Enrolling at school

After talking to people at school and hearing some of the stories that they related about families they had known, enrolling their kids in the district, I was not confident that they were going to be enrolled at Handsworth, our closest local high school. When they had gone through customs they had to state the school they would be attending and were told that if anything changed they would have to return to Immigration and get their paperwork and Visas adjusted. I had sent enrolment applications to the District Office back in November and was hoping that it would all work out.

We dismiss students at 2:50pm, so I headed home to pick them up and all head down to the office. We arrived just before 4:00pm, but by the time we reached the particular room it was past 4pm and they were closing. I mentioned who we were, and why we were there, and we were ushered in. I had been emailing the office and they had the kids applications all ready to go. All they needed was photocopies of passports, Visas, Birth Certificates, School reports, immunisations etc. We had everything with us - copies were taken and we were told that we would be notified as to which school they would be admitted to. According to their ages, Bridget would be placed in year 10 and Daniel in year 8. Here elementary schools go from K - grade 7, and high schools from grade 8 to grade 12. Daniel had been a bit worried about going to year 8 at a new school, but when he realised that it was the first year at high school here, it eased some of his anxiety.

It would be crazy to put Bridget in year 11 when she had just completed year 9 in Australia. Apparently year 11 is a harder year than year 12, and it would mean that she would complete the second half of year 11 and the first half of year 12 while we are here. We prepared to try and reason with the counsellors at whichever school they got into.

There was no call on Friday, so we waited until Monday morning before ringing the District Office. We were told that they had been accepted to Handsworth. This was a start in the right direction. It is only about a 10 - 15 minute walk, compared to any alternative which would have meant a bus, or car trip. We were advised that it would be OK to go to the school. They had both packed bags with folders and pencil cases etc. the night before. We drove down and went to the office. They had the paperwork there so Paula stayed with them while I headed off to my school. They spent time that morning choosing classes, and after explaining Bridget's situation she was placed in year 10, and Daniel in year 8, as we had hoped. They all then walked home and waited for Tuesday for their first classes.

Daniel had been introduced to Michael, another recent enrolment from South Africa. They are in most classes together. He is also learning French for the fist time. Last year he had 6 months of Chinese, then 6 months of Italian and now French. At least he has Bridget and Paula to help him. Bridget has done French for the past 3 years and is also doing it here. On Bridget's first day they had a PE class outside, in which they played soccer. At one stage, just after the ball had landed, a bald eagle swooped down and attacked the ball. It tried to grab the ball a couple of times before flying away. No one had seen this sort of thing before. It seemed like they had a reasonable start at school.