School for older kids

[curtis913]

Hi all, am new to forum as only just found out the site existed. Seems fantasticly full of real experiances and info. My family are currently waiting for a response to migration application under investor category and the whole family are keen, eldest boy is mad windsurfer and we're all looking forward to outdoors and sports lifestyle. Only major concern is the impact on my eldest boys schooling, hes 15 and would be taking the UK GCSE's next year. Has anybody migrated with similar age child? Are we asking too much of him to get integrated and catch up ready for NZ exams? Any help appreciated, this is the one thing that could deter us from getting on the plane!

PS:We're hoping to be arriving about autumn 2005, probably North Shore but no fixed plans yet.

[Terra]

Hi Curtis
I have a 14 year old myself and am a secondary school teacher.
Your son should have no problems academically. Just be very careful which courses he enrols in at school. Under the new NCEA system there are a lot more options but some of them lead to dead ends. If he is intending to enter university, he needs to do the more academic courses or he will not meet the prerequisites.

Hope this has not confused you.

Terra

[curtis913]

Thanks Terra, excellent, we'll keep a good eye on the subjects.

My main concern I think is say we arrive this summer/autumn when would his next set of exams be? Would he have missed much in the way of nescessary coursework. Also any idea(this is a longshot) how the UK GCSEs which he is now studying will have prepared him for the NZ exams? In the UK coursework forms part of the final grade, is it the same in NZ. If so, how would Aaron be rated on missed coursework?

Apologies for all the Q's, I'm after some comfort that in wanting a better life for all the family, I don't put my eldest boy at a dissadvantage with his schooling.

I was tempted to wait 18 months and complete the GCSEs but I've been advised these are not recognised in NZ. I also have a 13 year old, so I'd only be in the same dilema with him plus my eldest will be hitting another set of exams.

Looks like we should have done this 5 years ago!

Thanks again for you time.

Regards

Tony Curtis

[Terra]

The school year run from February To December, with exams in November. It would be difficult to enter Year 11-13 mid-year and still do well.
I cannot see why your GCSEs would not be acceptable here. If you are going to university you probably just need to make a special application, and an employer would probably just need it explained to him.

In NZ we have just started a new system called NCEA and none of the employers understand that anyway. The courses can be strongly internally assessed (ie through the year) depending on the course. The less academic courses tend to have more internal assessment than the more academic ones. But this is not always true. What subjects does your son take?

Terra

Hi Terra, my older boy is in year 10 now so hopefully, if we move before Sept, the impact would be manageable.

He is studying all the usual core sudjects, maths english lang and Lit, 3x science's and chose electronics and I.T as additional subjects.

It sounds like we are cutting it fine, the quicker the better, fingers crossed we will hear soon.

Regards

Tony

[DawnMarron]

Hi Curtis

we are just about ready to submit our EOI and we have a daughter who was 14 in Feb so she is a year 9. She takes her options in Sep, wants to be a midwife. She is so absolutely against coming over, really worried about settling in to school and having to pick up where she left off. She has been identified gifted and talented, is really bright and popular but I can't convince her everything's going to be OK and that in the long term she'll have better opportunities. She's also really arty, seriously into ballet, theatre etc. and worried school doesn't cater for the arts as much as here? (Although I'm a performing arts tutor and I don't know where she gets that from!) Can anyone advise?

[cal]

Hi Tony,

We just moved out here in Jan with four children ages 10, 11, 13 & 15 all of which have settled in extremely well... but there is a significant difference between their new schools and the schools they left behind in the UK. Culture shock!!

The schools all seem to have websites so try and email a few to gage which would be the best option for your children... also ask what year they would recomend for them to start in - our children have all been moved into the year above the one they were in in the UK.

We are on the North Shore too... and have kids at Stanmore Bay Primary, Whangaparaoa College & Wentworth College - all of which are very good; the emphasis here is on communication with parents - you will find that the teachers will email you to discuss how your child is settling in, which we have found a great help as we can always be one step ahead of the kids when they say that they have no homework and they're off to the beach!!!! LOL

I would definately make the move now though... 15 is a good age and if you leave it any longer you run the risk of him not wanting to go at all.

Have to go now... the beach is beconning.

Cal :icon_cool:

I'm in the British forces and cannot move to NZ until I have completed 22 years(may 2008). Can anybody tell me, for certain, what will happen to my son who will be sixteen and will have completed his GCSEs. He is very clever, will he be held back or will the school take into consideration his GCSEs and allow him to carry on with the kids from his age group.

My eldest son is doing his GCSEs at the mo and we hope to move out to NZ in Sep/Oct. He will just carry on in the equivalent year as our 6th form in Jan when their new school year starts. In the meantime, he'll have to get a part time job!!

Fisheress