gwolst77 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 We head back in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone had any experience of young kids starting UK school and being a year behind in terms of education My family moved out at the end of November 2012 after my daughter had finished her first term at primary school, she was 4 in the July and started school that September. Due to the school age being 5 and also the the cut off being April 30th in Victoria my daughter only attended Kindie last year. She was due to start school this week but because we are going back in just under 3 weeks we decided not to send her, also it means we save over $800 in school uniform and books fees (also not including the iPad they need either) When we return she will effectively missed out on over 12 months of schooling, I was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and also what they did about it (how long it took them to catch up, does the state help with additional tuition) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyupnorth Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 You better off speaking to the UK school you are planing to get your child into. If you explain the situation most UK schools are aware that Australia uses a totally different syllabus and system. I'm sure it may be catch up for a short while but within no time all should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Won't she have completed almost the same amount of schooling as she would have in the UK? She would have done one full year, and then an extra three months in the UK. I thought that Kindy was the first year of primary school - at least it is in NSW. In the UK they will be part way through the second year of education, here she would be just about to start her second year of education. Surely she would have only missed a whole year had you held her back as many parents do here (which I am assuming you didn't). She will catch up fine, I am sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Yes, ours were 9, 7 and 5 when we came back the first time. The older two were fine (there was 'catching up' up to do especially for the eldest who went to a selective school, but it was mostly how fast the curriculum moved and the amount if work she was expected to produce rather than the level of work IYKWIM), but the youngest did find it difficult for a while. She had to go straight into year one having missed the reception year. She was also very young in the year which made it harder. The teacher was ok, but there wasn't much by way of extra support in the classroom - I did it at home with her. Will your daughter be going into year 1 or 2? Can she read, write, know number bonds etc? It was the number things my daughter found hardest, having missed the real foundation stuff - she still lacks confidence in maths now, but maybe she'd have been like that anyway (she may have inherited my uselessness with anything more than arithmetic!). Reading and writing was fine - children vary so much in development at this age anyway, so teachers are used to dealing with a wide range. I'm sure she'll be fine. Do you know which school she'll be going to? If so, can you ask them if there's anything you can do with her before she starts (although I'd guess you're a bit busy atm!). If not, when you go to visit schools you can ask what extra support, if any will be available. There are often classroom assistants who will work one to one, or with a small group of children who either need extra support or extension. Good luck and don't worry too much. Children are generally very adaptable and ours settled very quickly every time we've moved (they've done six schools between them and done/doing well academically). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I would think at such a young age she will be fine. Honestly, UK reception isn't rocket science, it's very basic and all the kids are at different levels and this carries over into Y1. I would think a UK school will be just fine. She'll soon grasp things and they will give readers to bring home and stuff. I would think by the end of Y1 she'll be alongside the other kids academically. They all vary, have different numeracy and literacy levels so don't stress about it too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 In my son's Y2 class in the UK before we moved over the kids ranged in ability from really struggling with reading, writing and doing fairly simple sums to being able to read and understand complex texts, writing fluent sentences with good grammar and spelling and being able to multiply and divide lager numbers. (I have no idea what they are like here as I don't get to go in to the classroom). The fact that you are concerned shows you take an interest in your kids schooling and is probably the biggest factor in how well your youngest gets on when she starts. I'd send her off and then go and talk to the teacher at the end of the first week to see what areas, if any, they think she needs to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zk2102 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I work in a UK primary school. It would have to be very exceptional circumstances for a school to allow a child to go back a year. It all has to do with funding, and no local authority would be willing to finance an extra year of education. I've only ever heard of them doing this once (mainstream) and that was with a EAL (English as an additional language) student who also had additional needs. TBH I'm sure she will have no problems catching up. I work in both reception & yr1 and the emphasis is on play with just two 45min sessions on Eng & Math in Yr1. With your obvious support she'll be fine. X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernbird Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 We head back in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone had any experience of young kids starting UK school and being a year behind in terms of education My family moved out at the end of November 2012 after my daughter had finished her first term at primary school, she was 4 in the July and started school that September. Due to the school age being 5 and also the the cut off being April 30th in Victoria my daughter only attended Kindie last year. She was due to start school this week but because we are going back in just under 3 weeks we decided not to send her, also it means we save over $800 in school uniform and books fees (also not including the iPad they need either) When we return she will effectively missed out on over 12 months of schooling, I was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and also what they did about it (how long it took them to catch up, does the state help with additional tuition) We moved back from Canada to the UK when my eldest daugther was the same age and with the same time issues as you having missed her entire reception year and 1 term of year 1. No extra tuition was required, her work was just tailored to her level. she had caught up to an average level after about 3 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 First of all I would say do not worry at all, there is a huge variation in ability at 5/6 so it is very likely your daughter will fit into the class seamlessly and will have no 'catching-up' to do. We had a similar scenario when we moved to Australia, our son was just turned 5 and due to the differences between pre-school in Scotland and in WA and the differences in the cut-off dates, he ended up missing 9 months of formal schooling and being the youngest in the class as well. Academically it made no difference in the long run at all - he came out of his first year 'meeting expectations' and by his second 'exceeding expectations'. When he took NAPLAN in year 3 he was off the scale in some areas and way above the national average in all areas. When he was doing average in his first year I was a bit concerned, in the one term he had in UK school he was flying and already in an accelerated reading group but it has had no longer term impact. We did often wonder though whether we should have held him back a year - not so much academically but socially but I think this is specific to the fact he was in a very small class where just by fluke he was the youngest by at least 6 months and he is also small and his a disorder that affects his physical abilities. So when we moved back to the UK rather than him missing a term of year 5 and moving straight into year 6 (we moved back in July) we have held him back a year here. I think 5/6 is different than 10 though - he did have some differences to deal with - like learning French instead of Italian, Scottish History etc. and this was more about him fitting in than any academic challenges (although the collective wisdom that UK schools are 'ahead' did help the decision) One small challenge he had moving to Australia is his school taught Victorian Cursive from day 1 whereas his letter formation had been different in Scotland - moving back his handwriting just is how it is (& not great at that due to his motor skills!) but at 5/6 they may expect your daughter to change. Honestly don't worry - a friend I made on here moved back with two primary school boys and they went into the right years (which meant one jumped two years!) and they have done brilliantly and have been fully supported by the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I am sure that she will catch up fine so I wouldn't worry. I will say, that if it similar to my experience of UK education, then moving here (albeit Queensland) then there will be a fairly noticeable gap initially but don't panic. They are real little sponges at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Thanks for all the messages. Truth be told I'm not worried so much about her being behind and having to catch up for a couple of months, plenty of kids in the same situation and sometime worse (in and out of hospital). I'm just trying to get a comparison between her current level out in Oz without formal schooling and what that equates to in the UK when she will start school in just over two weeks time. We see stuff on Facebook being posted by parents with kids younger than my daughter (year below) and we think 'oh sh*t what have we done moving out here and back again so soon' she can't do any of that. If we had stayed here to the end of the year and we went back at Xmas, I don't think we would have been so worried as she would have completed a full year at school. I know a lot countries don't send their kids to school until 5 - 6 and they beat the UK in the education league tables. She can write her name, knows the alphabet, read and spell a few words (some of it is probably just from memory), count past 100 and do basic addition and subtraction. If judging by the posts I've read there will be kids at the same sort of level as her because UK reception is just like Kindie but for 5 days a week as opposed to 15 hours a week in Oz. If that is the general consensus then we do feel a bit better as it looks like she will be only about 5-6 months behind her peers (due to how the school year is structured). We do what we can with reading etc, but I work full time and my wife has not been well (one of the reasons for moving back) but at the end of the day we are not teachers. Oh well c'est la vie at least she can say she has lived in another country for 19 months (in fact she has done more globe trotting in her first 6 years than I did till my thirties) Edited February 7, 2014 by gwolst77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmab1995 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Although mine are alot older , we 2 will have this problem my daughter is 12 , 13 in may just started yr 8 here we leave in july so she will not finish yr 8 and will go into yr 9 in sept i am a little worried for her but know that she is able to focus . where as my son who is 16 just stared yr 11 here so he will not finish yr 11 and i know if we were in the uk he would have finished school this may , so i have been in contact with the school and they have said he can go into 6th form as long as his grades are good but he does struggle , any help or advice would be great . I have asked the school what grades but as of yet not heard anything xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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