly behaved child, his problem is he just cant keep his gob shut...a very vocal young man but he has to learn that is what gets him into bother.....he is so headstrong, so stubborn....i could kill him at times!

So if I dont get him there this year I think we will have problems getting him there at all!!!
I must admit I know nothing about the oz education system and I must look at it closer, I feel I have neglected this area up to now as I have been so wrapped up in getting other things sorted first.

All depends on where you are going but I would tend to leave it until you get here. The moral from a previous post though is that the last 2 years of school are crucial because if you dont have the right number of credits you wont pass year 12 and that is the basic qualification requested by employers. The army would look more favourably on a year 12 qualification than a half hearted year 10 pass - check out the entry requirements for the army to show him. Also, he could look at joining the army cadets when he gets here if that is what takes his fancy. All depending on which state you go to, he could be too young to finish school!

[planky]

Originally Posted by Quoll

All depends on where you are going but I would tend to leave it until you get here. The moral from a previous post though is that the last 2 years of school are crucial because if you dont have the right number of credits you wont pass year 12 and that is the basic qualification requested by employers. The army would look more favourably on a year 12 qualification than a half hearted year 10 pass - check out the entry requirements for the army to show him. Also, he could look at joining the army cadets when he gets here if that is what takes his fancy. All depending on which state you go to, he could be too young to finish school!

Thanks for replying!!
He will still be 15 when we get there this year and is in his 2nd last year at school now, the plan is for him to do his last 2 years of school in Australia.
We are going to Perth.
I have told him he could join the army in Oz after finishing school there, or come back to uk to join if possible, and what a good idea about the cadets, thanks for that!!!!!!
Alison

[Jo/Ray@westcliffRugby]

Hello Nurse Sue
We will be in the same situation as yourself when we get to Oz. Our daughter is currently in UK year 10 and will finish her GSCE's May 2009, and we hope to be in Oz by July 2009 (she would have just turned 16). Am interested to know how you got on with the school regarding your sons credits for year 12. We are moving to Victoria and wondering if this would be different. Hope you got things sorted.

Regards

Joanna

[nurse sue]

Originally Posted by Jo/Ray@westcliffRugby

Hello Nurse Sue
We will be in the same situation as yourself when we get to Oz. Our daughter is currently in UK year 10 and will finish her GSCE's May 2009, and we hope to be in Oz by July 2009 (she would have just turned 16). Am interested to know how you got on with the school regarding your sons credits for year 12. We are moving to Victoria and wondering if this would be different. Hope you got things sorted.

Regards

Joanna

will keep you posted going to the school on monday I think it may be fruitful for your daughter to do year 11 and 12 i wish we had been given that optionmay be an idea to contact school or local education dept where you are planning to go andsee what they suggest also for your daughter to have an idea of what career path way she wants to take. Son came home the other day and said would like to join the police that was before we found out he may not get credits for year 12

[Quoll]

Originally Posted by Jo/Ray@westcliffRugby

Hello Nurse Sue
We will be in the same situation as yourself when we get to Oz. Our daughter is currently in UK year 10 and will finish her GSCE's May 2009, and we hope to be in Oz by July 2009 (she would have just turned 16). Am interested to know how you got on with the school regarding your sons credits for year 12. We are moving to Victoria and wondering if this would be different. Hope you got things sorted.

Regards

Joanna

I think you will be fine - if your daughter has not turned 16 before 30 April she would be in year 10 as a matter of course when you arrive in July. If she turns 16 before 30 April she will still be young enough to be in year 10, she will just potentially be one of the eldest in the year. The important thing is to try and get her in so that she has the full two years for 11 & 12 - (school year starts end of January here remember). Dont think of it as "repeating" "going back" or any of those other negative terms, just that she will be slotting in to the group of her age peers and that is what they call it in Aus.

[Jo/Ray@westcliffRugby]

Thank you again Quoll for your advice - Nurse Sue hope you and your son have got things sorted.

Joanna