[dharder]

For those of you with school aged kids who moved from a UK school to an NZ one: did you bring any school records? Did they ask for any? Did the new school want to get in touch with the previous one, or at least see some records? Did they want to see school reports? (I did a search but couldn't find much, apologies if this has been asked before)

We have a couple of things on one of my children's record that I would appeal now if we had to take it to the next school, but probably wouldn't waste my energy on if I thought it will never be looked at again. Not the reports we got at the end of the year, they are fine, but the stuff the school keeps on file.

The school the boys will attend in Auckland has zone, and we will be living inside the zone, so I don't think they could not take him, but it's still a kind of awkward question to ask the new school... :)

Thanks for any experiences,

Daniela

[the wilson's]

Hi
Sorry can't answer your question as I'm still stuck in UK but hoping to be in Auckland in next three weeks. I have a school report for my 2 kids but I think they will probably assess them anyway to see for themselves.
Good Luck

Karen

[Lupin]

I didn't bring any and they didn't ask. I'm not sure what benefit one would have been unless she had a problem that she needed support for or something.

[IanW99]

For our 14 year-old we showed them the last school report so they could see what he had been doing and which classes he should start in.

They didn't seem too bothered about the report as they said that they would assess him once he started.

Ian

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

We brought a summary report (one pager) that the UK school did for each child and some example school work they had done.

To be honest the NZ school didn't seem bothered about any of that, although they did take it off us. Once started in school (they put them in a year relevant to their age group) they do english, reading and maths assessments on them pretty sharpish and put them in a sub-set within their year that was at a relevant level to effectively challenge them for the skill level they are at.

We were slightly concerned when our youngest was put in the younger of the two years he could have gone into (his birthday being right on a borderline). After a couple of weeks we went in to see the teacher and they were quite clearly pushing him on his reading and maths levels so we were happy with that and with him being a bit shy and quiet it's actually doing him good to be one of the older ones in the class, so all in all a good result.

In summary, what I'm saying is don't worry too much about records unless there is a specific learning need (our olderst has Aspergers so we needed reports and notes relating to that) as the schools seem pretty good and are used to incomers from abroad, dealing with it pretty well.

Obviously this is just our experience with one specific school so others may have differing opinions.

[Sam B]

I brought their school reports and some work examples and a letter from each of their teachers. The new school politely took them but looked fairly non-plussed. They returned them (except the letters) after a week or 2. I don't think they really expected them, but it made me feel better. They comprehensively assessed them in the first term, and the work they are set is differentiated for their ability. They are stretching them well.

[willowshouse]

I brought reports for our two girls but the new school didn't bother looking at them .. they would rather assess the children's abilities within a NZ perspective (at least that was my take on it).

The older one then went on to intermediate school where she had to interview for a place (catholic system) and I think they paid more attention to her report because they have a choice of whether to accept you or not .. which is not the case with most NZ schools.

All of that aside .. if it's records which are held by the school that are concerning you then I wouldn't worry. I doubt very much whether they would contact your child's previous school unless they were concerned about something and wanted a picture of previous behaviour... and even then, who knows whether they would go down that route. I'd be tempted to see it as a new beginning ..

Good luck with it all,

Dawn

[gil]

If I recall correctly, we had to send copies of most recent school reports when we sent out of zone applications when we were still in UK. However, we didn't get places through that partciualr route, and once we lived here, in zone, schools didn't want to see anything like that. Our kids also had assessment in first few weeks. There was never any question of contacting the school in UK.
Good luck!

Gil

[dharder]

Thanks for your replies :)

I'm hoping to let him have a bit of a new start. I'm not worried about academics, but behaviourwise, he could have done better here at the present school.

So the question for us was to either have a complete break and not even tell them about his issues (and hope he improves), or to 'warn' the school. I'm just worried that if we don't tell the school, and he then keeps on being rude and they want to see previous records, they think we tried to 'cheat' them by not telling them in advance.

It isn't really like that, I just think it would be good for him to start at a place with a chance to prove he can behave, and not start with a reputation already. We'll see, probably a bit of a gamble.

Thanks for the input, it does help to know that they won't ask routinely for anything, and that the academic reports might be enough initially.

Daniela

[Lupin]

Daniela- I'd give him the clean break and fresh start without doubt. Telling them he's had problems that he may not even have in such a different system (btw, I'm fairly sur ethe sport emphasis is good for boisterous kids) potentially gives him a label before he's even started. I'd also explain to him that he has a new chance and a fresh start and it's for him to make the best of it. :)

[dharder]

btw, I'm fairly sur ethe sport emphasis is good for boisterous kids)

Thanks, Lupin, that is exactly what we are hoping for :) The latest 'no running in the playground at most times' policy hasn't done anything to improve his behaviour, and I am hoping that more physical activity will help him settle. He is seven, so I'm thinking all might not be lost just yet. He is extremely keen on sports, very competitive on the field and actually even quite good, so I am planning to have him enrolled in anything that involves a ball, the 20 minutes of PE a week here don't quite seem to cut it.

He himself is quite keen on a new start, because he has been getting frustrated with his reputation ('It doesn't matter if I did anything or not, they think I did it anyway'), and really wants to show that he can do it. I'll probably eat my words in a year's time, but hey, one can dream.

Daniela