Some problems in Australian high schools

High school can't last only one year, because in Australia, credits are counted from grade 1 1 (second grade) and included in the final college entrance examination results, accounting for 40%. So don't worry, just look at your grades in the first year of high school. One more thing, when you are in 1 1 grade, your age cannot exceed 19. This is the rule.

In fact, you can go directly to college preparatory course and finish high school, but maybe you want to experience high school life abroad, and you can better integrate into local life when you go to high school. There is a buffer process, so that universities will not fall behind, because it is easy to get in but difficult to get out, and it is difficult to graduate from universities (relative to China) ~ ~ ~

Don't worry about language problems. If you really went to high school for two years, it is estimated that you will speak and think in English.

The following is a study abroad experience written by an international student in a high school in Australia. Please have a look:

In a recent conversation with my father, I learned that there is a discussion in China about whether high schools should be divided into arts and sciences. From the end of June, 5438 to February, 2007, I went to study in Australia. At that time, I was a sophomore in an experimental demonstration high school in a certain district of Shanghai. When I arrived in Australia, I clearly felt the difference in education between the two countries. When my classmates in China are worried about choosing liberal arts or science, I have already enjoyed the sweetness of "choosing courses at will" in Australia.

◎ "100 course" can be selected at will.

Australian secondary schools are from Grade 7 to Grade 12, which is equivalent to Grade 1 to Grade 3 in China. After graduating from 10,1and 12 students can go to vocational schools or stay in school.

1 1 and 12 grades have many subjects to choose from:

English includes basic English, standard English, advanced English, English extension 1, English extension 2, ESL (abbreviation of English as a second language, specially selected for students who take English as a second language).

Mathematics includes basic mathematics, mathematics, mathematical expansion I and mathematical expansion II.

Science includes biology, physics, chemistry, earth and environmental protection, and advanced science.

Social science includes economy, commerce, law, social culture, geography, modern history and ancient history.

Art includes dance, music I, music II, music development and visual arts.

Professional skills include food science, information processing and technology, textiles and design.

Physical education includes social and family learning and personal physical and mental development.

Vocational education includes enterprise services, retail, tourism, information technology, cooking and cooking entertainment. Students who choose vocational education have no less than one week of professional practice every year.

Life skills include photography, vocational study and preschool education.

The foreign languages are Chinese, German, French, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, Filipino, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Kemal, Latin, Macedonian, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil and Ukraine. Among them, each foreign language is divided into four grades: beginner, continuing scholar, expanding one, and native speaker (foreign language native speaker).

This 100 course, except English is a compulsory course, students can choose according to their hobbies and learning ability. 1 1 grade, I took 8 courses in English, Chinese, French, German, Business, Economics, Mathematics and Mathematics Development, with 15 credits. I was the only one who chose German in the whole grade, and the school contacted me to follow the "Sydney Distance Education Center" for German classes.

◎ Teaching pays attention to practical needs.

Australian high schools implement the credit system, and most courses are 2 points. 1 1 Every student in the grade has to take 12. In addition to compulsory English, it is enough for students to take any other four or five courses. In grade 12, as long as you choose 10 credits, the courses you choose this year are all courses for students' college entrance examination, generally about five.

There is no distinction between arts and sciences in Australian secondary schools, and the course selection of grades 1 1 2 is not directly related to the willingness to apply for universities. Of course, every university and every major has the requirement of choosing courses. For example, to apply for a medical major, you need to choose two courses: physics, chemistry and biology. But it doesn't matter if you choose sports, dancing, photography, cooking, etc. Instead of taking these classes in 12 grade. After entering the university, you only need to take a short-term "bridge course".

Australian education attaches great importance to actual needs. Taking mathematics as an example, different disciplines in universities and social industries have different requirements for mathematics, and middle schools have different requirements for students. From the eighth grade, mathematics classes in Australian middle schools were divided into high and low classes according to students' level, and in the ninth grade, it was expanded to three classes: high, middle and low. Individual excellent students in mathematics can attend the senior class and take the college entrance examination in advance. This not only meets the needs of universities and scientific research institutions for senior mathematics talents, but also avoids students who choose to engage in other occupations from spending a lot of energy and time to learn too much mathematics knowledge.

Experience happy learning in class.

Go to school at 8: 45 every morning, finish school at 2: 25 on Monday, finish school at noon 12: 20 on Wednesday, and finish school at 3: 00 on other days. General homework does not exceed 1 hour, and there is often no homework. The time for students to finish their studies depends on the courses they choose. I chose many courses, so I finished my studies late.

The publicity column in our school says: The purpose of study is "to have fun". It tells students that learning does not depend on how much they learn, but on learning happily!

In the Australian classroom, it can be said that happiness is everywhere. The basic course of mathematics teaches us many life skills, such as how to pay taxes and how to calculate bank interest. Physical education class spends a quarter of his time exercising on the playground, and three quarters of his time talking about people's physiological structure and how to keep fit in the classroom. Biology class talks about the distribution of birds in Australia, and the teacher stretches out his arms to simulate birds flying around the classroom. When it comes to frogs, dozens of students croak with their teachers ... The books we use in class are all issued by the school, and there is no need for extracurricular tutoring books such as "one lesson and one practice".

Securities companies will organize an annual "simulated stock trading competition" among middle school students. Every student in our class opened a simulated account in the stock exchange, and each student got 50 thousand yuan "virtual Australian dollar" I bought shares in BHP Billiton (the largest energy company in the world) and AMP (the largest insurance company in Australia). The first thing to do when coming home from school is to turn on the computer to look at stocks, search the performance of listed companies, check the stock trend chart and analyze international financial and political events. On the first day, I "earned" the net book income of 500 yuan dollars. A few days later, the financial crisis broke out in the United States and the stock plummeted. The students sliced the meat quickly. In class, everyone discussed the stocks in their hands in groups. Everyone chattered, speaking English, Italian and Russian, and some people jumped out of Shanghai dialect when they were anxious. It is absolutely as lively as the formal securities trading hall.

There is no need to memorize the exam.

The title of the final exam of economics course is a paper, which requires an analysis of its impact on Australia this year and next according to the "government budget" promulgated by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after he took office. I felt like I was attending the National People's Congress in Australia that day, racking my brains for Australia's national destiny.

Other subjects have no cramming questions, but short answers and papers closely related to real life, or speeches and debates.

At the graduation ceremony of 1 1 grade, I won three awards in the Australian knowledge contest, and was rated as the top five in the whole grade with the attendance rate of 100% ... It is a glorious thing to get a certificate in school, and most of the winners are local students. Last year, as an international student who came to Australia for only one year, I won nine awards, which became the big news of the school and even appeared in the school newspaper.

I entered the grade of 12 this year. In addition to the original eight courses, I chose two more courses, namely "German Extension 1" and "Mathematics Extension 2". This means that by the time of the college entrance examination in June 5438+ 10, other students will take 5 courses, and I will take 10 courses, and then pick out the best five courses and count them into the college entrance examination results. In Australia, 40% of the general scores of subjects selected in grades 1 1 and 12 are converted into the total score of the college entrance examination, and 60% of the college entrance examination scores are included in the total score of the college entrance examination.

My biggest feeling in Australian high school is that class days are happier than holidays. And my classmates in China are now burying their heads in endorsement to welcome the upcoming college entrance examination. Recently, I changed the screen name of a classmate. It used to be called "annoying tutor", but now it is called "I want to be depressed".