School advice needed!

[Guest fatman]

Fri Nt. 11th Dec - 6:25pm

 

Hello there!

This is our first attempt on this Forum:goofy:

We r the "Price" fam, living in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.. Graham, Janis & daughter Sophie 12yrs.

We have our State S for Adelaide & waiting for Medical request, in short we are expecting to be moving over May/June 2011.

Our daughter Sophie turned 12 in Sept this year, we are concerned abt her settling in as gentle as poss when we move over. We were wondering if anyone has any advice whether we should put Sophie back in Primary 7 or if we shld go ahead and put her in High school when we arrive. Sophie can be quite shy.

Or perhaps the school will decide?

We are planning to move to South Adelaide (Flagstaff Hill, Hallett Cove, Adelaide Hills areas)... Any sound advice would be very much appreciated.

 

Graham & Janis Price:jiggy:

[Guest Guest75]

I've no school advice - but welcome to the forum!!

 

I'm sure you will get some help on this .

 

 

 

:12:

[Guest Aussie pat]

Our daughter was also 12 when we moved over 2 years ago. She went into Year 7 at the beginning of that school year despite having already started year 8 in the UK. This meant her peers were of similar age to herself and she found it much easier to relate to the other children. My husband was put up a year at school and was always younger than everyone else in his class and he says he wouldn't recommend it. Our daughter is now a happy girl who enjoys school and has plenty of friends. She is also doing extremely well academically so that side of things also worked itself out.

[Guest m.jephcott]

Hi

We moved over in late september and our son had justed started year 5 in the UK, he had to go back to year 3. We were advised that it is better for him to be in this year, because he would be the oldest in the school year and when the teen pressures of parties, driving etc it would be a year later than if he had been in the school year above. As well as the work load being more appropriate for his age.

[Rachiegarlo]

Year 7 here is quite a social year with usually lots of events for them culminating in graduation etc. As you are arriving mid year I would enrol her in primary school. This will allow her to settle into a smaller environment and go through all the high school transition stuff with some people she knows in November. Most state high schools here have 6-10 classes in each year level, whereas even the biggest primaries only have about 3 - 4 classes at year 7. Plus fitting into halfway through the curriculum in year 7 is probably going to be easier than in year 8.

[Diane]

Yes, I'd definitely say put her into Year 7 if she feels ok doing that. Year 7 is a great school year, lots of fun stuff (sports carnivals, trips) and lots of primary schools also give the Year 7's special responsibilities such as helping at the school reception desk etc. I think also primaries are generally a bit more pro-active in helping newbies settle in than the high schools are, so if she's a bit shy, doing some time in Year 7 before going to high school will do her the world of good. Will also give you plenty of time to look at High Schools in the area and pick the one that will suit her best.

[Guest fatman]

Yes, I'd definitely say put her into Year 7 if she feels ok doing that. Year 7 is a great school year, lots of fun stuff (sports carnivals, trips) and lots of primary schools also give the Year 7's special responsibilities such as helping at the school reception desk etc. I think also primaries are generally a bit more pro-active in helping newbies settle in than the high schools are, so if she's a bit shy, doing some time in Year 7 before going to high school will do her the world of good. Will also give you plenty of time to look at High Schools in the area and pick the one that will suit her best.

 

Thank you so much for your advice, we thought the same.... our only concern is if our Visa don't come through as early as we are hoping, for instance its late in the year when we arrive in Adelaide leaving only a couple of months left in the P-7 year.... I think what ever happens we will still repeat the year7 to settle our daughter in....

Fingers crossed!! thanks again

 

Graham & Janis Price

[Guest fatman]

Thank you very much for your advice.... def agree ...

Graham & Janis Price

[Diane]

By the way, she won't end up hugely older than her classmates - my daughter has a birthday in September too, and turned 14 when in Year 8, 15 in year 9, and 16 in year 10. She isn't the oldest in her year at all.