sammy11480 Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 Hello Everyone I would really appreciate if anyone can advise me on whether my daughter is in the right year group. I know this sounds silly that I don't know, but I'm getting myself all confused. We moved to Melbourne in January 2020 and my daughter turned 5 on 19th May 2020. We then started her in Prep starting January 2021. She is now in Year 1 and just turned 7 in May 2022. She is the oldest in her class and some in her class are still 5! Alarm bells are beginning to ring and I'm wondering if she should actually be in Year 2 by now?! I confess I find the ages and year groups so much more confusing than UK where you start school at 4 or 5 and then all children are the same age in each year group. Please advise if you can if a 7 year old in Year 1 is normal or I've gone wrong somewhere? In Uk she would be heading into year 3 in September! Such a huge difference to Year 1. I also can't believe she will be 12 and still at Primary school at this rate! Many thanks, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 School Age Calculator Australia (schoolinfo.com.au) This suggests it's right - Prep in 2021 and year 1 in 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cup Final 1973 Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 5 hours ago, sammy11480 said: Hello Everyone I would really appreciate if anyone can advise me on whether my daughter is in the right year group. I know this sounds silly that I don't know, but I'm getting myself all confused. We moved to Melbourne in January 2020 and my daughter turned 5 on 19th May 2020. We then started her in Prep starting January 2021. She is now in Year 1 and just turned 7 in May 2022. She is the oldest in her class and some in her class are still 5! Alarm bells are beginning to ring and I'm wondering if she should actually be in Year 2 by now?! I confess I find the ages and year groups so much more confusing than UK where you start school at 4 or 5 and then all children are the same age in each year group. Please advise if you can if a 7 year old in Year 1 is normal or I've gone wrong somewhere? In Uk she would be heading into year 3 in September! Such a huge difference to Year 1. I also can't believe she will be 12 and still at Primary school at this rate! Many thanks, Sam In Victoria students transfer to secondary school at age 12. They begin in Year 7 and can leave school after Year 10. If they choose to stay on for VCE which is the equivalent of A levels, they do Year 11 and 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDougster Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 (edited) She'd be in one of the correct years in Qld. You could've started her in prep a year earlier but no legal requirement to do so. If you want reassurance about your decision read the first chapter of Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers. Edited August 9, 2022 by DrDougster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 She's in the right year group. Cut off for Victoria is 30 April so she will be one of the oldest in her year. I doubt there are any kids still 5 yrs old in her current year (unless they are ridiculously gifted and talented) although the youngest in the class might have turned 6 in April this year. Had you moved to another state she could have been in a year higher group (eg NSW has cut off end July), but you didn't, so she's in the right cohort for Vic. If you change states well there's all sorts of flexibility issues that could be considered. It'd be good if all the states had the same cut off dates but they dont and show no signs of changing! Just remember that this is a foreign country with different education systems. I was smiling yesterday considering my son and grandson - here in Australia my son, when turning 8 (in a few weeks) would have been in year 2, starting year 3 in January yet his son, in UK turning 8 tomorrow has just finished year 3 and starts year 4 in September!!! Weird or what! It's nothing to worry about unless you decide to return to UK where your daughter could be placed in a year level higher than the one she's been in in Australia but even then, UK schools work hard to help kids "catch up". If you're planning on staying in Australia its no big deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetBlast Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 20 hours ago, sammy11480 said: UK where you start school at 4 or 5 and then all children are the same age in each year group. I worked in the UK education sector, there are a lot of schools in the UK that don't do this, it's becoming more common. 20 hours ago, sammy11480 said: In Uk she would be heading into year 3 in September! Such a huge difference to Year 1. I also can't believe she will be 12 and still at Primary school at this rate! Remember that they start school later in Australia than they do in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy11480 Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 Thank you everyone. Oops in my original post, I forgot to mention that we have moved to the Gold Coast! So she started Prep in Victoria it sounds at the right time but on this calculator she IS now behind a year for Queensland!!!! I guess when we moved here in January 2022, she probably should have gone into Year2 in QLD. I didn't realise the difference between starting ages across states. This does explain why she is definitely the oldest in the class! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Yes QLD is different to Victoria, I'm surprised the school didnt pick up on it when enrolling her. It may be worth having a chat with them if you would rather her be moved up a year but do bear in mind for some reason its not uncommon for kids to repeat a year here so being the oldest can happen . These are the guideline's for QLD - Your child's date of birth will determine when they enter the school system. The child needs to be 5-years old before the State's cut-off date to start the school year in January of that year. For the Gold Coast, and all of Queensland, the cut-off date is the 30th of June. So for example, if your child turns 5 on the 30th of May, then they would start the school year in January in the year that they turn 5, so for the first five months your child will be 4 years old when they're in their first year of school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Actually i just read some more and found this article you may find useful Moving Interstate mid-way through your child's schooling So what happens when you move states mid-way through your child's schooling? Well, the same cut-off dates will apply throughout a child's school-age years. Which can mean that your child may be held back (compulsory) or may be progressed (not compulsory) a year, depending on what state you're moving from and to. For example; if your child was born on 15 July 2015 they could have started their first year at school in January 2020 if they lived in NSW. Then if they move to Queensland at any point during their schooling, they will be set-back by a year, because the cut-off date in Queensland is 30 June (compared to 31 July in NSW). https://www.movingtothegoldcoast.com/what-age-do-children-start-school-on-the-gold-coast-qld Cal x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Ah, so you've moved interstate. She's still in an ok year for her Qld cohort but there will be others her age in the year above, for sure. If she's coping academically and socially and seems a bit out of place then have a chat with the school about moving her. It's easier if she's in a composite class as then the year differences seem to disappear. If you're likely to move back to Victoria then let her be. She's young enough that it shouldn't be much of an issue to move her but bring oldest in the class can be a whole lot better than being youngest in the class. When she gets to Uni there will be kids her age in her year from Vic, SA, and ACT and kids her age in the year above from NSW, Qld, WA and NT - it'll all come out in the wash - it's more about how she fits socially in her current cohort - if she has no friends and is ahead of the current curriculum then move her and if she is likely to go back to UK then definitely ask to move her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy11480 Posted August 15, 2022 Author Share Posted August 15, 2022 On 10/08/2022 at 20:56, calNgary said: Actually i just read some more and found this article you may find useful Moving Interstate mid-way through your child's schooling So what happens when you move states mid-way through your child's schooling? Well, the same cut-off dates will apply throughout a child's school-age years. Which can mean that your child may be held back (compulsory) or may be progressed (not compulsory) a year, depending on what state you're moving from and to. For example; if your child was born on 15 July 2015 they could have started their first year at school in January 2020 if they lived in NSW. Then if they move to Queensland at any point during their schooling, they will be set-back by a year, because the cut-off date in Queensland is 30 June (compared to 31 July in NSW). https://www.movingtothegoldcoast.com/what-age-do-children-start-school-on-the-gold-coast-qld Cal x Thank you very much. On 10/08/2022 at 20:56, calNgary said: Actually i just read some more and found this article you may find useful Moving Interstate mid-way through your child's schooling So what happens when you move states mid-way through your child's schooling? Well, the same cut-off dates will apply throughout a child's school-age years. Which can mean that your child may be held back (compulsory) or may be progressed (not compulsory) a year, depending on what state you're moving from and to. For example; if your child was born on 15 July 2015 they could have started their first year at school in January 2020 if they lived in NSW. Then if they move to Queensland at any point during their schooling, they will be set-back by a year, because the cut-off date in Queensland is 30 June (compared to 31 July in NSW). https://www.movingtothegoldcoast.com/what-age-do-children-start-school-on-the-gold-coast-qld Cal x Thank you very much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy11480 Posted August 15, 2022 Author Share Posted August 15, 2022 On 11/08/2022 at 07:53, Quoll said: Ah, so you've moved interstate. She's still in an ok year for her Qld cohort but there will be others her age in the year above, for sure. If she's coping academically and socially and seems a bit out of place then have a chat with the school about moving her. It's easier if she's in a composite class as then the year differences seem to disappear. If you're likely to move back to Victoria then let her be. She's young enough that it shouldn't be much of an issue to move her but bring oldest in the class can be a whole lot better than being youngest in the class. When she gets to Uni there will be kids her age in her year from Vic, SA, and ACT and kids her age in the year above from NSW, Qld, WA and NT - it'll all come out in the wash - it's more about how she fits socially in her current cohort - if she has no friends and is ahead of the current curriculum then move her and if she is likely to go back to UK then definitely ask to move her. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tychen Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 You may be inadvertently on-trend. It's quite fashionable to hold kids back a year now - especially if they are within a month or two of the cut-off. In Sydney it's much more common in the affluent areas, as holding them back a year means paying for an extra year of childcare fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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