澳州墨爾本寄宿家庭??

BAMUM88

Hello!!

BAMUM88

JimVan,

我女今年讀P.6,到明年08應該入讀Australia 既中學 Year 7.照你所講,如果我女的英文評估達唔到標,很有可能會在08年留返小學讀Year 6啦?岩唔岩呢?咁咪阻左啊女一年時間羅! :cry:

唔該晒!

[size=medium]Enjoy Easter Holiday!!

JimVan

BAMUM88,

你可能已經知道澳洲的學期是由二月開始, 與香港相差半年, 假如你女兒在香港小學畢業後, 即七月中後來澳, 這裡亦接近第二個 term 的尾聲, 她一定是由 term 3 開始讀, 小學一般比中學要求低一點, 插班小六相信會比插 year 7 容易一點, 也給她一些適應期, 換個角度, 未必是阻了她, 而是給多半年時間補下英文, 上中學不是更好？！

以我的姪女為例, 她在香港讀到小四畢業, 移民過來時是九月, 這裡的 term 3 插班讀四年級, 對她而言反而好, 如果強將她升上五年級, 反而會吃力, 因為她除了數比這裡的學生強, 語文、通識、文化等都要下些功夫。加上她是十月出世, 這裡收生在四月一刀切, 即是班中最大年紀的是在四月出世, 她在香港算是班中的大女, 在這裡則算中間, 也是適齡。

這是我的意見, 希望幫到你！

BAMUM88

JimVan,
你所提的計劃正是我自己的想法一樣,啊女在香港可以完成小學階段,就可以到澳洲有一些適應期.但因我本人個人問題,現在的起程日子可能會推遲些,大有可能會在今年年尾或08年初.如果是08年初先到澳洲,英文評估又達不到標,是否要求她再讀一年小學 Year 6呢?如果真系要再重讀一年小學,就真系阻了她整整一年的光音了.所以令我十分擔心和心煩.

真是十分感激你耐心為我解答,多謝!

JimVan

假如你真的只能在08年 term 1 入學, 那麼我估你應該是為女兒報讀中學 (Mount View 是小學), 不妨查問一下你想報讀的中學, 據我所知有些學校, 資源多一些, 可以給插班的外地學生, 在就讀本級主流課程的同時, 有語文老師幫她專補英文, 當然未必是一對一, 但這樣孩子便不須要重讀一年小六, 而是在讀 year 7 的同時, 花多一點功夫學語文。

不過, 不是間間學校都可以提供這樣的安排, 而且很多時仍是要在與學生面談時, 才可以確實話你知, 是否可以有這個 option.  另外, 如果你是要在 term 1 入學, 最理想還是在這裡放暑假前, 與你想入的中學聯絡一下, 暑假時間, 學校沒有人可以幫你的, 你若不能十二月中之前到步的話, 那麼就要等到開學前一星期, 學校才有人, 到時可能時間會太迫了！

BAMUM88

JimVan,
正如你所說的一樣,我希望盡量會今年11月 or 12月初到達.但如果不能如期,很有可能會在08年. :cry:
我想小女能入讀Glen Waverley Secondary,己經跟他們聯絡了,但回覆是要在他們學校的School Zone內住滿一年的住址證明,(我何來會有呢! :cry: )另外如想申請入讀他們的中學一定要經當地小學正途申請,他們不會接受Year 7 and Year 8的插班生.另外我也作了最壞打算,也同時詢問了2間中學分別是Mount Waverley Secondary and Canterbury Girl's College.但都還沒有回覆.所以越來越擔心因為自己個人問題,而影響了小女的一年光音.
想請問一聲,如果我到步了,真的是住在他們要求的School Zone內.再求求他們收小女,又不知道成功機會有多高呢?再想問下有沒有一些教育部門可以幫我這種新移民,跟校方做聯絡呢?

再次多謝你!

[size=large]祝假期愉快!

JimVan

BAMUM88,

假期快樂, Glen Waveryley Secondary 是政府學校中數一數二的名校, 年年都出很多高材生, 當然搶手, 他們不仇沒有學生, 因為想入這所學校的人, 多的是 (包括我！), 所以入學的要求也很嚴。我不清楚有沒有教育部門或自願機構, 可以幫新移民與學校交涉, 假如沒有, 你是否可以請你的親戚幫忙聯絡一下呢？親身找學校當然最好。

good luck !!!

BAMUM88

JimVan,
**親身找學校當然最好**
你的意思是否等我到了Melb,再親身找學校去求求他們,再用我的誠意賞試去打動他們呢?

多謝祝福!!
Thank you.

JimVan

當然是你親自以誠意與校長傾是最好, 不過首要「有得傾」的條件一定是住在 school zone, 假如你不能住在學校附近, 那麼學校也很難幫你！

BAMUM88

JimVan,
如果我真的決定了長住Melb的話,我一定會住在Glen Waverley Secondary College's School Zone 內的.有可能的話想住在學校隔離,行路就可以上學,那樣就太好了.

多謝你給我的意見!   

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

Our family has just moved to Sydney last Nov.  We have 2 children -  8 year old son and 5 year old daughter. Both of them are studying in a public school. My son is in Year 3 and my daughter is in Kindy.

My son had just finished Year 1 in HK  last July. When we moved to Sydney, we let him try the final month of Year 2.  At first, I wasn't sure whether he could cope but both the class teacher and the principal said he was find and suggested us to let him proceed to Year 3 according to his age.

JimVan, do you think we had made the right decision? I've just found out that it's quite competitive to get into a good high school (selective high school). Many parents registered their children at different private schools just in case they can't go to selective high school. In this case, will it be hard for my son to catch up with the OC class exam and selective high school exam?

I was shocked that people had little confidence in the government high schools here.  Is the situation in Victoria the same? Can you share your opinions with me please.

Thank you!

JimVan

Hi Tina,

Your son must be very smart, congratulations.

We have the same situation here in Victoria, people are more keen to send their kids to private schools.  I read a report on TV that the students in private schools rise up 30% in the last 5 years, as you can see this is a big change.

Of course there are still good public schools, that's why people who can't afford private school fees are rush to live near these public schools and hope that their kids can go in.  However, the places in good public schools still limited, not everyone can get into in, right ?!

Personally, I don't think it is that important to get into top schools, if your kid is smart enough, they still have good chances to get into good school thru exams.  Otherwise, we are more than happy to keep them where they should be.  Don't want to give ourselves or our kids too much unnecessary burden.

Don't worry, your son will catch up later, just a matter of time.  Is your daughter going to grade 1 next year?

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

Thanks for your encouraging comments.

I don't think we can afford the expensive school fee (A$16-18K) of those famous private high schools.  The school fee for private Catholic colleges are generally lower (A$8-10K) but we don't want to get our kids baptised just for that reason.

Therefore, we just hope that our kids can do well in their studies and  go to one of the good public high schools.  Yet, many parents are concerned about the discipline problems in public high schools.  What do you think, JimVan?

How long have you been in Australia? Did you come from HK?  Were your kids born in Australia? It's good to share my concerns with you as you're so positive.  Most of the Asian parents I met put a lot of pressure on the kids and themselves to ensure their children do well.

My daughter is in Kindy now and she has no problems fitting in.  She is already speaking English to me and I have to remind her to speak Cantonese at home. For my son, I put him in a tutoring course to improve his English and he is adjusting fairly well.  However, he does complain about not doing well in English and sport from time to time.  

Thanks for your sharing and look forward to hearing more from you!

Tina

JimVan

Hi Tina,

With regard to the discipline issue, I am concern too.  This is the general problem in Oz, because the social culture is upholding 個人主義 , it is good to a certain extent, but when everyone is talking freedom, everyone is very selfish.  That generates many social problems.  It really depends on the personality and characteristic of children, a child with leadership is more likely to stand firm than a child who easily influenced by peers.

So, I think parents have a very important role to teach our kids and help them to build up their value of truth, friendship, so they don't easily influence by peers and always refers to parents when they have uncertainty.

We came to Oz from HK for 10 years now, my 2 kids were born here.  I agree you ask your kids to speak cantonese at home, they will learn english fast and when they used to use english, cantonese becomes their 2nd language or simply ignore it.  My kids go to Chinese school every Saturday, just to let them know learning Chinese is good and essential for Chinese.  My kids still speak good cantonese at home, even though sometimes they use english between themselves.

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

I agree to your views on teaching our kids the right values. I do believe their academic results are not as important as their behaviours.  

When they are kids we can still teach and guide them.  When they become teenagers the peer group pressure will outweigh our influence.  So we should really treasure their childhood!

JimVan, do your kids go to Chinese school to learn Cantonese or Mandarin? Is it just for conversations or reading as well? What other after school activities do they join? My kids join swimming, tennis and piano once a week.

I read your blog with your kids' photos. They look so smart and lovely! Are you the mum or the dad? Just curious!

Thanks again for your sharing.

Tina

BAMUM88

JimVan & Tina2004,
見你地傾得很高興,我也想加入.我的英文不太好,請容許我用中文可以嗎?
我也應同你們的意見,小朋友還小的時候是很需要大人的指導,到大了你想教也教不來了.
請問知否有一間教會學校 Waverley Christian College (WCC)呢?它的校風、學生品行和成績又如何呢?請指教!

Tina2004

Hi Bamum8

I'd like to send you a Chinese message but my Chinese typing is not good.

Is your daughter ready to continue her studies in Australia? There must be a lot of things to prepare.  JimVan was right, it's better to sort out which school your daughter is going before finding a place to live. That's also what we did here in Sydney.

All the best to you and your daughter.  Please keep sharing!

BAMUM88

Tina2004,
現階段還未有落實的曰子何時走,但希望這日子不會太遠,因為真的不想阻了呀囡入學日子太久.所以還是十分煩腦!
:cry:
你一家到了SYD習慣嗎?對孩子的學習方面是否有很大分別呢?他們都比較喜歡在哪兒上學呢?對於你自己來說,你比較喜歡在哪兒生活呢?
多謝你的分享和祝福!

JimVan

Hi Tina,

My kids are learning Cantonese and traditional writing at Chinese school, but Mandarin and simplified writing is more common here.   I'm glad my kids still enjoy learning Chinese, learning Cantonese is more easy for them to start, however, I know many Cantonese speaking families send their kids to learn Mandarin.  Some kids find it hard to cope as they don't understand and that lower their interest to learn.  I'm not sure I have made the right choice or not, I only want my kids to enjoy learning rather than push them.

Apart from Chinese school, both of them also learning piano.  My son also learns swimming and joins boys brigade (similar to boyscout).

Thank you for visiting my blog, I'm a full time mum, my husband is a very busy man, no time to write blog !  haha !!  

JimVan

hi bamum88,

其實 WCC 亦是我心儀的學校之一, 學校的歷史不是很長久, 但近幾年的成績也不錯, 去年高考更出了狀元。所以開始很多人認識這間學校, 聽講現在很多人想報讀, waiting list 很長, 由於這校是一條龍的學校, 由kinder 到高中 year 12, 像我的孩子, 小學在公校, 想到中學再轉過去, 也一樣要 waiting list,  我有朋友的孩子讀這校, 很多都是由 kinder 讀起, 一直升上去。入了當然好, 不用為選校煩, 但亦要計算學費, 一年約 A$5000, 14 年 (kinder - yr12) 淨學費要7萬, 還有每年 out of pocket 的費用, 如 excursion, text book, uniform, 等, 每年可能也要預算 7-8000澳元, 兩個孩子的話, 費用也相當厲害, 這令我望而郤步。

另外, 這校是教會學校, 其中一個入學資格是父母其中一方是基督徒, 需要教會牧師的推薦信。校風方面, 由於是教會背景, 會比一般公校注重人格和道德的培養, 人們都有一定信心和好評。

希望這些資料幫到你！