[migratory birds]

When a kid starts school in Sepember (i.e. 9 yrs old, 4th grade) in the US but moves before the start of the NZ schoolyear to begin a "new school year" in February, do they start in the same (ie begin again in the equivalent of 4th grade which is called something else in NZ) or next grade (ie begin in the equivalent of 5th grade since they just finished 1/2 of the 4th grade year)?

(This may be a question for the Americans on the list (???) - I'm not sure how the UK system works - maybe you begin new school year's in September, too)

[nickydwuk]

In the UK we also start the school year in September. This was also something I wanted to know. We hope to arrive next September when my eldest son will be 16 and a half and my younger son will be 14. Eldest will be 17 in the December and would have already finished school in UK - what year would he start NZ school or doesn't he eed to? Also my other son willbe 14 and would have been starting the equivalant of year 10 in September - what year would he start in the September? Would he come in at the end of year 9 or year 10?

[dharder]

When a kid starts school in Sepember (i.e. 9 yrs old, 4th grade) in the US but moves before the start of the NZ schoolyear to begin a "new school year" in February, do they start in the same (ie begin again in the equivalent of 4th grade which is called something else in NZ) or next grade (ie begin in the equivalent of 5th grade since they just finished 1/2 of the 4th grade year)?

We're not there yet, but have talked to the school the kids will go to and we've been told that they normally go by age. They would put them in the year that they would be in had they been in school in NZ all the time (goodness, what a sentence).

Our older ones are 7 now and in Year 2 in the UK, would be Year 3 when we move to NZ. They will most likely be in Year 4 in NZ in February 2008 with the beginning of the new school year. They would in effect then have had 3 months of the UK Year 3 before moving to NZ Year 4.

But I'm still trying to get my head round all this as well.

Daniela

[Sam B]

I have 2 girls and their birthdays fall in November and September, so in the UK they were both one of the oldest in their years. When we came to NZ, they put my eldest daughter up a year, so she is now the youngest in her year, and this has worked well for her as she has found the work more challenging. They put my younger daughter in the lower age group of the 2 choices, so she is still one of the oldest in the class. This was right for her, as she has not been at school long, and needs more time in the starter classes if you know what I mean. It's all worked out well, although effectively my eldest daughter will have half a year less at school in total.

[Helsandfamily]

Sam B, Can I ask how old your children are.

I have 2 boys 7 and 3 and am wondering how the move will affect them.

My eldests birthday is december and is he likely to become one of the youngest? do you have much of a choice as to which year they go in?

thanks

hels

[thepiesleys]

hi
we moved here in November last year my eldest son was in year 9 had been since Sep,he was on of the youngest of his cohort, here when new term started in Feb, he was still in year 9 - starting over and one of the eldest, missed by a month going into year 10, this was a good move for him, however if it had not been the school would have been open to moving him up.
The opposite for my middle son who had started year 4 in Sep. in the UK he was moved up to year 5 starting Feb, again good for him as he is our "bright spark" who loves school ( he is the one that will pay for our old folkes home we reckon!) Their birthdays are barely 6 weeks apart eldest is in may (27) middle one April (18)

Hope this makes sense and is some help.

p.s schools really do appear to be very flexible here i have a mixture of ages in some of my classes in school, they repeat years here, as they do i beleive in the states. So i have year 12's in my yr 11's and so on, not sure if this is just senior schools though.

Sue

[migratory birds]

SamB,

My daughter's birthday is in Sept and she is the youngest in her class but struggles not a bit with the work and could even be working a year ahead in school without any problem. I wouldn't want her to begin again at the front of a February school year if we can avoid it.

How were you able to get one of your kids moved up a year? Just by talking with the heads of the school? Written records from previous school? Assessments?

[Sam B]

Hels, my kids are 10 and 6 years old.

I didn't negotiate at all with the school beforehand, but I had told them that my oldest child was very bright. They had already decided which classes to put them in and it worked out fine. However, I have the feeling that had it not worked out, they would have been happy to move them,

There appears to be more flexibility about age and years here, and decisions about whether your child will be one of the youngest or oldest in their class seem to be made around the time they move into the 2nd year. More able or more mature children are moved up more quickly from the year 1 class and less mature children end up becoming one of the older children in their year. This is definitely a good thing and would have been ace for some of the children I worked with in the UK who had July and August birthdays and also had language difficulties, if only they could have stayed back and been the oldest in their year, it would have done wonders for their self-esteem.

Schools here seem to be flexible over this, and if you tell them your child is bright, you'll find they put them into the higher year group.

[nickydwuk]

What date do the schools use as the cut off for determining what year the kids go in? Here in the UK as the school year starts in September whatever age they are on 31st August determines their year group.

[Sam B]

It varies from school to school and the ability of the child. They all start on their 5th birthday, but how long they spend in the new entrants' class or year 1 depends on their ability and maturity.

[uk_munros]

In NZ kids generally start on their 5th birthday regardless of when that is. So when our eldest started school it was in July (the day after her 5th brithday) and there were 5 kids in her class. AS the year progressed there were more kids added to the class each week as they turned 5 and started school.

Then we moved to the UK 2 months later and because of her age our daughter was placed in a year one class with kids who had done up to 18months more school than her. She really struggled, but despite our efforts the school insisted that she remain in her year group which really badly affected her.

We found the NZ system much more flexible. They seem to assess where the child is at and dont have these fixed rules about what age you should be in which class. They also make a big thing of the 'graduation' from preshcool to school on the childs 5th birthday.

Looking forward to getting our kids back into the system...

[nickydwuk]

What I wanted to know was what date is the cut off point. Here in the UK a child has be a certain age by 31st August to enter a certain year group in September ie. they need to be 7 by 31st August to enter year 3. What is the cut off date in NZ - is it 31st January as the school year starts in February?

[Sam B]

There is no set date, it varies from school to school and is flexible. All children start on their fifth birthday, but whether they move up into the next year group in February varies from school to school and child to child. It is not rigid, like in the UK.

[Helsandfamily]

Sam B

Thanks very much for the info. It is reassuring to know. I feel at the moment my eldest is finding it a bit of a struggle, he is doing OK but having to work very hard for it, and for him to go to the next year as the youngest and making the move would be vry difficult.

Thanks again

hels