Lelliott75

Hi. We aren’t planning on moving out to Australia until towards the latter part of next year, but obviously we need to start thinking about the practicalities now. We’ve got 3 children and my intention is that our eldest will finish junior school in the UK (July 2019) and start her high school years in Australia. I’m wondering when would be the most sensible time, after July, to head over there to be able to look into suitable schools. If she was staying here for high school, then we would be applying this December (I think 🤔 ), which got me thinking about when you need to apply for schools in Oz? Any advice about this would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

quoll

The academic year starts in January/February. There isn’t the same application process, basically you need to find the home you want to live in (usually based on where you’ll be working and what other things you want in a suburb) and there will be a local school that is obliged to find them a space. The exceptions are selective High Schools which will start their selection process in the next 2-3 months. Private schools often require you to have had names on a waiting list since conception. If you want to enrol in a school which isn’t your neighbourhood school it’s up to the school if they are taking out of area enrolments. Kids move all through the year so nothing to worry about whenever you arrive. The only year that it is important that they start in Jan/Feb is year 11 for the 2 year 11/12 course.

Don’t go by what year level the kids are in UK, they could be in quite a different year level in Australia depending on the state you are going to and their date of birth.

peckhamtogeelong

We are moving this year so have been doing a bit of research into schools. From what I can tell the Australian school system has an extra year of Primary Schools. Unlike in the UK, secondary schooling is 6 years not 7. Be aware the grading of years is different. Year 6 in UK = Year 5 in Australia, which means secondary schools do start in Year 7 in Australia but the kids are a year older than Year 7 counterparts in UK. It confuses me a lot, but I had it confirmed by family there. Someone on this forum may prove me wrong though. Best to check out, as if the only reason for putting off the move is to have a smooth transition for your kid, be aware they may still have to do another year of primary school when you get to Australia

scrubbedexpat020

Yes, both my kids were offered the opportunity to jump a year (ages 14 and 11) but didn't. Something to think about. My daughter, her decision, took her foot off the pedal and had a jolly nice time making friends for a year. My son, my decision, has a gripe about me every now and then about taking the wrong decision to keep him back. With hindsight, I think they were both bright enough, and mature enough, to jump. You gotta luv hindsight.

carcajou

This, pretty much.

If you move to a city the local school will have an intake area and they are required to offer you a place within those boundaries. The Department's web site for whatever state/territory you are moving to will likely have the boundaries publicly available.

Many families do a mix of government/private, keeping their children in the government system until Year 10 and then sending them to the private system for Years 11 and 12.

As Quoll noted, for the best private schools, parents put down a deposit when the child is still an infant and so there are waiting lists. That is not all of them, however, and there will be private schools with openings. As well, if, for example, you are Catholic or Anglican and want your child in a Catholic or Anglican school, you cut the queue.

If you want your kids in a private school I would suggest putting them in the local government school for a year while you get your bearings.

quoll

You can’t directly compare U.K. years and Aus years. It very much depends on the state and the child’s birthday - a child could be in yr 3 in U.K but with their age cohort in yr 2 in Australia. The starting age for full time schooling in Australia is generally a year older than UK. There is actually one less school year in total in Australia but there is one more year in Uni to get honours so it all evens out by the end of Uni.

Lelliott75

Thanks very much for your reply. So what are selective high schools...are they one up from public high schools? I assume it works on a type of catchment area policy with the local school then, rather than (primary) feeder schools. Where we are now, our local primary school is a feeder school to the high school, so regardless of where you live, you automatically gain entry into that high school.

My children are December 2011, September 2009 and October 2007 birthdays so from what I can tell they would start year 3, year 5 and year 7 in January 2020. Maybe I have that wrong though?

Lelliott75

Thanks very much for your reply. I had heard that their school year is different out there and that maybe depending on your child’s birthday they may end up in a different year than in the UK. From what I can see though, and maybe I’m wrong, my 3 children would stay in their current year. I’ll have to double check that though. To be honest, I’m not too worried about my daughter having to do another year of primary...it’s more that I don’t want her to start high school over here and then make the move part way through. Starting high school is unsettling enough without then dragging her away to a new country.

Lelliott75

That’s really useful to know...thanks very much for that.

Lelliott75

😂 It’s always difficult making decisions for your kids isn’t it. How long have you been in Oz and did your kids settle into their schools well?

carcajou

Here is a link to the Western Australia Department of Education's page on selective schools:

https://www.education.wa.edu.au/web/...ective-schools

It's worth noting that each state and territory has its own Education Department and there can be some differences in how things are run. You haven't specified where you are moving.

Lelliott75

Thanks...I’ll take a look at the link. We haven’t actually decided where we’ll go yet - it depends where my husband can get work. He’s an Australian citizen but we’ve been in the UK for the last 14 years. He works in IT and we’ve got family on Bribie Island, so Brisbane could be a possibility. Do you know whether there are any cities that he’s more likely to get IT jobs in? Over here he works in London, but we don’t live in London so he’s away all week and only comes home on weekends ☹️

quoll

Yup, Yrs 3, 5 and 7 in Jan 2020. Don’t think that they are the same as UK years 3, 5 and 7, they just have the same names but the content will be different. The important thing is to keep them with their age peers and forget anything you have expected in comparison with what will, by then, be a foreign country’s education system.

Selective High Schools (and iirc not all states have them) are for gifted and talented kids, highly sought after by Asian families in particular who get their kids tutored to the max to get in - very competitive entry, more in Sydney than other places.

Generally, yes, it’s where you live that gets you into a high school - or not, as the case may be, not the feeder primary your kid goes to.

meljackson2002

My daughter was born in Jan, in Scotland we have the opportunity to keep our children back a year if we feel they are not ready to start school yet. The academic year runs from Mar - Feb here. If we move to Australia would she be in the year that applies to her in Scotland or do they go by age only and be a year ahead of what she is here??

quoll

They don't give a toss what year she might be in in a foreign country but will put her with her age cohort. With a January birthday they would be reluctant to have her in a year lower than her age.