[Carnoustie Family]

Hi

We are presently considering a 2 year contract in Auckland and one of our major concerns is that our daughter will just have completed her Scottish Highers (aged 16). These qualifications fall somewhere between GCSEs and A Levels and we were wondering if anyone has experience of transferring from the Scottish/English education system to the NZ system at this crucial stage.

Lots of questions to ask but specifically:

1. Are the British qualifications recognised by the schools?
2. Is there a easy transition into the NZ schools?
3. Are the NZ qualifications recognised back in the UK for University entry?
4. Is it possible to do A Levels or the IB at Auckland schools?

Any personal experiences or other pointers that you could give would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

[migratory birds]

We'll be moving from the US where we have 9 month school years with a 10-12 week break June-Aug.

If we move mid-school year (US), which would be the beginning of NZ school year in Feb, how is the child placed in NZ (starting again at the beginning of the year they are currently in or bump up to next school year)? My daughter is now in third grade so if we moved by Feb would she be starting the equivalent of third grade there or fourth grade?

Another question: Third grade US is what in NZ? Year 3 or Year 4 or something else entirely?! Can someone explain what the different levels are called from preschool through highschool?

_________________
PR approval Nov 06

[willowshouse]

Carnoustie family - I'm sorry I can't help with your questions .. I'll certainly be watching for the answers though!

Migratory Birds - School starts with New Entrants when the child turns 5 and then continues Year One etc etc. Have a look at my post .. Catholic Primary - Secondary for an idea of class structure. Roughly speaking - if the child's birthday is before the school year starts (Feb) then the child will go 'up' from their starting class

ie. My daughter started Year 2 in Sept 06 in UK .. she will complete Year 2 in NZ in a few weeks time and start Year 3 in Feb 07 - after just 3 and a half months.

[wiki]

Roughly speaking - if the child's birthday is before the school year starts (Feb) then the child will go 'up' from their starting class


It may different now from when I was at primary school in NZ, but my birthday was in March and I was always the youngest in my year so they do give you a couple of months leeway.

There is a table on this page, and it mostly matches what I remember:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_New_Zealand

I didn't turn 5 until March 8 but I didn't have to do nearly a whole extra year - but that might well depend on how well you do at picking up reading and printing etc. If a child was struggling they would keep them back to repeat that first year.

On the other hand, my sister's birthday is in September so she had an extra five months in J1 (as we called it then) before she moved up.

I imagine your child would be put into the age level that matches them - although ability would be taken into account, as different international school systems do reach different standards at different times.

The result was I finished high school in Nov aged 17 when most of my classmates had already turned 18, but the age gap didn't make any difference.

[willowshouse]

Yup,

The table on the wikipedia site shows exactly what I was trying to say .. Wiki you were one of the exceptions right?

The main difference with the NZ system compared to UK is their facility to be flexible with both age and ability taken into account.

[wiki]

Yup,

Wiki you were one of the exceptions right?


Hehe, I'm the exception to MANY rules, but maybe not this one.

Actually I think March/April birthdays often slip through as it's only a couple of months you miss out on. Any later than that, and you do the extra time.

And my primary schooling experience happened in *cough* 1980 *cough* so my experience may well be heavily out of date.

My niece's birthday in April 2 so I'll ask my sister if she had two years in J1 (Year1) or not.

[willowshouse]

Hey,

I'm not exactly a mine of information but I did find out that:

The NCEA qualifications (national NZ ones) are apparently 'internationally recognised' according to the prospectus of my daughter's secondary school.

AND

You can do IB here at some schools - This was on the front page of the Herald this morning:


University confused by array of exams
Thursday December 7, 2006
By Claire Trevett

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The proliferation of school qualifications has forced Auckland University to drop restrictions on first-year law courses, because of difficulties comparing students' abilities.
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The change is expected to more than double the number of students taking the two law papers - from 600 to about 1300.
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Deputy vice-chancellor Raewyn Dalziel said the cut-off of numbers would now occur for entry into the second year, based on students' first-year grades.
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"We used to get students coming through with bursary and that was easy to deal with. Now there are far more qualifications, some not well established, and that has made selection harder."
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The number of students with different qualifications has increased as many of the main feeder schools for the university opt for international qualifications such as Cambridge International Examinations or the International Baccalaureate.
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Ms Dalziel said the change was not prompted by any difficulty in weighing up the differing credits of NCEA students.
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"It's more how do you weigh up students with NCEA versus Cambridge or International Baccalaureate or against a seventh-form qualification from overseas?
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"We felt if it was restricted from the end of first year, it would put everyone on a level footing."
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Second-year law papers remain restricted to 300 students, who would continue to be selected on their first-year grades.
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National Party education spokeswoman Katherine Rich said it was an increasing problem for universities.
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"There is concern there has been such a growth in alternative examinations. But some schools are forced into that because they had concerns NCEA wasn't tailored to the top academic students. I think we have to accept that message."
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Since NCEA was introduced, 45 schools have adopted the Cambridge examinations. About half - including Auckland Grammar, Kings College, Macleans College and Westlake Boys' High School - are in Auckland.
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The university gets just over 60 per cent of its students from 20 of Auckland's 65 secondary schools.
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At Auckland Grammar and Macleans College, 60 per cent of students sit the Cambridge exams.
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College principal Byron Bentley said the number increased each year.
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"It has built up rapidly. In the first years we were guarded about it and then we realised we were being overprotective and good, hard-working students could handle it."
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Grammar headmaster John Morris said 95 per cent of his students who took Cambridge advanced to university, compared with about 77 per cent of NCEA students who went on to university or polytechnic.
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The Ministry of Education said it was a matter of school choice whether to offer a separate qualification but all state schools had to offer NCEA as well.
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The international exams are not part of the state qualification system and are not nationally recognised, although all local universities accept Cambridge and International Baccalaureate for entry.
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Some private schools, including Senior College and Pinehurst in Albany, are forgoing NCEA entirely and using only Cambridge.
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The number of schools opting for the International Baccalaureate Diploma at years 12 and 13 is also increasing.

[Carnoustie Family]

Hi Willowshouse - many thanks for this. We will have a look at the schools mentioned.