School Years

[Guest texas]

Is there anyone out there who know of a school in the South of Adelaide that has single school years or allows the children to move up a year, or streams them for literacy and numeracy. Our son who is in year 5 here and would be moving to year 6 in Sept in the UK(except we will be coming out to SA then) has just had his end of year results and he is working at a level two years ahead ie the national expected levels at the end of year 7!!

 

We have been advised that he will have to start in year 4 in Oz because he will not be 10 until August and this is worrying as he will then only have access to work 4 years below his current level!!!! He is not challenged enough here and does get bored - mathematics is his bag and he just loves it so much. Can anyone help???? Even the private schools we have contacted have said he would have to start in year 4. If it wasn't for missing out on the social side of things I would be tempted to educate him at home until Feb so he can at least start in year 5. HELPPPPPP:sad:

[Guest ali@51]

Hi, We had a similar problem in that our daughter was a very young(end of june birthday)year 4 in the uk doing work at year 5 level(middle to top of class). but a year 3 here. We have comprmised with the schoool here and she is in a year 3/4 blended class doing the year 4 work. I am happy with this as it is giving her the time and space to ajust to the social side of things. Australia is very diiferent to the uk. Also the focus here is different. they are looking at building up confidence and getting them to enjoy learning and be responsible for themselfes and thier learning. I have to say I was worried about wether Meg was going to get board at school but since we have got here it has been a non issue. If you are still worried some schools do extended and gifted programs both state and private you could look for one of them.

[Diane]

Our son is very similar but we have found the school he is at has been very flexible with making sure he's challenged with the work he is doing. Do bear in mind that academic standards are one thing, but maturity (especially with boys!) is another! It may be better from that point of view to leave him in a class with kids of the same age or maybe just one year older - certainly I have already pointed out to my son that when his mates are allowed in pubs and clubs, he won't be old enough yet ... (a few years ahead yet I know!)

 

Lots of schools do offer special programmes for kids with HIP (High Intellectual Potential) and there are plenty of extra curricular things going on too such as MASA (http://www.masa.on.net/) which it might be worth investigating.

 

They do LAN (Literacy and Numeracy) tests here in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and it is also possible to enter your child independently for other Australia-wide exams such as those run by the University of NSW and Westpac, in subjects such as Maths, English, Spelling, Computing and Science. Speak to some schools here about your son and use their attitude and offered solutions/challenges for your son as a good benchmark of which school to choose. I'd advise waiting till you are here to make a firm choice.

 

As a guideline, my son had just finished Year 2 and my daughter Year 4 in the UK when we arrived in August 2004, and they did the final Oz term in that same year before going up in the January. It meant that my son (who started Reception in the UK when he was 4 and 3 months) is a year younger than his year group. I would have thought a school worth its salt here would do the same for your son - i.e. one extra term of Year 5, then go into Year 6 in January 2009.

 

Diane

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

Is there anyone out there who know of a school in the South of Adelaide that has single school years or allows the children to move up a year, or streams them for literacy and numeracy. Our son who is in year 5 here and would be moving to year 6 in Sept in the UK(except we will be coming out to SA then) has just had his end of year results and he is working at a level two years ahead ie the national expected levels at the end of year 7!!

 

We have been advised that he will have to start in year 4 in Oz because he will not be 10 until August and this is worrying as he will then only have access to work 4 years below his current level!!!! He is not challenged enough here and does get bored - mathematics is his bag and he just loves it so much. Can anyone help???? Even the private schools we have contacted have said he would have to start in year 4. If it wasn't for missing out on the social side of things I would be tempted to educate him at home until Feb so he can at least start in year 5. HELPPPPPP:sad:

They break up for the summer hols in Dec, would it make that much difference for a couple of months, if he starts yr 4 , then goes on to yr 5 in jan he would be with the same kids, at least he willl have chance to make friends, what would the difference be keeping him off only to start with the same kids a few months later?.

Either way he is going to be 4 yrs ahead.

The schools here are pretty good at keeping them interested, you never know there might be things he will learn he has never had the chance to in the UK.

sarah

[Rachiegarlo]

You may actually find he is behind his aussie peers in part of the curriculum in some things that are considered important here . If he is a whizz at maths then you could enrol him in kumon after school for maths, they work at their own pace and move ahead as far as able. My daughter's friend did this and in yr 4 was doing yr 9 maths at kumon. At school she went and did maths with the yr 7s in yr 5, but there was no where to go by yr 7. I would keep him with his age peers, he has to learn a new way of life and get new friends and there is really no need to rush through primary school. there are lots of other things to learn as well as academics.

My kids all went to a primary school which is reknown for getting scholarships to privates for high school and kids into the Ignite programme at the state high. My youngest sat for the ignite, was accepted being 40th out of 400 or so, but we didn't want to fast track her through high school either. I skipped grade 7 and went from gr6 straight into yr8, but you know what, socially it can be hard.....going to uni at 16 when everyone is turning 18 and going to clubs and pubs. Also those same age peers catch up at their own normal pace and sometimes outstrip those early high fliers.

You could use the advantage of your son's ability to widen or develop his other interests as he obviously learns quickly and will complete his work quickly. Chilhood is only short. I know you will worry about him reaching his potential but at nearly 10 there is plenty of time for that and the school system here is different from the UK. You will be able to find a school that meets his needs and yours, perhaps try to find a school that does the IB at primary and middle programmes as these curriculums are similar to the state curriculum but encompass everything in more breadth.

[Guest smit]

You may actually find he is behind his aussie peers in part of the curriculum in some things that are considered important here . If he is a whizz at maths then you could enrol him in kumon after school for maths, they work at their own pace and move ahead as far as able. My daughter's friend did this and in yr 4 was doing yr 9 maths at kumon. At school she went and did maths with the yr 7s in yr 5, but there was no where to go by yr 7. I would keep him with his age peers, he has to learn a new way of life and get new friends and there is really no need to rush through primary school. there are lots of other things to learn as well as academics.

My kids all went to a primary school which is reknown for getting scholarships to privates for high school and kids into the Ignite programme at the state high. My youngest sat for the ignite, was accepted being 40th out of 400 or so, but we didn't want to fast track her through high school either. I skipped grade 7 and went from gr6 straight into yr8, but you know what, socially it can be hard.....going to uni at 16 when everyone is turning 18 and going to clubs and pubs. Also those same age peers catch up at their own normal pace and sometimes outstrip those early high fliers.

You could use the advantage of your son's ability to widen or develop his other interests as he obviously learns quickly and will complete his work quickly. Chilhood is only short. I know you will worry about him reaching his potential but at nearly 10 there is plenty of time for that and the school system here is different from the UK. You will be able to find a school that meets his needs and yours, perhaps try to find a school that does the IB at primary and middle programmes as these curriculums are similar to the state curriculum but encompass everything in more breadth.

Too true ............schooling is different here. It may seen younger kids here are 'nt as far advanced educationally,but they are far more advanced socially. And believe me when they get to the later years, providing they are doing the right courses for them , they are challenged far more than they are in uk.

[cormcvcr]

Hi there,

 

We had a similar situation when we arrived in March. I was told that both my kids were gifted daughter P2 now in R/1 and son P5 now in yr5 (son did the national testing in scotland and was the only child in this area to obtain 100% in all subjects (this has never been known and they were obviously sad to see him go!).

 

Our problem was that we also didn't want them to get bored and have to repeat work, but on the other side we knew that it would give them time to settle and find out how the new school worked without the added pressure of school work being too difficult had we pushed for them to go up in grades.

 

4 months on now and we are delighted with our decision, more so because of the age issue. We didn't want our kids to be in a class of children a couple of years older than them, not so much a problem at the moment but in years to come it would be. There is a big difference between a 10 year old and a 12/13 year old.

 

Both our children are doing different work to the rest of the class in the normal academic subjects ie maths, english, reading, but they had to start at the beginning with Japanese and learn all the new games that they play as part of their recess and sports within the school.

 

Our kids love their new school, their teachers and have made a lot of new friends and this has helped them settle. They have also just had their report cards and are doing brilliant, no cause for concern.

 

My opinion has changed drastically from before we arrived to what it is now. You never know you may be the same. As already mentioned by others on this thread, there are plenty of other areas that can be focused on to help make your son an all rounder in more subjects than he is at the moment.

 

I know it's difficult and your child's education is important, but don't worry too much, all will come good in the end and you will be proud of the standard of work and the confidence that your son will have x

[Guest Bodie]

Hi. Like others, we had the same problem with our 5 year old who started Year 1 in England and was due to go to Reception here in January. We had her enrolled at a private school that let us choose which class to put her in. We placed her in a straight Year 1 class but many problems soon became evident. Our daughter was miserable but it took her several months before she told us of her experiences. We knew there would be an age difference but many of the other children were one and a half years older than her. Although her reading and some other work was the same level as others, she could not do many of the physical activities they could. She was also singled out as younger and less capable. She believed she was dumb. We were already unhappy with the school so as soon as she said that - we removed her from the school (that prides themselves on individual attention) and put her into one of our local schools. She is now in a Reception/Year 1 class; the school said they will assess her through the year to see if she goes up to 1 or 2 next year. She is a completely different child now - more like her old self. She is enjoying school and feeling proud of her achievements. She is back to being a five year old with no pressures or responsibilities. Changing schools, and year levels, was the best possible decision we could have made. The public school is meeting her needs far more than the private school did as they are concerned with her happiness rather than ours. I know it feels like they are being dropped back a year but it's not like that; a good school will meet the needs of individual students whatever their ability but I now know how important it is for them to be with kids their own age. I just wish I'd known before I put her through 6 months of hell. Good luck!

Tracey

[Diane]

Me again!

Just one other thought I had - apparently children that are good at maths often find they are good at music too (very mathematical apparently) and we have certainly been bowled over by the music tuition and opportunities here (my son learns guitar and it costs just $50 for the year - which includes an hours lesson each week AND the loan of an excellent guitar - this is through the state primary schools music programme). If your son isn't already learning an instrument, that's something you could also look into for him when he gets here.

Diane

[Rachiegarlo]

Kids who are good at maths and science who learn to dance usually excel(if they have the physical attributes) due to actually thinking and analysing what they are doing.

[julie-ruth]

Hi totally confused on the education side, my daughters are 12 and just finishing year 7, 10 and just finishing year5 and 8 just finishing year 3 in the Uk what year class would they be in in oz or does it depend on what month their birthday is in.

 

Julie

[Guest ali@51]

I think it is dependent to a cirtain extent on birthdays but I couldn't quite explaine how it works. Meg was 21/6/99 and year 4 uk but droped back to year 3. joe 11/2/02 year 1 uk stayed year 1 here? so I think it is dependent on the month you were born. We just asked the heads here and gave up trying to work it out.

[Rachiegarlo]

Julie -ruth your kids would probably stay in those grades here if you come this year, and then go up next year when the kids start the new school yr at the end of Jan, although it can depend on month born, it can also if they are borderline depend on numbers already in a particular class. If your kids had a birthday roughly after April they would have done a year and a half in reception. It will work out in the end and they will end up in an age appropriate yr level.

[Guest Aussie pat]

Both our children will be starting school in Australia in Feb 2009. They will be going into years 6 and 7. Both are currently doing special work for gifted children at their UK schools. We are very relaxed about the transition and feel that it is better that they are in with peers of the same age as themselves. My husband was put up a year at school and still resents it even now. Many of the schools we have looked at recognise that kids have different abilities and mature at different stages. They have strategies for moving kids on and keeping them interested regardless of their ability. The league table culture isn't as strong in SA and they have more flexibility. We are also conscious of the fact that our kids will need some time to settle and a bit of slack would help with this. My advice would be to relax about it and visit schools to find the one that feels right for you.

[julie-ruth]

Hi I think I understand what you are saying, just wondering on the style of teaching and end results, do they work up to an exam (like the old c.s.e and O levels, showing my age) or is it like now with course work contributing to their final results, is their way of education easy to understand.

 

Julie

[Rachiegarlo]

in yr 12, some subjects like physics, chem, maths have exams that are worth 50% of the final grade, but most subjects have an exam that is worth about 30%, the rest being coursework. Then there are some subjects that don't have any exams and are all coursework. Some of these are subjects like English communications, art practical. Then there are a host of other subjects that count for SACe but not uni entrance or you can only use 1 of them. The standard and depth in the subjects like business studies is very high with a lot of emphasis on analysis, stuff I didn't do until uni. They are expected to be able to write reports, essays of 2000 words and a whole host of other styles. It can be very demanding particularly in subjects that have "studies" after it.

 

The aust system does produce excellent results in kids who want to learn etc(this is for the naysayers) International students from Asia come here and pay a fortune to be at high school and uni here so it can't be all bad. In some fields Australians who are the product of the aus ed system lead the world in their fields.

 

Your children are still young and will have plenty of time to adapt before hitting the crucial years.

[julie-ruth]

Wow thanks. Thats one less thing to worry about. Wealth of information as always thanks Rachiegarlo.

 

Julie