School Age??

[vikkiann]

Hi there

I have the information somewhere but can't for the life of me find it.

Can someone please tell me...........

Does the school year start in January?
What the ages are for admission to primary and high school?
Do you know what the cut off date for their date of birth is for starting school, in plain english .......... in the uk it works on 31 august i think.

I hope i'm understood and you don't think i'm a total idiot!!

Vikki

xx

[Rachiegarlo]

school year begins in January.
Children begin school the term after they are five. State primary schools in SA have an intake into REC every term and some of the bigger ones will have a mid term intake to catch those children who turn 5 in the first half of the term. There are 4 school terms of about 10 weeks each and there are no half term holidays. If your 5 yo enters school in term 3 or 4 they will stay in REC for the whole of the following year.

High school begins at yr 8 level. Children are anywhere between 12 3/4 and 13 1/2 when they start High school depending on how long they spent in REC.

[willfam]

Some private schools only have 1 intake at year for reception so they will take a 41/2 year old. My niece just turned 5 in May and she started school in Jan.

[Rover]

I logged in to ask much the same question:

We are in the very final stages of our application and are hoping to arrive in Adelaide sometime in August or September.

Our son was four last August ('09), so has spent this UK school year in Reception (albeit only starting in January due to his birthday being at the end of the selection year).
REading the above reply, as he turns five this August coming, will he have to start in Term 4 of the Australian school year (and is that optional or cumpulsary), or will he start afresh in January 2011?
If he does start in Term 4 will he do five terms in Reception or move into Year 1 after the first term?
Will the fact that he'll have done two terms of REception in the UK make any difference?

While I'm here, what is the process for applying to join a school as an immigrant - how far in advance do you need to approach the school and do you need to have a fixed Australian address before you can apply?

Hope someone can help....

Rover

PS - are there any sites/league tables or whatever to help us choose a school in a particular area?

[Lol63]

Most schools would rather you were here as they are zoned, so depends where you get your rental etc. You phone the school and ask to take a look around, you have a look and if you like it they give you the forms for you to fill in or some will help you to do it, and then they start school a couple of days later, it's really simple and no fuss.
your son could do rec from Aug/Sept to Dec and then year 1 from the end of Jan, or you could just enrol him for year 1 as you are allowed 3 mths to find a school, hope this helps. xx

[Diane]

PS - are there any sites/league tables or whatever to help us choose a school in a particular area?

Closest is the Myschool website Find a school | ACARA

[Tian]

We came in September 08 when our son was due to start school in the UK (he had turned 4 in May 08). Our biggest concern was that we would have to wait until Feb 2010 for him to be able to start school and we didn't want him to miss a full year in case we didn't settle and had to return to the UK.
We had no problems finding a school and luckily had a friend who recommended the school my son goes to and he is absolutely thriving. It is a private school but compared to the UK, private education here is very affordable.
They have just bought in a league table type thing here but this seems to be a real problem for a lot of parents and schools who feel that they shouldn't have to provide this information so not sure it will actually be of any use.
We looked a couple of school including where my son goes and all the schools were really nice and bent over backwards to make us and our son feel welcome. As someone has already said, just give the school a call and if you like it they will give you all the paperwork you need.
Your son would probably be able to do a term when you arrive or wait until the new school year in Feb 2011, whichever suits you best.
Hope that helps and good luck with your big move ! :-)