Guest adam krajnyk Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 hi there. just wondered if anybody has gone back to the u.k and found that when you put your kids back into school they are behind all the other kids the same age, due to kids in oz starting later at school. my son is nearlly 5. he did a full year of nursery at school in u.k everyday. he does kinder here now 3 days a week. his old friends at school in the u.k are doing reception class now. so that puts my son a year behind. if we go back have you found there is such a difference? any replies on this would be great. thanks adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 To be quite honest I doubt it would make any difference at all at that age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 We came back from Perth when ours were 9,7 and 5. It took my 9 year old about a term to catch up, but that's probably because of the school we chose for her. For the younger two there wasn't much difference in the level of work they were doing. At 5 there can be a big difference between children in any class anywhere. I'm sure your son will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Exactly, when ours were 5 we found they were learning more from us at home than at school, it seemed to be all about play and painting anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rayman1 Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 IMHO if feel that some schools do have a more relaxed attitude to teaching and education than the UK. The UK do seem to have targets to hit so do try alittle harder (it all depends on the school though). Saying that, in Queensland you do get very strict school which are very academic but they seem to be the expensive private ones. Overall if you can afford to pay over here the schooling can be good. But at your childrens age it probably will not matter that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valleylass Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 I suppose it depends upon a number of things: age of the child/ren, quality of the schooling in Oz, the length of time you were there, the quality of schooling in the UK and the individual's general ability. For our two (age 9 and 11) we haven't noticed any problems at all but they were not in the Oz system for very long although they did have two summer holidays in close succession (UK then Oz). We worked with them at home too just to keep them engaged with learning. It is this coupled with having had a broader life experience that has enabled them to slip back in nicely, the eldest into Year 7 at a secondary school he had never attended previously. The Early Years Foundation stage in the UK is more focused on learning through play so I should imagine a 5 year old will walk into that learning environment with few if any problems. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Count Zero Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 hi there.just wondered if anybody has gone back to the u.k and found that when you put your kids back into school they are behind all the other kids the same age, due to kids in oz starting later at school. my son is nearlly 5. he did a full year of nursery at school in u.k everyday. he does kinder here now 3 days a week. his old friends at school in the u.k are doing reception class now. so that puts my son a year behind. if we go back have you found there is such a difference? any replies on this would be great. thanks adam My kids were amazed at how for ahead they were when the got to Australia, the schools in Oz are way behind. However at 5 year old they will soon catch up but they may need some extra help. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onwayhome Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 Hi Adam, My wife is back in the UK with our kids while I sell the house & get a job. We had a 6 year old who had just finished his first year in prep. He's gone into grade 2 in the UK because of how his birthday is and he is having no problems at all and loving it. Plus the school has said they will keep a close eye on him and if he needs any additional support they will provide it. So I'm sure your son will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theturnerclan Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 This is the one thing that worries me about making the decision to go back. We've been here for 12 months and like others that have moved during this period it has been financial suicide for us... massively dropped the house to move and now can't buy here due to the interest rates. We've 3 children, the younger 2 will do fine moving back, the oldest on the other hand is going to find it hard. She was in year 5 when we moved out but had intervention for Maths and Literacy so when we came over the principle talked us into putting in her into year 4 to 'help' with the transisition. Her birthday is mid April and he advised that a lot of Australians do hold back so that they aren't the youngest in the year... Anyway we went ahead with his suggestion even though my gut was saying no... If we weren't remotely thinking of going back I'd just look to move to a better school, and that would have to be private in , but now we are really think about it I'm shxtting myself... I really feel that I have mucked up her education with the move.... The are happy kids, they'd settle anyway... stick them in a field in the middle of Glastonbury and they would go with the flow.... but if we make the move she'l go from year5 to year7... don't know what to do for the best... keep thinking stay a bit longer... give her chance to start high school here, which is where the education system between the 2 countries does balance out(I work in a Private School with middle and senior school children)... but I miss home... not family for us,in fact they would be one of the reasons to stay , just the UK... Being wrapped up warm at Christmas walking round York... the seasons, the culture, history... I like Australia, but I don't want to die here... what do I do... go home in 6 months as planned whilst we have some chance of getting back on the property ladder or stick it out for another 3 years to give her a good chance at a better school and then make the move hoping that we can still get back on the ladder... ANY advice, guidance greatly appreciated....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 This is the one thing that worries me about making the decision to go back. We've been here for 12 months and like others that have moved during this period it has been financial suicide for us... massively dropped the house to move and now can't buy here due to the interest rates. We've 3 children, the younger 2 will do fine moving back, the oldest on the other hand is going to find it hard. She was in year 5 when we moved out but had intervention for Maths and Literacy so when we came over the principle talked us into putting in her into year 4 to 'help' with the transisition. Her birthday is mid April and he advised that a lot of Australians do hold back so that they aren't the youngest in the year... Anyway we went ahead with his suggestion even though my gut was saying no... If we weren't remotely thinking of going back I'd just look to move to a better school, and that would have to be private in , but now we are really think about it I'm shxtting myself... I really feel that I have mucked up her education with the move.... The are happy kids, they'd settle anyway... stick them in a field in the middle of Glastonbury and they would go with the flow.... but if we make the move she'l go from year5 to year7... don't know what to do for the best... keep thinking stay a bit longer... give her chance to start high school here, which is where the education system between the 2 countries does balance out(I work in a Private School with middle and senior school children)... but I miss home... not family for us,in fact they would be one of the reasons to stay , just the UK... Being wrapped up warm at Christmas walking round York... the seasons, the culture, history... I like Australia, but I don't want to die here... what do I do... go home in 6 months as planned whilst we have some chance of getting back on the property ladder or stick it out for another 3 years to give her a good chance at a better school and then make the move hoping that we can still get back on the ladder... ANY advice, guidance greatly appreciated....... Go. Now. If you wait until she leaves HS (at 17) then she will go back to UK (if she wants to go back) with very little by way of acceptable qualifications in the UK market. If she wants uni then she will have to pay international fees and do conversion courses etc because her Aus year 12 results wont travel at all well. I am sure that there will be additional support in the school - I understand that she would just go back with her age peers and certainly may need some literacy and numeracy support for a while (you may even choose to do that out of school). I doubt you will find the catch up happening in early HS years - if at all, that will be in the upper HS years and she needs to be back so that she can get on the GCSE merry go round with enough UK background under her belt as she can IMHO Dont envy you your decision which I think is probably more like go now or wait until she has completed her post school options and then be so entrenched that you probably never leave at all. It is so hard when you have to consider upper school education. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 This is the one thing that worries me about making the decision to go back. We've been here for 12 months and like others that have moved during this period it has been financial suicide for us... massively dropped the house to move and now can't buy here due to the interest rates. We've 3 children, the younger 2 will do fine moving back, the oldest on the other hand is going to find it hard. She was in year 5 when we moved out but had intervention for Maths and Literacy so when we came over the principle talked us into putting in her into year 4 to 'help' with the transisition. Her birthday is mid April and he advised that a lot of Australians do hold back so that they aren't the youngest in the year... Anyway we went ahead with his suggestion even though my gut was saying no... If we weren't remotely thinking of going back I'd just look to move to a better school, and that would have to be private in , but now we are really think about it I'm shxtting myself... I really feel that I have mucked up her education with the move.... The are happy kids, they'd settle anyway... stick them in a field in the middle of Glastonbury and they would go with the flow.... but if we make the move she'l go from year5 to year7... don't know what to do for the best... keep thinking stay a bit longer... give her chance to start high school here, which is where the education system between the 2 countries does balance out(I work in a Private School with middle and senior school children)... but I miss home... not family for us,in fact they would be one of the reasons to stay , just the UK... Being wrapped up warm at Christmas walking round York... the seasons, the culture, history... I like Australia, but I don't want to die here... what do I do... go home in 6 months as planned whilst we have some chance of getting back on the property ladder or stick it out for another 3 years to give her a good chance at a better school and then make the move hoping that we can still get back on the ladder... ANY advice, guidance greatly appreciated....... My youngest daughter has just done what you're thinking of doing. We moved back from Sydney at Christmas and she had to go from having just finished year 5 into year 7 where the others had completed one term. Admittedly she is back in her old school, with all her old friends which obviously helps, she has had some catching up to do, but she's really happy and doing well. It's been a good time for her to move; year 7 seems to be a transition year and there seems to be a mix of abilities and the children have all had different experiences in their previous schools and the teachers (at our school anyway) are very aware of that. My daughter has always found maths tricky, but I went to see her maths teacher and the head of year 7 at the beginning of the term to show them where she was up to and they've been fantastic at supporting her. It's been a bit harder for my older two, who have have returned in years 10 and 9 with the gcse courses starting and coursework to catch up with. So from my experience I'd say don't worry too much, if you're going to move, it's probably the best time to do it especially if you can get her in for the start of the academic year. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sophi Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 Go. Now. If you wait until she leaves HS (at 17) then she will go back to UK (if she wants to go back) with very little by way of acceptable qualifications in the UK market. If she wants uni then she will have to pay international fees and do conversion courses etc because her Aus year 12 results wont travel at all well. I am sure that there will be additional support in the school - I understand that she would just go back with her age peers and certainly may need some literacy and numeracy support for a while (you may even choose to do that out of school). I doubt you will find the catch up happening in early HS years - if at all, that will be in the upper HS years and she needs to be back so that she can get on the GCSE merry go round with enough UK background under her belt as she can IMHO Dont envy you your decision which I think is probably more like go now or wait until she has completed her post school options and then be so entrenched that you probably never leave at all. It is so hard when you have to consider upper school education. Good luck! I totally agree, good luck and all the best:hug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaniaColin Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 We have been back 3 weeks on Saturday, My 10 year old has gone into grade 5 at his old school and my 5 year old has gone into grade 1 at her old school. I have put my 3 year olds name down for the same school as his siblings and he will start in September. My 12 year old has started grade 7 he has had to go to a different High School than what we wanted but we has to go to one in our catchment area, it is a good school with an outstanding ofsted report, a much smaller high school than the ones we had previously checked on. It has good old fashioned values and he actually has home work now. while we were in Australia for the 8 months he was not doing no school work, cause at one school it was about choice, and the kids have other outside activities, which is fine if you have a child who is into sports. None of my children are interested in sports. It took Arrans high school in oz 6 weeks to contact me to say that he was not doing no homework and his organisation skills. I thought this was disgusting and should have been picked up before. Children do adapt i was really concerned about my kids education and whether they would catch up but like the teachers said, kids do catch up and for my childrens education alone i am pleased to be back in the UK Tania x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theturnerclan Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 Thanks for all your advice... OH has contacted where he worked, when he left they said he could come back anytime... now there's saying and there's doing... if you know what I mean... especially with the manufacturing climate in the UK. So, we can't think about anything until we know either way and we will take it from there... We can't leave for at least 6 months as he bought me a moodle for valentines day so we need to get a Rabies jab which will keep us here for the time being... Please don't get me wrong, there are things here that are great... Drive ins for $25... love it, love it, love it and I do like the weather in Melbourne. Think we've just been unlucky financially ( or not very financially asutute ) We did our research, tons of it, wouldn't stop anyone from coming, would just ask them to make sure they could rent out there house until they knew it was the right place to be... so once again our fate is in the lap of the gods... can't wait for a more settled existance.... in the mean time it's back to Smartkiddies for the kids!! thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 Thanks for all your advice... OH has contacted where he worked, when he left they said he could come back anytime... now there's saying and there's doing... if you know what I mean... especially with the manufacturing climate in the UK. So, we can't think about anything until we know either way and we will take it from there... We can't leave for at least 6 months as he bought me a moodle for valentines day so we need to get a Rabies jab which will keep us here for the time being... Please don't get me wrong, there are things here that are great... Drive ins for $25... love it, love it, love it and I do like the weather in Melbourne. Think we've just been unlucky financially ( or not very financially asutute ) We did our research, tons of it, wouldn't stop anyone from coming, would just ask them to make sure they could rent out there house until they knew it was the right place to be... so once again our fate is in the lap of the gods... can't wait for a more settled existance.... in the mean time it's back to Smartkiddies for the kids!! thanks again Could your DH go ahead of you and suss out the work situation perhaps? I'd be getting that foot well back in the door before the situation changes again. Obviously splitting a family even temporarily can be stressful but for a longer term gain it may be a good option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 Could your DH go ahead of you and suss out the work situation perhaps? I'd be getting that foot well back in the door before the situation changes again. Obviously splitting a family even temporarily can be stressful but for a longer term gain it may be a good option. Yep, this is what we've done, only the other way round. I'm in the UK with the kids, so they could start back at school and my oh is in Melbourne working as there are no jobs at his level in the UK atm. We're spending the year travelling backwards and forwards - we're in Melbourne atm for the Easter holidays, then back again for uk summer holidays and my oh will come to the uk for Christmas. Not ideal, but doable and nowhere near as bad as I was anticipating. We also have a dog and he was going to stay with a 'foster mother' for a couple of months after his rabies jab until he could fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest punky pom Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Hi there, We have triplets that are 13 and we are planning on moving back to the UK in December this year. Even though they are bright children we are worried that they maybe behind their peers. When we moved out here they had just completed Y2 in England and they went into Grade 1 here, however they were way ahead of their peers. By the time they got to Grade 3 the boys (2 BOYS AAND 1GIRL) were doing Grade 4 work so they actually skipped a year and went into Grade 5. At the start of Grade 6 for the boyys and Grade 5 for our daughter we embarked on a 2yr journey travelling around Australia whereby the children did Distance Education, interspersed with spending time at some schools along the way. They all did the Naplan test a year before they should have and did extremely well in this. We are just so worried that we have messed up the Education of 3 bright children, any help and advice would be gratefully received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valleylass Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Without knowing the actual ability of your triplets I would say that they are likely to be a bit 'out of practice' with the UK system, and at age 13 this will be full on secondary work (homework, target setting, testing, minimum target grades, option choices...). Depending upon the school that you send them to they could already be actively engaged in working towards GCSE. As a secondary school teacher I would say that, on balance, if your triplets (well done on that score by the way!) are able they will cope with any curriculum but there will be inevitably a period of adjustment and some aspects of it that they may find more challenging because they are inexperienced. Just off the top of my head and again with caveats because each child is different as is each educational experience across states in Australia: MFL (Languages) for one, History as knowledge of European/British history may not have been covered, Science our children were taught this through a general programme SOSE in Queensland. However that said bright, interested students will the breadth of life experience yours have are likely to breeze it once over the initial 'newness' of everything. Taking them to the UK now will enable them to 'catch up' within that system before formal exams. One of the best students I have ever taught, rocked up with limited English from Pakistan and was an absolute star from the second he arrived in our school a gifted all rounder with a quiet determination to succeed. You couldn't throw enough work at him. His limited linguistic ability was a temporary blip until he learned enough, he made full use of the (outstanding) teaching at the school and is training to become a doctor. By the way I don't think you've done any damage to your children's education :cute: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stumpy joe Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 This has put us off moving back to the UK as our 10 year old would be starting secondary education a year and a half earlier than if we stayed put here in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest punky pom Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Just want to say a big thankyou to Valley Lass I actually had a tear in my eye when I read it. Your post has made me feel so much better. We are in Queensland at the moment and they are doing SOSE.My daughter loves History and read all the Dead Famous books when she was younger. I have taught them Italian and my hubby is the Maths whizz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.