I went through it myself... and more or less at the same age I arrived in Australia in March having completed close to half of 7th Grade in the US (what was then known here as Form 1)

While it was half a lifetime ago, I would assume what happened with me, is more or less what would still happen today.

Ultimately what will happen is your child will end up skipping half a year or repeating half a year. But the reality of it is more nuanced than that because academic programs (ie what is taught when) will vary between the two school systems. whether they skip or repeat, there will be material that they they have already learned which gets repeated for them, and there will be stuff that gets missed because it wasn't taught yet in the US, but has already been taught here.

My school had me sit a general test that covered general aptitude across a range of disciplines relevant for a Form 1 student. Social fit came into play here too... size, maturity, etc.

For subjects like Maths, I was a bit behind at the start, but being academically minded, I caught up pretty quickly. Basically I "placed" differently on each topic... History.. (strangely Australian history wasn't taught in school in the US but was about on par on anything other than Oz.), Enlish well advanced, but I came from an academically minded family.. and so on...

In my case, I skipped half a year. Funnily enough it wasn't until University that skipping half a year it made any difference.. due to when during the year I was born, and I was effectively a year younger than my cohort. Under age for drinking, driving etc as a first year student was far more of a cramp on my lifestyle and experiences than taking longer to get a grip on Algebra topics that I missed..

Given transition from Primary to Secondary schooling is a huge transition in of learning styles and curricula, social groups and the like, if you land, and he drops directly into 7th grade for the start of the school year, I doubt he will notice it much even if he effectively missed half of 6th grade.

In Victoria at least, Melbourne was in lockdown for a significant part of the 2020 academic year and the Dept Education put a lot of materials online. Every State does thing differently here, but it will give you an idea of what is being taught here

Information for schools

Resources to Victorian government school staff.

www.education.vic.gov.au

NSW Dept Education may have similar..

Home

At the NSW Department of Education we educate and inspire lifelong learners – from early childhood, through schooling to vocational education and training. We ensure young children get the best start in life by ing and regulating the early childhood education and care sector. We unlock...

education.nsw.gov.au

 

Thank you very much for explaining in detail regarding the transition. I was in a fix if my son's education would get impacted, but at least for 1 year he has to adjust. thanks for sharing the link to Victorian schools syllabus. I will let you know how it goes.

 

Feel free to PM me if your destination is Victoria. A number of my friends are teachers in Melbourne and surrounds, and may be able to provide information that is slightly more current (when I said half a lifetime ago, I meant it)

EDIT - oh.. I completely forgot about NAPLAN.. the Australian equivalent of the US standardized tests.

NAP - Home

NAPLAN is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 . So if your son is likely to land in or around year 7, take a look around for the year 7 materials.
That might help you to figure out what and where he needs to be academically when he lands here regardless of the state and if you choose to home school for that last part year in the US you can "transition" him in a sense.

 

@Moulard - I am coming from India and my kid would be completing 9th grade by March'22 end. He is academically brilliant per Indian standards. I will like him to start in 9th/10th grade when we land in Australia. Do you know the process of how to get the child itted directly in 9th? I was having a look at few sites and was made to understand that we need to fill forms and appear in test an year prior to commencing 9th. I do not want him to get back by 2 years. At max, 1 year is understandable. Appreciate your assistance here.

 

Prior to your child acceptance in any school, it is worth to the school on their specific enrollment procedures. These can vary widely from school to school

Given the school year here typically starts in late January, when you land in April (per your other post) he will have missed about 2 months of the academic year.

If he completed 9th grade, then it is highly likely that he would be placed in 10th grade unless there was significant reason to repeat 9th grade.

 

Hello Moulard,
Greetings.
Hope you are doing well. The way you advised about school syllabus for Victoria could you also send some links for NSW? Also if you could share the schools / rankings that would be great. My son would be going to 7th grade. Thanks !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I provided link to NSW Dept Education above, you can search it as well as I can.

NAPLAN site above is national standards testing so while not syllabus will give you an idea of the skills and skill levels the syllabus needs to achieve.

 

I am not in NSW, but I assume it is similar to Victoria. So the following may be wrong or at least only partly correct for NSW...

To guarantee enrollment in a public school you have to live within the catchment area of that school. Some of the top public schools are selective schools, but not all of them. I believe the test you mention are just for the selective schools. Those selective schools will invite those who the entrance exams to attend. You would have to discuss whether there is an alternative entry method for later years ... most likely with the school itself. For top public non-selective schools, demand will be high enough that the chance of being allowed to enroll from outside their catchment area will be slim and that demand inflates rents and even home prices over those outside the magic line.

The other reality is that Australia public schools are pretty good, and you may find that how well a child performs is as much as about their own aptitude and drive as it is the quality of the teaching.

 

Hi Moulard,
To start with, I would like to thank you for all the advise that you provided me reg. schools, while I was in the US and planning our move to Australia. We moved to Australia in the end of September and have itted my son to year 7 (7th grade) in a school in NSW. The school ranking url that you shared came in very handy in deciding. The only challenge we faced was to rent an apartment in the school catchment. That restricted our choice of apartments...but that was fine. Thank you once again.
I might ask for an advise on another topic

 

I might ask for an advise on another topic

Glad to have helped. If I can help on another topic all the better.

 

Hi Moulard, Need your input. My son has completed his grade 10 in IGCSE and we moved to Australia in the month of May. Is it a good idea to enroll him in Grade 11 of SACE in term 2 or shall he wait for 6 months to do his ission in January? Will 6 months break create problem or will be considered drop out for university ission. appreciate your input.

 

Depending on your son's age, you may or may not have any choice in the matter. I believe that in SA the compulsory school age - 6 to 16 years and outside the case of full-time employment he must be in an approved learning program until turning 17.

Reach out to the school to figure out the best approach tailored to your child.

That might look like doing 6 months and then repeating year 11. or it could be doing 6 months in year 11, and going into year 12, with some additional and tutoring to cover content missed over the summer as preparation for year 12.

What this looks like will depend on their academic interests, abilities, age along with other factors.