Guest colton Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 As I have mentioned before my youngest child is in grade 11 in S.A at the moment. She is in private school and doing really well. We are trying to decide what is best for her, do we leave end of this year, grade 11 year, or wait and let her finish matric here next year? She would like to go to medical school and I had contacted one of the universities there to ask their advice and they said she would need to complete at least the last term of grade 11 and her matric year in australia or else repeat grade 11 over there or wait and finish her schooling over here, this was for medical school, don't know if it's different for any other courses. The university told me their grade 11 marks and grade 12 count towards acceptance into medical school, on a points system if I understood correctly.... Anyone had similiar experiences? Problem is we won't be able to leave before end of this year so that rules out one option! Does the private school education system give them more points as opposed to gov. schools in S.A for entrance into uni. in Oz?I could stay for another year but that means seperation from my husband for a year and a half and my daughter is very close to her dad, I think it wouldn't be good anyway. Most of the people on the forum seem to have young children, anyone done the move with late highschool teens?She has kept in contact with alot of her friends that have gone over to australia or newzealand, webcams and skype are a wonderful thing , and her friends have said schooling over there is a breeze compared to where she is now so I doubt she would battle marks wise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendie Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Well Colton, according to this posting over at SACanada. it seems that school qualifications are now not acceptable even for South Africa! If I were you, I would get my child out of there ASAP! Let her repeat grade 11 in Australia - she can only benefit from it; not only academically, but also socially. It is so much easier for them to fit into the social scene with friends made in high school. Our eldest just finished 2nd year at university, and her transition from school to uni was so much easier than it would otherwise have been. Also, there may well be some useful meritorial grants should she finish with good grades from an Australian school. Absolutely no good reason to wait! Hendie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New frontiers Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Hi there, After careful consideration, I have also decided to let my son repeat grade 11 - will give him time to get to know his environment and the new culture - he was not so keen when I first discussed it with him, but could fortunately see the advantages.Rather let her also repeat one year - what is one year in the greater scheme of things? Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colton Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Thanks will get her input on this and see how she feels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queensland Girl Posted June 1, 2006 Report Share Posted June 1, 2006 Hi ColtonMy kids were at school in Durban in private schools, and have not found the work neccessarily easier, but very different.We have two children here at the kids school who have just moved over from Crawford La Lucia and the younger boy is doing extremely well, but the older child(came over first term year 12) is struggling. I do not know if perhaps he was struggling in SA as well. From what I can ascertain the Maths Curriculum in SA is one year ahead of here.Already a massive head start.In Queensland the qualify for a Commonwealth assisted place in medicine the child will have to achieve a OP(Overall Position) of 1 -2. OP's are ranked from OP 1 as the best, to an OP 25 ,which is the bottom of the scale.To achieve an OP 1 , 6 A's in weighted subjects will be needed. Also a high Score in the Queensland Cores Skills Test(QCS)which seems to be similar to the American SATS test. Your OP is made up of year 11, year 12 and QCS. Also subjects are weighted. Simplistically it would mean that 6 A's for eg Art, Music, Physical Education, Math A (like standard grade Math) and the like will give you a lower OP then a child who obtains 6 A's in Math B (Higher Grade Math) Math C (Advanced Math) Physics, Chemistry, and the like. Please look at www.gu.edu.auAlso please be aware that kids in SA start school later than here in Queensland and my kids are older than their school peers. My remarks are Queensland specific. I do not know how it works in the other states.Good luck and feel free to mail me privately for more in depth info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colton Posted June 1, 2006 Report Share Posted June 1, 2006 Thanks Queensland Girl,I had phoned the uni. there and they did give me the same/similar details. Basically we have decided to wait and see once she gets over there. At the moment we have an Oz exchange student at her school and she has been asking her advice and getting lots of info. The exchange student reckons she would cope well there considering the marks she gets for her subjects here and the fact that our subjects are a bit more difficult. I do agree though that you could get the top marks but changing in such a crucial point in your school career, plus moving to another countries education system can knock you back quite a bit while you find your feet. The age thing is a bother though If medical school is what she wants keeping her back in grade 11 another year will be the best way to go.By the way, where do you stay on the gold coast? I want to settle in Coolangatta (Coolies) but hubby will be working in Brisbane, is it too far to travel daily? Maybe I should PM you and have a private conversation about all this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queensland Girl Posted June 1, 2006 Report Share Posted June 1, 2006 Thanks Queensland Girl,I had phoned the uni. there and they did give me the same/similar details. Basically we have decided to wait and see once she gets over there. At the moment we have an Oz exchange student at her school and she has been asking her advice and getting lots of info. The exchange student reckons she would cope well there considering the marks she gets for her subjects here and the fact that our subjects are a bit more difficult. I do agree though that you could get the top marks but changing in such a crucial point in your school career, plus moving to another countries education system can knock you back quite a bit while you find your feet. The age thing is a bother though If medical school is what she wants keeping her back in grade 11 another year will be the best way to go.By the way, where do you stay on the gold coast? I want to settle in Coolangatta (Coolies) but hubby will be working in Brisbane, is it too far to travel daily? Maybe I should PM you and have a private conversation about all this? Hi ColtonWe live on the Northern Gold Coast in a Golfing Estate called Sanctuary Cove.Coolangatta is our favorite Sunday beach walk, but it will be a hell of a travel for your hubby.Please feel free to pm me to continue this discussion on a more personal level. I have no doubt your daughter will fullfill her dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted June 2, 2006 Report Share Posted June 2, 2006 Colton, My son completed his matric in RSA and is now studying at TAFE in WA. His matric certificate was sufficient for what he is studying at the moment (Outdoor Stuff) but friends of our's daughter had to do a bridging year at uni before she could do her first year of uni studies. So, I suppose it depends on what & where you want to study.Another thing to consider is this: my son said he wished he could do his final school year in Aus as it would have helped him with fitting in and making friends much easier. It was very difficult for him to get into already formed circles of friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted June 2, 2006 Report Share Posted June 2, 2006 Hi ColtonWe arrived in NZ at the end of my youngest son's matric year. He started uni in Auckland after our arrival. In order to convert his SA matric results into their system, they decided that he could not do a double degree, which is what he wanted to do. The uni did not think that his results were good enough or that he would be capable of dealing with the amount of work. Just for reference, he did seven subjects, all on higher grade and ended up with A, B+ B and C+'s on his results. He attended Jeppe Boys High in Jhb for his matric year only. The uni offered him a place in the dual stream six months later when he managed to get 104% for a maths/computer science project. Seems crazy, but he got full marks and bonus marks, which they had not expected. Unfortunately, by then he had given up on the idea. Thinking back and after discussing it with him, we both feel that it may have been a fantastic idea for him to have re-done year 12, then he would not have had the problem of converting his results and he would have gone to university already knowing some of his peers.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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