SA to Aus School transition

[Dora]

We are currently working on our exit strategy to move back to Australia for the second time around. We already have citizenship so when and where to we'll make the move, is still unclear but let's just say anything between now and end 2017 latest.  I have some concerns on how stressful or successful the school transitions will  be.  And yes, I know I should not worry about this, but I am a mother and I do worry about this...

 

Firstly, Our eldest son started and finished his Prep year in a Brisbane school before we moved back to SA. With the good foundation created for him in Prep, he's been flying through Gr R, Gr 1 and now Gr 2 on this side. So lets say me make our move end of this year, and from past experience, he will most likely skip Gr 3 (Aus and SA) and start with his age group in year 4, (he is now 8 and in Gr 2 SA, born Feb 2008).  Am I right with this calculation?  Any comments with similar transitions welcome.

 

Secondly, I worry a little bit more about our girl who just turned 6 and in Gr R (born March 2010) in terms of the timing our our move....again lets say me move at the end of this year, then in 2017 she will join her age group going on to Gr 2.  Now from the prep experience we've had with our son, he could read, write and do basic math at the end of his Prep year. And from my current observation, Gr R in SA is not nearly on the same standard as prep in Aus.  So, taking this in consideration, she will have skipped 2 very important foundation years if she starts with gr 2?  Again, is is a correct assumption...any advise or past experiences will be greatly appreciated.

[Shellfish]

Hi Dora,

 

I can't comment on grades in SA as I have had no exposure to this since I was at school (some time ago) - I will say that if your son was in school in Melbourne in at 9, in Year four and born in Feb that he would be on the younger end of the scale (although this depends on the area you live in) but my son's school places emphasis on emotional intelligence.

 

Often children will be placed in composite classes - this means that they combine different years i.e.  some children in say Year 3 and Year 4 as one group - this way they can extend the more advanced year 3's or  have more repetition for Year 4's who are struggling. Personally I would contact the schools once you have decided and ask their opinion - they may do an assessment  to see what level he is at. 

[BIGSHARK]

Dear Dora,  I am curious, when you say, "And from my current observation, Gr R in SA is not nearly on the same standard as prep in Aus"  are you meaning private or public school Grade R in SA? 

[Dora]

My daughter is in public school here in SA at the moment and my son did prep in a private school in Brisbane.

[AnitaVenter]

Has any one ever made a move from SA to Australia with a child that had school in Afrikaans?  We are thinking of immigrating to Australia but I am concerned about the fact that the transition for my child might be to big? Any thoughts on this anyone?

[Dora]

Hi Anita, 

 

Everyone on this forum who made the move will tell you not to worry about the language and you will most likely still worry, that's your job to worry .  They will be right, you don't have to worry. 6 weeks into the schools there and you will ask your kids to speak Afrikaans at home at least.  

 

My kids are currently in an Afrikaans school and they will go over in Q4 this year.  My son will be ok with the English because he started with kindy and prep in Aus before we moved back to SA. My daughter's english is not that good but we trust that she will wing it with her personality .  Point is, don't let this be the reason why you don't make the move.  They really catch up and adapt quickly.  I don't know the ages of your kids, but the sooner you make the move the better.

 

At the moment we have real Aussies in our Afrikaans school, and they speak Afrikaans now ...funny actually...

 

 

[Kanniewagnie]

We moved in the beginning of my children's Gr 3 & 5 years.  They were in an Afrikaans school.  My oldest was a straight A student, my youngest struggled a bit.  If I could do it all over again, I would do an English learning program with them, as soon as we thought about the move - for instance with Tina Cowley, or Cumon.  Unfortunately the "normal" immigration stuff, like the sale of our property, dealing with lots of homework (real SA style), trying to keep the kid's lives normal while living in limbo the 2 years before making the final move, took so much time, that I never had the time.  My oldest did some Studdyladder, but my youngest was not interested.  At the very least, let them read English each day for at least 15 minutes each. 

 

My experience was that with Mathematics my kids were well on standard.  The level of education we had in South Africa was very good and I do not think that there were any shortcomings, except with the language adjustment.  The kids here in our the Western Australian primary school are expected to write more extensively.  While we had to write either a letter, or an advertisement or an invitation or a few paragraphs about a specific subject, the kids here are expected to do persuasive writing, narrative writing, etc. 

 

I have bought NAPLAN books and in fact every kind of book I could lie my hands on to give them "homework" after school and to see where they need extra attention, because the teachers in our school do not give any type of homework (except maybe a picture to colour in sometimes...) 

 

Yes, the kids adapt very quickly. In my experience it was not as easy as "they" claim it would be - not all children adapt at the same rate.

 

Making friends is a total different issue and I can promise you that it is an important factor in how quick they will feel that they "belong".  When you decide on where you are moving, first go the the myschool website, or google "compare 5 schools" (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/schools/interactive) and see which schools in your area are better.  It is a very good indication of the quality of school and I can recommend that you do not stay out of boundary.  We thought that Australian schools are good no matter where - wrong!  Please thoroughly investigate the school before you sign a rental or buy a house.

 

I hope I did not "talk" too much!

[Dora]

Help!!! I need some reasurance that our kids will be ok...

 

So we went to see the principal at our local State School to enroll our son(8) and daughter (6).

 

Surprisingly, (because there are so many Saffers in our area), the school have not had transfers from RSA before ?. I suppose that the benefit in that was that I could basically tell them in which grades I think the kids should slot into.

 

So our kids were in an Afrikaans goverment school in Pretoria but my son did kindy and prep in Brisbane before we went back to RSA. He then did Gr R to Gr2 third term in RSA. According to school regulations in QLD he is suppose to join with his age group in Year 3. His English speaking and reading is very good. He's a bright boy and a fast learner and therefore we have now decided to put him in Year 3 and see how it goes. All of a sudden I'm doubting if this is wise. Will he be able to catch up? Will the gap not be too big? I know that each child is different but I'm just fishing for some reasurance that he will be ok 

 

With regards to our girl who was in her Gr R year in RSA. According to her age she was suppose to join with the year 1's here. But after I explained the RSA learning outcomes of Gr R vs Prep here, they quickly agreed that she should join in Prep rather than Year 1. Major relieve for me because even in Prep she will be behind, but not a train smash. We will have to do some work over the December holidays.

 

This is such a worry for me at the moment because up until now they both did so well in school and now they might be faced with s situation where they are going to stuggle for a while. I just hope that we will be able to keep their spirits high and they don't take a confidence knock.

 

Can anyone tell me something that will make me feel better about this?

 

Just a worried mom 

 

 

[AFreshStart]

@Dora

 

All I can share is that the expectations here in Sydney at the Public School my son is at has been rather demanding and WAY beyond what I expected.

 

He's only in Grade 1 (he's just turned 6-years old) but has to read 3 English readers a week for homework, has spelling and written words like "character, environment, sphere, chapter & buffer" and has learned his times tables. They do addition, subtraction, multiplication and basic division.

 

He's currently learning how to work out the volume of 2D spaces and in English they are learning grammar and he can distinguish compound words, alliterations, pronouns, verbs and has to construct and deconstruct sentences.

 

They do Mathletics & Reading Eggs, on-line courses they do weekly, both at home and school. He can use Microsoft Word and has already written 2 assignments this week, they are simple though, nothing too hectic.

 

Reading from his homework sheet this week they include "Find synonyms for 4 of this weeks spelling words and type them out in Microsoft Word" and "Read your favourite book to a family member or friend via Skype using dramatic voices to entertain your listener".

 

The revision work included 4 questions using Aus currency in both notes and coins and he has to work out how many dollars there were in each question as well as simple maths addition questions which were 19+210 = X and 27+110 = X.

 

This a paragraph from his Grade 1 readers (book). This one is called  "Natural Disasters" by Hanna Reed.

 

Quote

Tidal waves happen after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or landslides in the ocean. Tidal waves are huge waves that travel very quickly. They can cause a lot of damage when they reach land. Tidal waves flood the land with salty water and wash people and buildings away.

 

They progress rather quickly, your son is quite a bit older so this is probably easy for him, but if this is Grade 1 work, I'm sure much more will be expected of him in Grade 3.

 

I had a friend who had his son redo Grade 2 here in Melbourne coming out from South Africa at a top private school and they had to get tutors to help him catch up, so be prepared to work hard at it.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by AFreshStart

[Kanniewagnie]

At our public school here in WA , they've put my son in Yr3 for a 'test period' of 2 weeks during which the teacher gave him specific tasks to determine if he should rather go to Y2 as I requested, or stay on in Y3.  Luckily they agreed that he should be in Y2 to give him time to adapt.

 

So I'm sure if you ask the teacher and speak to the principle and follow up with them every 2nd day about his progress, they will be able to put him back a year if necessary.  This must be discussed with them and followed up, because it is not standard practise.

 

My daughter was put in a split class Y4/5, so it was easy to see which level suited her best.

 

The kids in one class have different levels of reading/ spelling / maths, so Matt's  kid might be in the extension group for gifted kids that require more challenging work, while some kids will be in other groups where their spelling words are a bit easier & maths less difficult.  I find that they individualise the work according to the child's ability.

 

My experience is that if your child struggled in the Afr school, it will be a struggle here too - and if they did well in the Afr school, they will do well here too - you can do extra work with them all you like (and it does make a difference), but if your child is not interested, it's a stressfull situation.  If your child is dedicated and motivated to succeed, all will go very well and you'll see the marks in the report climb soon.  Don't stress about a 'C' mark the first term - it will all turn out well.

 

 

[Dora]

Thanx for the input and valueable food for thought. We are going to another interview this afternoon to the school that my son will hopefully be accepted for from his year 5 year. We will get their input as well. I think that I was still so jet lagged when we went to see the first school that I did not think straight to ask the right questions.

 

The more I think about it, the more I am sure that he needs to go to Year 2 and not Year 3.

[ARW]

Hi all, when does the oz school year start, is it January like here in Rsa, or Sept? Also do the schools require early registration, like in SA you usually need to apply by April of the year before... do the dates differ based on the state you live in? Thanks

[FromDurbs]

School year starts late Jan / early Feb.  Exact dates differ by state.  Government schools are zoned and you cannot get admitted to most of them until you produce a proof of address, which makes it impossible to register early.  But schools do have cut-offs for application and some have entrance exams that need to be done a few months before the new year starts.