Best time to migrate with children

[DannyReed32]

Hi everyone

 

I just want to know more or less what is the latest in the year that people will still consider moving to Aus. My daughter is 9 now (turning 10 end of July). She is in grade 3 at the moment and our plan is (if we get our pr visa in time) to fly out end of June. But we don't have a visa yet and as everyone knows there is no way of telling when your grant comes through so taking that in consideration I'd like to know if my daughter will be ok with schools etc. if we make the move after June\July?

 

Do you think she might be kept back for a year. She has excellent grades at the moment and we don't want to be the reason she flunks a year.

any thoughts will be appreciated

[MichKen]

Hi @DannyReed32,

 

To share from my personal experience, my view would be that completing the school year is best for the child and starting fresh in the new school year.  Reason being that this is not like a move in SA where the curriculum is more or less the same, it's a whole different curriculum and at the age your daughter is now, this can result in some substantial learning gaps later.  The grade 3 to grade 4 period is quite critical.  We changed our daughter from GDE curriculum to an international one at that period and it took us years to catch her up again - extra lessons, educational remediation, etc.  biggest issue was with Maths.

 

However, I can also suggest you should email the education department where you plan to settle and get some views from them on timing.

[189inprocess]

HI DannyReed32

We are in the same boat. Our son is turning 9 in June and is in grade 3. He although he is strong at maths, he isnt at Engllish comprehension (here in RSA) and we are thinking of having him repeat Year 3 when we arrive in Aus in Jan 2018. Its a HARD one. 

Google some of the NAPLAN sample tests that they have for Year 3's and prehaps see how your daughter does. 

 

Regards

[RussellJ]

Hi @DannyReed32,

 

I have 2 kids ages 6 and 8.

We decided to let them finish this schooling year and start the year afresh that side.

 

Some of the reasons I can think of for our decision is, hopefully the integration will be better/easier at the beginning of the year when there will be more 'new" kids and new friendships forming as opposed to being the 'only' new kid in the class or grade trying to break into friendship groups.

All this on top of getting to grips with a new curriculum.

 

While our kids do well at school thus far, I would rather required bridging(if necessary because of curriculum differences) get identified earlier in the school year than later so that if they need to stay on the grade they are on they wont get the feeling of being "left behind" because all their new friends from the last term have moved on and they did not.

My youngest reads only flash words etc and in accordance with her current curriculum should be reading competently(for her current group) by year end and we are aware that kids on that side are reading already at 6.

Cognizant of this, we have enrolled her in a program which will focus on getting her reading competently hopefully sooner.

 

I do understand that kids are resilient and kids probably adjust quicker and better than we(I) may give them credit for.

I do however honestly believe ours/your/everyone else kids will be fine and adjust well and its quite possible I am just being overly cautious of disrupting them but there it is lol.

 

[DannyReed32]

HI

 

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

We will consider it all when we make our decision. I really think the NAPLAN idea would also help so you can see for yourself if your child will be able or not. Its a tough one but as with the whole visa process we'll plough through it. God always has a plan......

 

Is there maybe someone who made the move already that can give their inputs as well?

 

kind regards everyone

 

 

[AFreshStart]

Finish the year out, start a fresh. 

 

My son is almost 7, he's in Year 2. He reads young readers aimed at 10-year olds now, can do both multiplication and division, knows his 1 through 12 times tables and can break down grammar to a level that is beyond me at times.

 

He's bright, but no different from the kids his age and in his class.

 

He's at a top Public School and has access to a computer lab in his classroom as well as his own tablet (provided by the school) and is already programming in SCRATCH, an MIT designed coding platform geared towards young students.

 

He started using a computer at school from Kindy, with Reading Eggs and Mathletics prescribed by the school.

 

The expectation of him in Kindy was that by year end he could count to 100, read and write over 100 sight words and also be reading, he'd bring home 3 easy readers a week that we'd need to read as part of his homework.

 

We've had two friends bring their kids over and they've had to find tutors to bring their kids up to speed - Math, Science and English being the biggest areas of developmental needs because the standards are just higher here.

 

My son's school is really progressive though, they have parents that volunteer to come in and support kids with reading through the BEAR program and the students themselves buddy up with younger kids to help them learn. My son has a buddy, and is a buddy to a Kindy child, coaching him, doing comprehension and reading with him weekly to support his learning.

 

Hope that helps

 

Cheers

 

Matt

 

 

[FromDurbs]

As the person on the forum who complained the most about finding a school.  Dont think you will arrive in January and have your child start school on Day 1 in January.

We arrived beginning of December, visited the schools we were interested in individually (trust me, visiting the school tells you a lot more than ALL the websites comparing schools) and then started looking for a house in the catchment area of the school we chose.  If the school is good the ONLY way you will get your child into the school is to show proof that you live in the catchment area.  If the school is not so good or popular you might get in without the proof of address.  It will take you about a week to visit your short list of schools, then about a month to find housing in the area, get it approved (can take a week) etc, or much longer.  So you cannot get your child attending the school of your choice in less than 5-6 weeks.  The schools close end of Dec, to end of Jan, so you cannot visit schools in January.  I would think you need to arrive by October in order to make sure your child starts on Day 1 in the next year.

 

My experience was with high schools.  I got the impression primary schools are easier.  There are more around, they are less oversubscribed, etc.  So maybe primary school parents should not be scared by my story.

 

If you are looking at high schools, I would suggest having your applications in by August.  If we had applied to the school by August, my children would have had the subjects of their choice, but coming in after that cut off meant they had to take the subjects that still had open slots (which was definitely NOT what he would have chosen).  Taking all of that into account, arriving by June/July might not be such a bad idea.  

 

About standards, my children are Years 8 and 10 and they seem to get very similar grades here than they got back in SA.  They seem to be on par in maths, english and sciences.  There are languages here that they were behind in because they never took it.  The younger one started Japanese and the older one chose not to take any languages because he was already 2 years behind.  The languages here vary from school to school, but seems to include Japanese, Korean, Italian, German, Chinese, Greek.  There are also a lot of IT kind subjects.  The youngest is taking drones, app development, coding etc.  He was able to do all of it with no background in coding.  The older one is taking a more advanced biology for his age and did quite well.  We do not help them or have tutors.  So I think the standards are similar.  Humanities might be different, because we come from such a different paradigm.  I dont know how it would have been if my kids were taking history or politics etc.  

[FromDurbs]

One more thing.  My son started Year 1 in America and could only read half the alphabet when he got there.  Because in Grade R in SA you learnt the alphabet and not to read.  Everyone else was reading.  He was sooooo behind.  We were told he would fail after 2 months.  I spent evenings with flashcards and one day he was reading.  He passed the year.  I think if the child is reasonably intelligent, everyone is dedicated, you can catch up.  

[DannyReed32]

Thanks a lot for al the responses

 

Truly thankful

[JackoFam]

My older kids also found the standards similar. My yr8 daughter said she was quite ahead of the maths here a little behind in science and the same in most other subjects.

[Lidan]

Hi everyone.

 

Almost a year later since the last post in this thread and we are now at this decision...

 

Our son turns 10 mid July and our daughter turns 5 at the end of April.

 

Our visas were granted at the end of March and we are heading to NSW.

 

We were hoping to find a job before we move but realise that its not that easy.

 

Do we move now, or wait for the new year? Im worried about our 5 year old as she is missing out on kindy year and not learning what they are at her current nursery school. 

 

Advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

[SimpleSimon]

Move as soon as possible and start your new adventure. The younger everybody is the better. Schools are well adapted to taking in new immigrants and will sort your kids out, with your monitoring.

[Lidan]

@SimpleSimon thanks. We really dont want to wait till next year, but want what is best for our kids, so its good to hear that they will be okay even if we move mid year

[Africangirl]

With older kids i suggest you keep them back a year. It doesnt really matter what time if the year they start.. they will probably feel new and displaced whenever they start. We moved our kids from top private schools in Joburg into independent schools in Aus. We bumped our 15 year old up from grade 8 in SA to year 10 here in Aus (due to age and her being strong academically) and it was a mistake. She was way ahead on maths but way behind on english writing skills, history essays etc.. we subsequently moved her down to year 9 and she was much happier. We moved our 12 year old from grade 5 in South Africa to year 6 here in Aus and it was a much better decision. He is a bit older than his class mates but at least he’s on the front foot and coping well. He’s way ahead in maths but its not a bad thing to be bored in one subject if it means coping well in the others. 

[Bonny]

On 4/20/2017 at 9:27 AM, FromDurbs said:

As the person on the forum who complained the most about finding a school.  Dont think you will arrive in January and have your child start school on Day 1 in January.

We arrived beginning of December, visited the schools we were interested in individually (trust me, visiting the school tells you a lot more than ALL the websites comparing schools) and then started looking for a house in the catchment area of the school we chose.  If the school is good the ONLY way you will get your child into the school is to show proof that you live in the catchment area.  If the school is not so good or popular you might get in without the proof of address.  It will take you about a week to visit your short list of schools, then about a month to find housing in the area, get it approved (can take a week) etc, or much longer.  So you cannot get your child attending the school of your choice in less than 5-6 weeks.  The schools close end of Dec, to end of Jan, so you cannot visit schools in January.  I would think you need to arrive by October in order to make sure your child starts on Day 1 in the next year.

 

My experience was with high schools.  I got the impression primary schools are easier.  There are more around, they are less oversubscribed, etc.  So maybe primary school parents should not be scared by my story.

 

If you are looking at high schools, I would suggest having your applications in by August.  If we had applied to the school by August, my children would have had the subjects of their choice, but coming in after that cut off meant they had to take the subjects that still had open slots (which was definitely NOT what he would have chosen).  Taking all of that into account, arriving by June/July might not be such a bad idea.  

 

About standards, my children are Years 8 and 10 and they seem to get very similar grades here than they got back in SA.  They seem to be on par in maths, english and sciences.  There are languages here that they were behind in because they never took it.  The younger one started Japanese and the older one chose not to take any languages because he was already 2 years behind.  The languages here vary from school to school, but seems to include Japanese, Korean, Italian, German, Chinese, Greek.  There are also a lot of IT kind subjects.  The youngest is taking drones, app development, coding etc.  He was able to do all of it with no background in coding.  The older one is taking a more advanced biology for his age and did quite well.  We do not help them or have tutors.  So I think the standards are similar.  Humanities might be different, because we come from such a different paradigm.  I dont know how it would have been if my kids were taking history or politics etc.  

I agree with all this. You do preferably 

need a couple of months in Aus to get the house and school you want. Our preferred Primary School in Adelaide wouldn’t even make an appointment with us, until we had a signed lease. 

 

I would say a mid-year move is do-able for younger kids, harder for teens. Also, SA kids are already mostly a year older. 

 

We took our children to Kumon for 6 months in SA, to help ensure they could keep up in Aus. They had no problems academically, but this was 11 years ago.

 

It’s also not the complete end of the world if your children miss a couple of weeks of school (although as parents we think it is).

Edited June 20, 2018 by Bonny

[Riekie]

We moved in November and a few days later we went to see the principal at the local public school to enrol our 11 year old.  She  had a look at her report card and said not to bother with the rest of the year and to rather spend the time helping her settle in so she can start school the following year in the next grade.  No issues whatsoever.  Kids are SO resilient and they have and amazing ability to adapt.  I've attended 9 different schools in 12 years.  Trust me, you make friends and you get on with it. Obviously if you can time it with a school holiday - ideally the December holidays, it would give you more time to move, find a school and settle in before school starts again, but in my opinion, it honestly does not matter when you do that.  The exception of course is if you have a kid in matric because year 12 in RSA is vastly different from year 12 in Australia. 

 

Don't overthink it - they're really OK (I stressed myself senseless for nothing...) 

[Riekie]

On 4/19/2017 at 6:43 PM, 189inprocess said:

HI DannyReed32

We are in the same boat. Our son is turning 9 in June and is in grade 3. He although he is strong at maths, he isnt at Engllish comprehension (here in RSA) and we are thinking of having him repeat Year 3 when we arrive in Aus in Jan 2018. Its a HARD one. 

Google some of the NAPLAN sample tests that they have for Year 3's and prehaps see how your daughter does. 

 

Regards

 

I wouldn't do that.  Just let him continue on in  the grade he is in.  Schools are very sympathetic towards kids who do not speak English at home and they have to provide English Second Language assistance if requested (which you should do on the enrollment form if you're concerned about his English).  We didn't and our daughter was 100% All kids will struggle with the terminology initially but it is not a biggie - get your kid a math, science etc "dictionary" for his age group.  They're awesome and explain the concept with pictures in a way any kid would understand.  Seriously, don't hold your kid back. 

 

Have a look here, for instance: 

https://www.bookdepository.com/Science-Dictionary-for-Kids-Laurie-Westphal/9781593633790?ref=pd_detail_1_sims_b_p2p_1

 

 

[vitchie]

From our experience it seems that aussie school is easier that RSA school. We moved mid-year 2017 and both my grade 6 and grade 1 daughters moved into year 6 and year 1 in the hills area in NSW and found the work easier that what they did in SA public school (Randpark Primary).

[Riekie]

On 4/20/2017 at 9:27 AM, FromDurbs said:

If the school is good the ONLY way you will get your child into the school is to show proof that you live in the catchment area.  If the school is not so good or popular you might get in without the proof of address.  

 

That is not quite correct. All public schools have to accommodate the kids in their government assisgned zone before they will accept children coming from outside their zone.  No matter how full the school is, all public schools HAVE to accept all children living in their zone, regardless. 

 

You have quite a few different school setups in Australia: Public, Public Selective, Private, Grammar, Catholic, Christian, (probably a few other religious schools too).

 

Public (Primary School & High School) and Public Selective (High School only) works the same in that they both have to accept children in their zones but with the selective schools, you write a special exam in the final term of year 5 to get accepted in a selective school of your choosing (if you're not in their zone).  The rest of the schools can choose who they accept - some of them have parents adding their kids on a waiting lists from birth. Most have some level of entry requirement to be accepted.  

[Mel-B]

My daughter started school in grade 3 in Melbourne, and started in term 2 in that year. The school did not look at her report (didn't even ask) but rather asked us about her ability and where we think she would be comfortable (one year down, same year, etc). A lot of effort was made by her teacher to settle her and help her make friends. She was behind with writing cursive, but not much else really. If you choose a good school the kids will be fine - just move and get settled as soon as you can. We are in a very good public primary school (we live in the zone). 

[Bob]

You know there are also other factors you might want to take into consideration.

I am now retired, brought three kids up and can look back at the landscape of life, to some extent.

I find South Africans who come to Australia as soooo far behind financially, compared to the average Australian household, that it pays to get here sooner rather than later.

Housing is so expensive in Australia, for example, that I find most Aussies are in their own place by the time they are 40 and equity in their bit of real estate is being built up because they actually own their house, or apartment. I'm still finding 40 year old South African migrants that are renting who have been 3 or 4 years in Australia. Quite frankly, their prospects for a healthy retirement are bleak.

The average 30 year old Australian has accumulated as much wealth as the average 40 year old South African. The average 40 year old Australian has built up as much wealth as the average 60 year old South African coming to Australia . . . . . and so on.

Every Australian worker has a retirement package, called Superannuation, that workers in other countries don't necessarily have. That funds our retirement to a greater or lesser degree, and by putting back your time into the Australian workforce, you could be lessening your retirement income many years from now.

You don't look at some aspects of life when you are bringing kids up . . . . . life focuses on them to a big extent . . . . but there are other factors to consider which nobody really mentions. Only old fools like myself.

The way to accumulate wealth is to get into the Australian workforce, earn Australian dollars and invest in your own property as soon as possible, and also start to save through Superannuation for a healthy retirement.

You will have the cash then, years later, to put your kids through university, no worries, without skimping on life's little luxuries.

The younger kids are, the more flexible they are.

[Gecko]

Love this thread, thank you.

 

We are coming over at the end of the year and Ive been stressing big time about the kids and getting them into school - and how to find the right school etc etc..

 

For those of you already there and in the school system, does the type of school there really matter? So far, Im looking into the gov. schools because the private schools are just way to expensive for us just starting out. Keep in mind, because we only have a temp visa (for 4 years) - we still have to pay for gov. school, but its 1/4 of the price of the private ones.

 

We are looking at 2 areas to move to and so Ive been looking at the schools in those areas but they all seem pretty much the same to me.. am I wrong?

 

Did your kids have to write an Eng proficiency test? Or an assessment to see if they fit in with their required grades?

 

I really feel like a headless chicken with all this.. so much to do.. so much to think about and consider - no idea where to start!

[Lidan]

17 hours ago, Gecko said:

Love this thread, thank you.

 

We are coming over at the end of the year and Ive been stressing big time about the kids and getting them into school - and how to find the right school etc etc..

 

For those of you already there and in the school system, does the type of school there really matter? So far, Im looking into the gov. schools because the private schools are just way to expensive for us just starting out. Keep in mind, because we only have a temp visa (for 4 years) - we still have to pay for gov. school, but its 1/4 of the price of the private ones.

 

We are looking at 2 areas to move to and so Ive been looking at the schools in those areas but they all seem pretty much the same to me.. am I wrong?

 

Did your kids have to write an Eng proficiency test? Or an assessment to see if they fit in with their required grades?

 

I really feel like a headless chicken with all this.. so much to do.. so much to think about and consider - no idea where to start!

Hi Gecko.  

we have been here a month and 3 days now and our kids (10 and 5) have settled into school so well.  We chose to keep the 10 year old in Year 4, and the 5 year old is 2 terms behind as kids in kindy, can read and write by term 3.  so with lots of extra work in the afternoons we are catching up and just 2 weeks into school our 5 year old can read and is starting to write.  (but the writing has a long way to go still).  in saying that, you can let them start kindy when they are turning 6.so we had to choose to either let her start now, or keep her home for the rest of the year and let her start next year.  we decided to let her start now, and we can always let her stay in kindy for another year if need be, but it doesnt look like she will have to stay behind.  We didnt want her to change 3 schools in 6 months.

I think most schools here are on the same level you just have to find the school that is right for your family.  Type of school, in my opinion doesnt matter, we chose a public school and are very happy with them.  I cannot say how much different private schools would be, but we dont feel  like the public school we chose lacks anything.  

 

which areas are you looking at?  you will have to stay in the catchment area of the school, but you are right in saying they are very similar.  You can check out school ratings on goodschools.com.au

 

they didnt have to write Eng proficiency tests at all.  you can tick a box on the enrollment form stating that english is their second language and then they will assess them to see if additional english support is necessary, provided by the school / state.  Our kids, even though we are afrikaans, are both bilingual and upon assessment, the schools found that they can speak and understand english properly, so they didnt qualify for the additional support. 

 

dont let it overwhelm you.  i was just as worried as you are, and the schools are way more laid back here.  Yesterday I went to the office to say that i still havent received an invoice to pay our annual tution fees (and its 2 weeks later) and the lady asked me to please relax...  we will eventually get it lol.

 

Our 10 year old loves the structure of schooling here, its much more relaxed and not half as pressured as in South Africa. 

 

They will be fine. 

 

All the best. 

[Gecko]

Oh thats fantastic to hear! Thank you so much. I will try to relax about it too lol - and just take it as it comes once we are there. My girls will be 10 and 11 when we get there.

 

We are going to New Castle, NSW but looking into areas like Fletcher and surrounds. 

[Lidan]

3 minutes ago, Gecko said:

Oh thats fantastic to hear! Thank you so much. I will try to relax about it too lol - and just take it as it comes once we are there. My girls will be 10 and 11 when we get there.

 

We are going to New Castle, NSW but looking into areas like Fletcher and surrounds. 

i was worried about the 10 year old and not the 5 year old and turned out that the 10 year old had it much easier than the 5 year old. He made friends on day one, tried for the school band today and has his 1st performance tomorrow and is just rocking it . Your girls will love it here. Our son did his homework at school today in "free time" . Thats time set aside for them during school hours to do what they feel like. Ie reading, doing homework, etc.

 

Not clued up on Newcastle but you are welcome to message me if i can help in any way