My daughter has told me she would like to do her year 10 at TAFE, rather than high school.
I had never thought about her leaving school, I've always wanted her to stay until year 12 and go to university (if that's what she wanted to do).
She is extremely bright and mature for her age and went into year 7 on an academic scholarship, however has struggled with the social aspect and high school environment especially this year (year 9). She has just expressed to me that she would really like to do her year 10 at TAFE and honestly I don't hate the idea. I think the more mature learning environment would be really beneficial for her although I don't know much about it. Has anybody else had their child do the same? Was it harder for them? Will she still be able to go to university etc if she does her final few years of high school at TAFE? If anybody has any insight as to the pros and cons I would really love to hear as I want the best for her future, and she just seems quite down about high school at the moment. I don't want to rush into making a decision until I've weighed up everything.
Daughter in year 9 wants to do year 10 at TAFE
Daughter in year 9 wants to do year 10 at TAFE
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Parenthood Guilt, Health & Wellbeing, Education, Teenagers, Tips and Advice
3 Replies
I'm unsure if they do ATAR at tafe but there are other pathways. She could do a Certificate in an area that she's interested in while doing year 10/11/12 then a diploma which could get her into uni if she wanted. I think they just need to take a year break between year 12 and uni if not doing ATAR? Then she would be able to start working in that industry before she's even started uni which will be a great advantage once she's graduated.
Before going down this path, she should think carefully about what she wants to do after school. What's the reason she wants to continue at TAFE? Are her friends doing the same? I would be careful. A friend's daughter went this path, her classmates were mostly students who had missed some years of high school due to various disadvantages and she quickly fell into drugs and alcohol, which was 'normal' for many of these kids and their families. She didn't finish her apprenticeship or her studies and has no job and very few prospects. Her mental health has suffered enormously.
I have 4 kids in different stages of schooling. Years 12, 11, 9 & 5 our year 11 was bullied so we moved him to Distance Education he is thriving now without having the stress of being bullied again. The other two are doing well at the same high school.
We listened to each of them and decided we needed to do what was best for each kid.
Best of luck!