If you have kids soon to be in the years 11-12 age bracket – this link and this link (both at the Department of Training and Workforce Development) provide a host of very viable and affordable options to school. Kids can leave school at the end of year 10, while still in the compulsory school-age bracket, as long as they’re in a situation that is of equal or more benefit to being in school – work or training can both qualify – there just needs to be an arrangement in place with an employer/trainer and the Education Department.
Some kids simply don’t fit the school mould but can thrive in a different environment.
The website is a bit tricky to learn your way around but its worth persevering and I wrote up some instructions to help navigate over at this similar post here. There are a heap of Certificate courses and traineeships available at a fee capped prices of $420 for this year (it has gone up $5 a year since I’ve know about it). We used it last year for Caitlin to do a Cert III in Childcare, and this year she should finish the year with two Cert IV’s under her belt.
People often ask “What about year 11 & 12???” with regard to homeschooling… or “what about getting into Uni??” is another. Well this is a way to answer both of those questions.
Every Uni course has to have a TAFE pathway to it… they dont NEED an ATAR to go to Uni, it’s just what is most common in that age bracket.
When I spoke to admissions in one of the Uni’s I was told (and is verified by others who’ve already done this) that a Cert IV is viewed as an equivalent ATAR of 70 in terms of admission (may need an English component – the Pearson test was suggested), and a Diploma incorporates the English component so entry to Uni is totally possible through this means, if that is what is desired. It created options to either head into a career in the line of the training undertaken or to head into Uni (and it doesn’t need to be a related course topic).
Flicking through the Uni books for this year – an ATAR of 70 is what’s required for a vast number of them. If you want that. And you mightn’t.
Some of the listed Certificates are on campus, some are available online (which is what we’ve used whith a small number of days on campus), some are at TAFEs and others are at private RTOs (which is what we also went through – there is no extra cost, nicer environment, smaller classes). So if you’re undecided about your kids in this age group, there’s some hopefully helpful options.
Check it out here – and don’t forget I wrote instructions here.