Are your kids finding school far too easy?

[DebbieLo]

Hi
I was wondering if any one else has the same problem as me, we have been here for 6 weeks and my children aged 14 and 10, school years here 9 and 4/5 are finding school far too easy. They went to a comprehensive school in England and were both doing really well, in top sets. The high school kids here mess about throwing things, teachers allow them too listen to I pods and don't seem to give out any discipline .

We could move them to another school but its out of the area zone and a train journey away. We are even considering moving back to England so they get a better education.

Does anyone else have the same problem?

Debbie

[Diane]

Have you looked at private schools? I have found that generally they do quite a good job of looking after kids at either end of the spectrum and are less tolerant of disruptive behaviour. It doesn't necessarily mean paying out large sums of money either - many schools offer scholarships or partial scholarships. Definitely worth considering for your older child. For the younger one though, bear in mind that here in Australia, primary schools are not about huge academic achievement - it's more about building confidence, trying out lots of things, learning to socialise with a wide mix of people, etc etc

[coolerking]

Hi
I was wondering if any one else has the same problem as me, we have been here for 6 weeks and my children aged 14 and 10, school years here 9 and 4/5 are finding school far too easy. They went to a comprehensive school in England and were both doing really well, in top sets. The high school kids here mess about throwing things, teachers allow them too listen to I pods and don't seem to give out any discipline .

We could move them to another school but its out of the area zone and a train journey away. We are even considering moving back to England so they get a better education.

Does anyone else have the same problem?

Debbie

Hi Debbie,
would it be possible to move into another area? Obviously, this is not something you would do lightly, but just ask for areas that people have found schooling to be good.

Hope it works out,
Cooler

[R175]

Hi Debbie

We have only been here 7 weeks too...

My girls are only young BUT have said school is easy, my eldest was working at a level of 2 years above in UK and the littlest 1 year above her actual year...then again they only started going full time 2 days ago...lol

We asked about them pushing them as they were both fairly advanced and it is just as important for them to get a good education than it is for us to get a good life, that is why we live 45mins away from wife's work

We are going to give them a few weeks and then see how it goes. It may well be doing what Diane says for us and looking for private...which is a real shame as the school and teachers, and to be honest the kids also are really nice and pleasant.

I hope you sort it out and look forward to your response...to threaten going back to UK their school must of been excellent...lol (you can probably tell we aren't think that way...lol)

[Rachiegarlo]

No not at the moment because she has three days left of her school life. :D Swotvac begins next week then final exams in the next few weeks. All my kids have been educated in the Aus system and it gets tougher the higher up they go. Believe me lying half asleep on the living room floor supporting the 2-3000 word essay writer at 2 am is not easy. High school becomes more serious in year 10 and then its all on in yr 11. By their last yr they are expected to hit the ground running. Deadlines have to be met or else they get 0 marks unless a doctor's cert is produced.

I came here as a bright 10 year old , fresh out of an excellent Suffolk Middle school and yes in some things I was way ahead, but in others I wasn't. The Aussie kids caught up and some surpassed me. Aussie kids are no slower than any other kids in the world, they are going through their education system and the expected amount will fill the uni places for engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers etc.

Being slightly ahead for a while can be a good thing as school work can be completed quickly leaving time for them to expand other interests while they still have the time. My youngest used to fill her days with dance, sport, music, scouts etc and slowly this has been whittled away so that in this her final year she works one shift to give herself some funds and has one dance lesson......the rest of her time has been taken up with the demands of year 12.

I would say, don't worry, look at how this years yr 12s do at your school and then think about moving if you are not happy. Yr 9 here is after all only 2nd year high school when they encourage the kids to try a little bit of everything and the slash and burn of subject choices begins in yr 10.

[thebacons]

If you go back will you be able to garentee you get them back into the same school?

If not you could end up with the same problems back in the UK.

[dalton]

Hi god im so with you onm that one our kids are same ages & we have the same issues our oldest hates school & same as you she was in top set its killing us watching the pain shes going through hmm UK not looking so bad after all??????????????????????

[Adelaide_bound]

hmm UK not looking so bad after all??????????????????????

If you had *any* idea of the truth of schools in the UK you would run so fast away - one of the major reasons for our move is schooling - I'm a teacher, most of my hubby's family are teachers and between us we have all taught in a massive range of schools in this country. I wouldn't have put my kids in any but one of them, and that was a private school that we a) could never ever afford and b) the only way we could have afforded it was for me to work there (even then it would be a struggle depending on how many children we had) and I'm not sure I could tie myself to somewhere for the sake of the kids if it turned out to not be a workplace I wanted to stay in (and that's if there was a job there in the first place/I could get a job there lol).

I will never ever put my children through school in the UK - the education system here I think not only robs them of their childhood, it just focuses totally on the wrong things imho and is basically treating children like statistics on a balance sheet, not children to be educated. If your child is just missing out on a level 4, or a C grade they will get time and help. If they are high flyers or not academically 'average' then bad luck basically.

If you think schooling is too easy I would say either try and get them in a private school in Oz (which can be a lot more cost effective than in the UK), or supplement their school work with home study if you think they may struggle academically later on. (Or, if you think they can cope with the ramp up later, just let them be children for the time being)

[loopylisa]

Just my opinion from someone who has been educated in the Australian school system and then the UK system from 15-post graduate Uni Level. School in oz was always too easy for me it got to the point in primary school I would be finishing my work in less than half the time it was 'supposed' to take and the teachers would order me to help the other kids in the class(Im owed alot of money in back pay from the aussie government lol). Anyway it got so bad that by the last year of primary school I was teaching myself english in the corridor using the dictionary because I had worked my way through the entire primary curriculum and the teacher didnt know what to do with me.It got a bit better at high school but with english assignments like analysing disney films I was quickly turned off and began loosing interest in school and my grades dropped because quite frankly I couldn't be bothered to attend or listen anymore. The Australian school system never did anything for me as a high flyer. We then moved back to the UK and OMG it was a struggle. I was placed into top sets and it was SO HARD but I LOVED IT because it pushed me. That is what I was I'm smart and academic its what I thrive on and its what I love and if your children are anything like me then regardless of this let them be children stuff they will want to be pushed. I hated school esp primary so much in oz because it just made me feel alone and isolated because I was much further ahead of my peers. This refusal to stream in the aussie school system is rediculous. In a few years I want children and I'm extremely anxious about hearing the system does not to have appeared to changed in 10-15 years. Education is supposed to help you meet your fullest potential and I was really let down by my early schooling in Australia. Its all ironed out in the wash now and I have a masters degree but in my heart of hearts believe thats due to moving back to the UK and I feel I would not have achieved what I have in public aussie schools. My opinion is private school if you can afford it, finding a school which will agree to skip your child a grade and tutoring.

[Diane]

Look for schools that offer the SHIP programme as well (Students of High Intellectual Potential) - there are a few state ones around. Glenunga High springs to mind immediately but there's several.