17 yr old moving to Perth - Advice needed!

[jmac]

Hi. I hope someone can help me. We are hoping to move to Perth in Jan 2010 so that my son can start the new school year along with everyone else. He is currently doing his GCSE's so I would imagine he will join Year 11 when we get there. I read in one of the other threads that people in Year 11 are either 16 or turn 16 in this year. My concern is that because he will be nearly 17 and a half by the time he starts year 11 that he will feel he is much older than his classmates and maybe have problems settling in. I would appreciate any advice, especially from people who have children around this age. Many thanks, Rhonda

[rachyh]

Juat a quick comment of the majority of ages in each secondary school year in Oz:

Year 7's are usually 12/13
Year 8's- 13/14
Year 9's- 14/15
Year 10's- 15/16
Year 11's- 16/17
Year 12's 17/18

So your son should be in with his age group...hope this helps :)

[Quoll]

The big problem is that the final two years of school - years 11 and 12 are a consolidated course which lead to university entrance scores. If a student doesnt do the full two years they can potentially be disadvantaged if they aspire to further education. He doesnt have to go to a school to do his final two year course, he can do it at TAFE along with people who will be older and that may be an option. If he isnt thinking of going to uni then the pressure is not as great but he would need to be sure that he has enough credits to get his year 12 certificate because that is the open sesame to most jobs these days. Dont suppose he would like to finish his A levels would he? They travel very well to Aus and are easily accepted as university entry requirements.

[jmac]

Hi. Thanks for the help. Initially we thought we would stay here 2 years and let him do his A levels as we thought it would take a while to get visa because of the changes in the Critical Skills List etc. However our application seems to be moving at a very fast pace - application lodged 18th March and we were told 2 wks ago to go for medicals so all being well we should get visa soon. My son is keen to go to Oz at the minute so we are just going to go with the flow. In 2 years time he might not want to go so I would rather go when he is up for it. Will just have to look at all the options out there. Thanks again, Rhonda

[jmac]

That is a great help. He will be slightly older than his classmates but only by a few months so shouldnt be a problem. Thanks, Rhonda