Switching schools in Year 12 - a good idea?

[zsteve]

My family and I are planning to switch schools next year (my year 12 year). One concern I am having is that, as I am formerly home educated, there will be quite a big gap to jump in understanding the system and adjusting, etc. I already experienced quite a lot of this switching to the DECV, but I suspect there will be even greater trauma in starting to attend a physical school.
So my question is: how important is it that I get used to 'school', as it were, before the SACs come? And usually, in which week of Unit 3 is the first SAC? I am counting on at least 2-3 weeks before I can settle down.
Also, does anyone know of some GOOD coaching schools that are in the Casey area? Hopefully offering tutoring in at least a few of the Asian 5 and UMAT? As most of the good classes are run near Box Hill/Glen Waverly and they will cause significant time overhead due to the distance I need to travel.
Sorry if I'm asking so many questions on this forum...

[brenden]

There's normally a few weeks before the SACs start, unless there's an oral presentation in the first week that was meant to be prepared over the holidays, so I think you should be okay in that regard.
It's definitely important to settle in to your school, but I dot are it as a limiting factor on your initial SAC grades, so long as you've done the relevant study and stuff like that.

[keltingmeith]

SAC's shouldn't start until a bit in because you won't have learned enough to actually do the SACs - however, there might be some easy ones first off. You could, of course, talk to your school and ask if you do get any SACs in the first few weeks, if you could move them back a little bit just to help you transition into the new learning environments, first.

I don't know about coaching schools, but I do know of a few good tutors in the Casey area (granted, that also depends on where in Casey you're willing to go. Last I checked, it was a pretty big area... Or maybe it just seems that way to me, hahah). There are also some people that my high school teachers told me to go to, but I don't actually remember where they are (and resultantly, if they'd be close to Casey).

[JHardwickVCE]

Hi zsteve.

Unfortunately I'm not very knowledgeable on the home schooling situation, have you found out how your SACs would work if you didn't go to a permanent physical school?

I am doing very similar subjects to you, and I have found that my SACs started rolling in quite late, it was Week 5 of Term 1 that I had my first SAC, and I really didn't have many in that first term. From memory, none of the subjects at our school had a SAC very early, except for an English oral presentation that was planned over the holidays.

As for the tutoring, unfortunately I am again unaware of any tutors in that area, however, over the summer holidays I attended a summer school program run by Melbourne Uni called VCESS, which was hugely beneficial to get a head start, meet new people and was also similar to a school environment, so that could be helpful for you. Their website can be found here: http://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/jump-in/summerschool/

Hope that was helpful

[zsteve]

Thanks for the info
Apparently, with the DECV, SACs are mailed and completed at home. I have heard (and can imagine) that there could be a higher rate of cheating on these SACs, as the students' 'supervisor' is usually a parent. Time limits are given, and a signature is required from the supervisor stating that all guidelines were followed. But by and large all exams (except for the final one) are done at home.

The primary reason for switching off DECV was because I wanted to get into medicine and hence needed more accessible teachers/resources and other students.

As for switching schools, I was just informed today that, in order to join in Term 4 (I will be sitting in the school, doing my DECV work, but not actually doing their work until Unit 3), we must pay about $600, which is quite expensive for my family.

So if the 'getting used to it' side isn't important enough to outweigh the $600, would it be more expedient to prepare properly by myself over the hols and enter in 2015? I should also mention that we have been considering Breakthrough Education for tutoring in Glen Waverly, but only for 1 or 2 subjects. Has anyone had experiences with them? I would be interested to hear.

[Ballerina]

I did VCE through DECV! n_n Do you have Neale Woods, Carol Ford, Devika or Jaya? They're so lovely. Yes, you complete your SACs at home. The teachers are aware that the parent supervisor might be a little lenient. But the fact your exams are ~66% at a formally supervised exam venue, and your SACs are scaled accordingly, mean they're not too fussed. I was always so paranoid when I posted my SACs off that a dog would eat them or the postman would put them in a ditch or something on his last day of work.

It's up to you about semester 4. If you're aiming for >99.90 as you've mentioned, you definitely need to switch for Year 12. VCE can be very difficult online. I attended mainstream school up until Year 11, and then switched for the second half of year Year 11 + all of Year 12 to DECV after I became sick. If you're aiming high, I think paying $600 would be worth it so that you don't have any surprises next year, DECV is a bit different from mainstream...that said, I don't think the difference is enough to stress over what decision you make for semester 4.

[zsteve]

I know Carol Ford from Chem. Hrm... how was your experience with the DECV though? .

[Ballerina]

Extremely positive, they were lovely. However, although the VCE content is exactly the same to mainstream,  the delivery really is different. As Year 12 has enough pressure and obligations, I think it's worth taking term 4 to adjust to new factors that your competitors have had years to adjust to. Not all factors may apply to you, but variables like working off someone else's 9 AM - 3:15 PM schedule and not your own, having to keep up with the teacher in the in-class room environment instead of having the luxury of going through the handbook at your own pace, needing to take all the notes then and there instead of again just returning to the handbook, familiarizing yourself with groupwork. Many things.

There are outweighing advantages of mainstream high school as well. You would pick up things there that you just can't when you don't meet your teacher, coordinators, career advisors or classmates. I ended up picking the wrong degree for my personal situation because I had no idea that UoM was one of the best choices for neuroscience; I chose a university that just seemed to have a nice campus and was 10 minutes away ahaha. So I was forced to just scrap into a first year midyear transfer when the ATAR req was 95 instead of 91 @_@ and I lost my scholarship. After Year 12 I learnt from people at university all this stuff about VCE scaling, appropriate study techniques (I used to rote-learn everything, which DECV kind of forces you into as it's mainly just reading text online), the fact that the same or similar questions come up from previous practice exams (I didn't do a single practice exam in VCE), all the little things that add up in a big way. Apparently many schools have SACs in Year 11 as well to prepare their students, which DECV doesn't. It will also be an advantage to familarize yourself with classmates this year, as you can form study groups over the holidays if you wanted to. Learning through study groups is also usually more effective than just reading off the textbook, and I had no idea until university.

Again if $600 feels disproportionate, it wouldn't be worth transferring in term 4 because while the differences are there, if you're determined then your goals are achievable regardless of which decision you choose. And you have mentioned that you would be completing DECV's work regardless of where you attended, after all. Hiring decent tutors for half the price was a good suggestion.

[zsteve]

DECV does not have SACs? So the graded tasks cannot be deemed as such?
How do the DECV graded tasks compare with the year 12 sacs?

[Ballerina]

Perhaps they do and just never called them SACs, but I remember the graded tasks being significantly easier than SACs. lol, powerpoint.