Uk private school to oz state or private?

[Guest ladybird]

Hiya,

 

I'm completely confused over the whole school thing as my little girl is starting full time school here in September and already goes to pre school at the school which is private. As her birthday is June she'll be just 4 when she goes full time so i am a bit worried about us moving over. As i understand it children are 6 when they have to be in school but pre school is like here?? As the school year is different would she start school in the jan/feb of the year following her 6th birthday?

 

Also, if that is the case then she will have been in full time private school for two years so i am worried she'll be ahead of her classmates and therefore get bored! One of the main reasons she goes to private school is because she is bright and needs that extra push to focus her and small classes really work in her favour and behaviour wise she is much better now. Thus, its a real worry to us about schools and how changing will affect her. Ideally, should we try to emigrate so that she can start at the beginning of the school year?

 

Has anyone else changed their kids from private uk to state oz schools?

 

Sorry for all the questions but the school thing is a real big thing to us and i'm grateful for any advice and help x

[Guest stmatt]

Hi

 

We had the same concerns with our son although his birthday is October. He started school in the Sept before his 5th birthday then we moved to Oz; he would have been due to start school in January. However I didn't want him to have to restart and learn phonics, reading and basic numeracy all over again as I feel he would have got bored and disruptive.

 

We found a school where they were flexible. They assessed him and ended up putting him in a mid-year reception class i.e. one which had started in July so the other kids had had 6 months of teaching. He's fitted in very well and enjoyed it. The school we picked is private, not sure if the state schools do this.

[ozzieclare2be]

If your daughter is 5 in june then she will start school the month after in july term. This means she will do 18 months in reception class which is no bad thing. I was looking at a private school for my Alex yesterday and they assured me that he will be given different work over the 18 months and each child is assessed individually.

 

Not sure about state v private think there is good and bad with both. Best to get here decide on an area then look. The best private schools such as scotch, pembroke and st peters i would imagine have waiting lists or you need to do some form of testing and an interview to get into.

[andy and lindsey]

I think that another thing to bear in mind in Australia is that private schooling does not always equal smaller sizes. My children are both in state school but I did explore th possibility of a private education and the schools that I looked at had 26-28 children per class. My youngest at the moment is in a class of 17.

[Guest ladybird]

Thanks for the info, i think if we move the best thing would be to look at the schools themselves in the area and see what they offer. The school system certainly seems more flexible and if she was to be assessed on her own abilities I would feel happier. Not sure how she would feel though lol!