Guest lauren1xox Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 im 17 and ive come at a bad time because of my age, i think you should go as soon as possible to get into the school because here they finish school at 18 and if you leave after shes done her GCSE's its going to be harder. im starting college soon as ive finished my GCSE's in UK so ill be one of the youngest in college Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Hi Quoll, yes I'd heard that but my mate is friends with the head of education for NSW (or something!) and he has said fees are negotiable, especially if you have more than one child at the school.... Anita - thanks again, keep coming with the positive posts!! I know all about the tax breaks - you will actually be better off in Oz, even after school fees.... You dont want to bank on the fee waiver - your mate's friend may well not be the one making the decision and if the line in the sand gets washed out then that opens a pandora's box that the department will not want to open. There are financial hardship waivers but it isnt a cast iron certainty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 im 17 and ive come at a bad time because of my age, i think you should go as soon as possible to get into the school because here they finish school at 18 and if you leave after shes done her GCSE's its going to be harder. im starting college soon as ive finished my GCSE's in UK so ill be one of the youngest in college You do realize that college in Aus isnt like college in UK, dont you? TAFEs are trade colleges, for the most part, and the people who do their year 12 certs there are, more often than not, kids who couldnt hack it in school - so you may find it harder to get the grades you need to go to uni. There are also diploma and certificate courses at TAFE, some of which can get you some credit to get into uni but it is a totally different system and you will be vying with kids who have their year 12 quals from schools which are highly competitive. You might even have been wiser to have done your A levels and then used them for university entrance as the scores you would need for uni here would be relatively lower for the same type of course than if you were in UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lauren1xox Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Thank you for the reply i had no idea but it was one of those moves to Aus that had to be done quickly because of my dads job.. hmm guess i'll see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Onthefence Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I moved to Australia aged 17 with my family, finished school and completed a uni degree at a reputable Aussie uni, but could never quite settle in Oz. I stuck around until I was thirty but fearing a life sentence came back to the UK where my Australian degree and experience have helped me to secure a professional career, but one I no doubt could have obtained had I stayed here and completed my A'levels. Before leaving, we were settled in the UK as a family, but this stability was destroyed by my irresponsible parents who had the travel bug and wanted to escape Thatcherism. All in all, it's been a horrible experience. When we got to Oz we all felt so homesick and couldn't quite swallow the propaganda about the young lucky country despite the fact that the country is full of souls with similar experiences. Thirty years later my ageing parents are still in Oz, my sister has remained there but unfortunately had a breakdown early in the piece and has been on medication since. My brother moved to LA many years ago. We've become a proper global family but hardly ever meet and have not quite resolved the effects of the move and all of the strains that were placed on our family. My parents thought that by going to Australia we'd all end up with more opportunities etc. but with hindsight they now acknowledge that the move just created more complications. It's too late for them to move home and as we've all settled in different parts of the world, it wouldn't be possible. Therefore, I'd strongly recommmend anybody planning to move teenage kids to Oz to think twice. Other cheaper solutions to your mid-life crisis such as buying a motor bike, having an affair, going on Britain's Got Talent or Entering the Tour de France are far more effective and then when you get old your kids are more likely to be around to be around to look after you because they won't have the wanderlust. I now go to Australia every 3 or 4 years and have retained my Aussie passport. It's heartbreaking to feel that the family is irrevocably split and for years I blamed it all on Australia. I've got over that and have a more dispassionate-indeed affectionate- relationship with the country that broke our family. On the issue of schools and education, once your kids have started secondary school, let them finish it. Just accept that there's a time and a place to make such moves and that you've missed your opportunity. Australia may be doing ok at the moment economically but houses are unaffordable, the sun kills people and it's just too far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest McKinnon Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hi we are coming to Melbourne with our 15 year old daughter and trying to work out what year she would be in there, any advice would be great thanks :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hi we are coming to Melbourne with our 15 year old daughter and trying to work out what year she would be in there, any advice would be great thanks :confused: When's her birthday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an1ta Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hi we are coming to Melbourne with our 15 year old daughter and trying to work out what year she would be in there, any advice would be great thanks :confused: Hi and welcome,,,, she will be in year 10. my son has just turned 16 and hes the youngest in year 11, they wanted him to go in the year below, but I told them he was fine in the year I was putting him in, and hes doing fine. Hope this helps :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest McKinnon Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 can anyone tell me if my daughter finishes her vce and wants to go to university would she be a domestic student or an international student? I will be working in Melbourne on a 457 visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I moved to Australia aged 17 with my family, finished school and completed a uni degree at a reputable Aussie uni, but could never quite settle in Oz. I stuck around until I was thirty but fearing a life sentence came back to the UK where my Australian degree and experience have helped me to secure a professional career, but one I no doubt could have obtained had I stayed here and completed my A'levels. Before leaving, we were settled in the UK as a family, but this stability was destroyed by my irresponsible parents who had the travel bug and wanted to escape Thatcherism. All in all, it's been a horrible experience. When we got to Oz we all felt so homesick and couldn't quite swallow the propaganda about the young lucky country despite the fact that the country is full of souls with similar experiences. Thirty years later my ageing parents are still in Oz, my sister has remained there but unfortunately had a breakdown early in the piece and has been on medication since. My brother moved to LA many years ago. We've become a proper global family but hardly ever meet and have not quite resolved the effects of the move and all of the strains that were placed on our family. My parents thought that by going to Australia we'd all end up with more opportunities etc. but with hindsight they now acknowledge that the move just created more complications. It's too late for them to move home and as we've all settled in different parts of the world, it wouldn't be possible. Therefore, I'd strongly recommmend anybody planning to move teenage kids to Oz to think twice. Other cheaper solutions to your mid-life crisis such as buying a motor bike, having an affair, going on Britain's Got Talent or Entering the Tour de France are far more effective and then when you get old your kids are more likely to be around to be around to look after you because they won't have the wanderlust. I now go to Australia every 3 or 4 years and have retained my Aussie passport. It's heartbreaking to feel that the family is irrevocably split and for years I blamed it all on Australia. I've got over that and have a more dispassionate-indeed affectionate- relationship with the country that broke our family. On the issue of schools and education, once your kids have started secondary school, let them finish it. Just accept that there's a time and a place to make such moves and that you've missed your opportunity. Australia may be doing ok at the moment economically but houses are unaffordable, the sun kills people and it's just too far away. At least it didn't destroy your sense of humour. Loved your post. Similar situation myself with ping pong pom parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anya Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Victoria specific: Don't worry about the age or having to repeat a year :-) My daughter repeated year 9 here (in retrospect she could have started in year 10, but we were advised by the Dept of Education to put her in year 9 - the selective school to which she was admitted, starts in year 9 and had 225 places compared to just a couple of places had she chosen to go in to year 10 directly). If your child excels academically then it doesn't matter if she repeats a year as children can then complete two VCE subjects in year 11 itself (less pressure in year 12 having to do just 4 subjects) plus they could even choose to do a University subject in Year 12. Don't worry even if they're not too academically inclined - the extra year gives them enough time to settle down in a new environment. I also love the wide/diverse choice available - e.g. my daughter loves and excels in Maths, languages (Eng and French), Accounting and History equally and has chosen them as her VCE subjects! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an1ta Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Hi I would also ask ur child what year they would like to be in. My son would not have been happy being put in a lower year, he would have been one of the eldest kids, and he is already mature for his age being one of the youngest kids in his year in the UK. Hes always been aroung older kids at school. My son also excelled in school here his marks where high 80s and 90s, if he had gone back a year Im sure it would not have been good for him, he would have been waiting around for the other kids to catch up.. Just like my middle daughter did in the UK as she was a very bright child.I had to go to the school and get it sorted, Please please ask ur child what they want at this age they really want to have a say,,,,,,,,,:biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anya Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Yeah, in my case my child had no problem going back a year and in fact she thought it was a good idea. She does finish her work well ahead of her peers but it doesn't bother her. She spends the rest of her time helping her friends and loves doing that! She spends her free time reading, watching movies and cooking at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an1ta Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Yeah, in my case my child had no problem going back a year and in fact she thought it was a good idea. She does finish her work well ahead of her peers but it doesn't bother her. She spends the rest of her time helping her friends and loves doing that! She spends her free time reading, watching movies and cooking at home! Please do not feel I was having a go at you, this website is not about scoring points. With 3 kids of 18, 17, and 16, I listen to what my kids want. I have 2 kids that do excel, it can be hard for them. My middle daughter did think about going back a year, but when seeing the other pupils and the work she would have been doing she said no as she had done it 2 years b4 in the UK. So it would not have helped her in anyway what so ever. She is the only child in her year that got 15 out of 15 in her exams and was told that she needed to go up to the top groups for all her classes. So that why Im saying please ask ur kids what they want, Whats right for us might not be right for them. :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjscjs Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Thanks to everyone for your feedback. Providing I can find a job and get the magic visa we intend to get there by the end of the year or not at all. Unfortunately it's not really an option waiting until my daughter's finished A levels as that won't be for just over 3 years from now and, by then, our eldest son will be doing his GCSE's and we'll have the same problem again. We've got 4 kids so there's never going to be a perfect time for all of them but we believe it's better to get there as soon as we can and give them as much time to settle as possible. We're a close family so I'm confident that if any of us find it hard to settle the rest of the family will get us through. In addition, my sister and her family already live in Sydney plus we already have a small network of friends there who have already moved out. Really appreciate all the advice though. Hi I would consider the IB - I dont know where you are headed but here in Brisbane we have a fantastic set of schools that offer the IB - that way you have the best of worlds whether you stay here or whether you go back to UK http://www.qldacademies.eq.edu.au/ The school is for years 10,11 and 12 with the IB starting in term 4 of year 10 but the previous part of year 10 being preparation All the best with your choices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
once in a blue moon Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Hi JoanneP, My family are hoping to be in Sydney by Jan 2012. I have a 15 year old daughter who has just started Year 11 back here she will be 16 in Feb 2012. Is your daughter a similar age? If so is she going to start Year 11 in Oz? What school does she go to, I would appreciate an insight into schools in Sydney and finally where about in Sydney do you live? I know I'm being nosey but any first hand intel would be really helpful. I hope to hear from you soon and thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Hi JoanneP,My family are hoping to be in Sydney by Jan 2012. I have a 15 year old daughter who has just started Year 11 back here she will be 16 in Feb 2012. Is your daughter a similar age? If so is she going to start Year 11 in Oz? What school does she go to, I would appreciate an insight into schools in Sydney and finally where about in Sydney do you live? I know I'm being nosey but any first hand intel would be really helpful. I hope to hear from you soon and thank you. In NSW your daughter would be starting year 11 in 2012 so it will be important for her to start the year in Jan/Feb with her age cohorts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.