[clodestar]

We are on our reccy at moment ( going very well ) and am getting confused about what year my children will be in when we arrive next september. Eldest is 13 in November and middle one is 6 next week . Can anyone enlighten me ?

[gil]

Good question clodestar. I would recommend getting in touch with a couple of schools in the area you are looking to go to and ask them. The school year runs Feb to Dec (not Sept to July) but the age cut-off point is May for some reason :confused:
Anyway, ours all went up a year: our 9 year old would now have been i Year 4 in UK and started Year 5 this Febrauary. Our 11 year old would have been in Year 6 now, but started Year 7 in Feb. However, our 15 year old (on arrival last Nov, now 16) would have been in Yera 11 now, so she couldn't start in Year 12 as she would not have done any GCSEs yet, so she started Year 11 in Feb. Hope that makes sense.
I think your elder one would be looking at Year 8 right now, Intermediate school and Year 9 (College) next Feb. Your little one would have started on their 5th birthday, so Year 1 this Feb just gone.

As I said, do check with schools though!

Gil

[willsken]

Both mine went up a year as well. I think you would be able to have some input on this (depending on the school). Both mine are coping well with "missing" a year so I wouldn't worry too much.

[willowshouse]

My 7 year old went up a year from Year 2 to Year 3.

My 11 year old had already completed Year 6 in England in July .. had a summer holiday in England, a month 'off' school in September .. a month or so travelling with us and then joined Year 6 here in New Zealand for the last 6 weeks of the term. She started Year 7 in February. Although she is a bright girl it was better for her to start her new school with all the new Year 7 girls rather than try to skip ahead.

The different school year was a concern for me before me came here but I'd have to say now that it is not a problem for three reasons. Firstly, the school will put your child in the most appropriate class and if they get it wrong they will move them. Secondly, most schools I know of have composite classes which means that within one class you will have children working with a wide range of abilities. Finally, my personal opinion is that the schools are slightly less academic/concerned with results than in England .. (I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing and it is not meant as a criticism - they just do things differently here and the focus is not the same as England) therefore it isn't a problem for a english child to 'miss' a portion of the year.