gaz n family Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 My wife and i have two children 14 who is in year 10 in the Uk 11 who is in year 7 in the UK. Both my children have expressed the want to seek further education and it is always our eldest that had been delaying our application as we didnt want his exam results to suffer. We have since been advised to try to get over before Feb 2011 for the start of the school year, that way he will have 12 months approx to settle before his high school exams. 1 For those who have done this with kids, is this correct? 2 When did you apply for a position in the schools? Did you do it before you arrived/arrive once you had an arrival date? Did you wait until arrival? 3 How long did the school application process take? Obviously due to their age they will be attending senior school 4 do you have (like the UK) to live in the schools catchment area, i ask this because our first home will not be our permanent home as we will need to suss all the area out first before settling (once our furniture arrives) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 I can't answer you about the exams, but when we moved we planned our arrival for the January to enable my eldest a full year at primary school (year 7) before starting High School. This was the same year as she was in the UK (she'd just started high school in the UK in the Sept) It meant that she was starting the year with everyone else which for her was important. We had already fixed up a 12 week rental and therefore had an address, we were able to contact schools in the area - some have a catchment area whilst others if they have places are prepared to take out of area ... so you need to ask them directly. I have friends, who because they didn't know where they were going to be based longer term - waited until they had an address before organising schools, so that they didn't have to move the children more than once. Unless you're applying to a school with a big waiting list - then acceptance is pretty swift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bruce&jackie Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Do you have any idea where you are looking at settling? We applied in the Uk [ we knew where we wanted to live as validated our visa the year previous] just before we came over but we still had to have an interview once here and was lucky as a student was leaving so my son had his place. He went into the last term of year 10 so gave him a chance to settle in before the hard work of y11 and 12 started. Jackie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyT Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Hi, We are in a similar situation, so I did a bit of digging. I have a 15yr & 13yr old and we arrive in June. The eldest will have finished yr 11 here in the UK, I have been informed that she will go into yr 10 in Adelaide, as they have another 6 months to finish the yr. Then she will go into yr 11 in Jan 2011, which is the equiv of our first yr at 6th form (A levels), but called SACE (South Australian Certificate). She won't do GCSE exam equivalent in the last 6 months of yr 10, as they only do the yr 12 big exams. My son will finish off yr 7 I think, even though in the UK he will have nearly completed yr 8. I have told the kids that it is not going back in school, they just call the years differently to ours (they were a little horrified at 1st). I you go to WA's education services website, it should give you info on the years your children will be going into. Also where we are moving to, if you live in the catchment area the high school for that zone has to accept your child. We have chosen which suburb we want to live in based on the high school I want my kids to attend, not the other way round. Goodluck, hope this helps (may be different in WA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 As long as you get here so your kids can start year 11 in any state (that is usually when they are just turned or about to turn 16 depending on state cut off dates) then they will be fine. There isnt nearly the same emphasis on examination here and even the year 11/12 course is increasingly being assessed on continuous assessment plus examination rather than a do or die exam. No GCSE equivalents, you dont even need to have completed year 10 in order to progress to year 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hi everyone, I was planning on coming out in the middle of 2011. Will be settling in Perth area, my brother North of the river and we'll prob look at settling near him when we first arive. My daughters will be 15 and 13. I'm concerned about how the move will affect my eldest daughters schooling, she is growing very concerned also and has mentioned staying in the UK to do her highers and then come out for uni but that would be last option for me to consider. The other option would be to send her ahead to stay with my brother and start the school year in FEB 2011, but I don't know what to do for the best. What year would she be in when she came out? Does anyone have children of the same age and how did they settle? I would appreciate all the advice anyone could offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb8181 Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hi everyone, I was planning on coming out in the middle of 2011. Will be settling in Perth area, my brother North of the river and we'll prob look at settling near him when we first arive. My daughters will be 15 and 13. I'm concerned about how the move will affect my eldest daughters schooling, she is growing very concerned also and has mentioned staying in the UK to do her highers and then come out for uni but that would be last option for me to consider. The other option would be to send her ahead to stay with my brother and start the school year in FEB 2011, but I don't know what to do for the best. What year would she be in when she came out? Does anyone have children of the same age and how did they settle? I would appreciate all the advice anyone could offer. My son is 14, 15 in December. He was in year 9 in the UK. We moved over to Perth 15 February so the schools had already started back here by then but we were in a short term rental so had to wait until we got a longer term rental which we did last week to know where we would be living. Son has been out of school 5 weeks now but starts at a private school on Monday in year 10! Went around to see the school earlier in the week, had an interview with the principal on Friday where we had to take birth certificate, immunisation records, passport with the visa stamped in it and the last school report from the UK and we got in. Starts on Monday like i said and i bought the uniform after the interview there and then. Spent yesterday going around the newsagents and Big W collecting the stationery needed off the list that the school gave me and they told me the boys need black lace up shoes (Josh had slip on ones) so had to go and get some of them as well. Brought my iron-in name tags from the UK and got to iron them in this afternoon ready for Monday. Filled in forms from the school yesterday including the direct debit for the fees and Josh will take them into school on Monday with him. Public schools tend to take pupils from the catchment area but private it seems you can go anywhere but obviously you have to think about your child getting there and back especially if you are both working. The bus company does a ticket called a smart rider where you have a photo of the child on the pass and they can use to to ride on the buses and trains, i think it costs about 50 cents per ride which is heavily subsidised. Hope this helps Debbie x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ruth27 Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 When doing A levels in the UK, you usually choose 3-4 A levels (or 5 if the child is really bright). Here, they do lots more subjects, but not in so much depth (I think). I kept our son (he was 16 in May 2009) in UK school to take his GCSEs June 09, then he had 6 months off and started school here to start year 11 (equivilant of year 12 in the UK) the following January ('10). He's made friends at school but he's quiet and doesn't do much at weekends, which worries us immensley. I feel it was the right was to do things but only time will tell........ Our other son has stayed in the UK to finish his college course (aged 19) and that was difficult...I can't wait till he gets over here. All very personal, if you're planning on staying here for good (and probably that's what you'd anticipate), what's the point on staying in the UK for a couple of years to do UK exams..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 When doing A levels in the UK, you usually choose 3-4 A levels (or 5 if the child is really bright). Here, they do lots more subjects, but not in so much depth (I think). I kept our son (he was 16 in May 2009) in UK school to take his GCSEs June 09, then he had 6 months off and started school here to start year 11 (equivilant of year 12 in the UK) the following January ('10). He's made friends at school but he's quiet and doesn't do much at weekends, which worries us immensley. I feel it was the right was to do things but only time will tell........ Our other son has stayed in the UK to finish his college course (aged 19) and that was difficult...I can't wait till he gets over here. All very personal, if you're planning on staying here for good (and probably that's what you'd anticipate), what's the point on staying in the UK for a couple of years to do UK exams..... Hi, We are planning on staying for good. all things going well. I think I'm concerned if she comes out in the middle of year 11 and finds it difficult to settle then her marks will be affected. She wants to go to uni to study teaching. Am I right in saying that the universities have a process of taking her the results for her highers and converting them to the Aus equivalent? A method of converting international students marks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyT Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 We have decided to send my daughter to school from July (when we arrive) to do the last 6 months of year 10. Only so she can make friends and not be sat at home with nothing to do & no one to do it with. She is quiet also, and you do worry that they will make friends. However, back here in the UK, she would have been going to a college & would have had to make new friends anyway. My son is 13 & sporty, so will join lots of teams, so not too worried about him settling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hi, We are planning on staying for good. all things going well. I think I'm concerned if she comes out in the middle of year 11 and finds it difficult to settle then her marks will be affected. She wants to go to uni to study teaching. Am I right in saying that the universities have a process of taking her the results for her highers and converting them to the Aus equivalent? A method of converting international students marks? Adelaide university (and thus I would assume it was generally the case for all Aus universities) apparently do accept Highers as a possible conversion (and Advanced Highers as well) SATAC UniWeb gives the equivalent grades (scroll down to the bottom). Teaching usually doesnt need a very high Year 12 score especially primary teaching so letting her get her Highers would be a sensible move - you dont want to put her into a year 11/12 course half way through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ruth27 Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hi, We are planning on staying for good. all things going well. I think I'm concerned if she comes out in the middle of year 11 and finds it difficult to settle then her marks will be affected. She wants to go to uni to study teaching. Am I right in saying that the universities have a process of taking her the results for her highers and converting them to the Aus equivalent? A method of converting international students marks? Does your daughter want to come and study? If she doesn, then she's bound to be positive and more able to settle. It's so much easier for the kids to make friends at school. The crucial point for year 11 (year 12 in the UK) is in September as that is when they start their HSC work (this is in NSW). 18 months is a long time to stay in the UK effectively on her own, waiting to come over. Why not get in touch with one of the potential schools? I don't know about converting UK grades to get into Uni but as it's common practice to take overseas students, there's bound to be help on the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hi Ruth, I'm fortunate my daughters are really positive and looking forward to getting to Aus. My older daughter is at a more crucial stage in her studies than her younger sister and I don't want to do anything which may affect her marks. I worry about putting her under too much pressure. They are both very adaptable and looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends. I'm probably worrying and she'll be fine. My brother is in Ocean Reef and has mentioned the option of sending her a little before we go over, help her get used to her surroundings but then I'd worry about her with me not being there, saying that she is begging us to let her go. My Nephew will be a great help. I think he's ahead in school for his age, he's only just turned 16 and in year 12. I'm sure I'm getting some grey hairs!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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