HelenTD

Thanks for that, PoppetUK. My problem is that I have no evidence, just what my child says, although one of his friends backs him up. I would love to be a fly on the wall in that classroom, in fact a mosquito with a very toxic bite.

lapin_windstar

WGAF what Pommie schools do? They're failing to grasp the important of languages too.

Lack of languages is a hindrance - I've worked for most of my career in mutlinational corporations and on the grad track upwards most of the people recruited were bilingual if not trilingual. The days of monoglots braying in English to get by are gone, baby, gone when there's no shortage of well-educated graduates from good universities that speak English and some form of Chinese or Arabic or Spanish or something else spoken by hundreds of millions of people. If anyone thinks that Aussie kids who can count to ten in Japanese are going to get a gold star in 15-20 years' time when they're looking for jobs in a global market, they're barking mad.

PoppetUK

Would aim for a really private part to!!! Grrrrr.

evelyn oneill

When we came here last year my boy told me that the teacher was hitting kids in the class - we took it the whole way - me and another mum - went all the way to the Catholic Board and back again - nothing was done our boys were told they had misenterprated the situation - we learned later that the complaints against this teacher was tenfold over the years - shes still teaching and my boys can hear her shouting from their classrooms - the toungest twin is still upset about his 3 months in that class.

fish.01

Independent international testing shows that some of the state based education systems in Australia are slightly above some parts of the UK (Scotland I think) and slightly below some others. All in all didn't seem enough to worry about. Neither nation was at the top. Seems like choice of suburb and school within each country would make far more difference than the country itself.

HelenTD

Would probably be too small to find easily, like his brain.

I sympathise, I'd heard that Catholic schools were less likely to act on complaints from parents, plus that teachers were less likely to go against authority in cases where they felt for the parents.

Our teacher is apparently shouting at the kids, telling some of them to shut up and calling some boofheads. This teacher of ours has had scores of complaints against him, but the principal does nothing. He tends to try and intimidate parents by mentioning that the teacher is a member of the union and has a right to have the union involved in any complaint. I find it very hard to deal with this situation, as I think this man should not be working with children - not that "that" reason - but he's horrible, careless and horrible to some kids, and my poor child is one of them. I have to send an email to the school and need to word it correctly, not an easy task.

HelenTD

I tell myself not to worry about standards here compared to the UK, but there is a huge gap, especially in the 11-13 age group.

I think the most worrying aspect here is the lack of scrutiny about some schools operate. They can load up the School Council and P&C with like-minded cronies and block parents who are trying to improve things. The School Council system, at least in WA, is nothing like the Board of Governors in the UK.

You might say, just change schools, but the likelihood is that another school might be just like the one you want to leave. The problem is the system and the people working in it and running it.

fish.01

The independent testing seems to support the view that changing schools can help. On average, it will not help as much as moving interstate but can still help. On average, an interstate move might put you ahead of parts of the UK.

HelenTD

We can't move interstate, so we have to try and work around the system here, but it adds extra stress to your life. I have to research policies and read articles about education, just so I can advocate for my children in the system here. So much for the relaxed, laid back myth about life in Perth! I feel like I'm dealing with unexploded devices every time I get a piece of paper from school.

Zenshin

I was really looking forward to us returning to Australia as I wanted our daughter to be educated here. Now four months on I can honestly say I am rather disappointed. I did not appreciate how supportive and nurturing the school in the UK was until I came back here to Perth.

We intially had to find a school that would accept her into the year above as she is born a day after the cut-off. Fortunately they agreed she was ahead for her age and allowed her to go into year 1. We had spoken to her teacher throughout her first term about the level of reading books she was getting as they were far too easy for her and asked if they could give her higher level books and the teacher suggested we visit the local library instead I was annoyed that the teacher couldn't be bothered to find reading material more challenging. Then we get our daughter's report and the teacher made comments that our daughter hasn't been listening and tunes out (although she has had plenty of opportunities to mention it to us when we have asked how she was doing). We spoke to our daughter about it and she says she is bored and that they are doing work that she has done before in Reception year in the UK. The teacher just does not seem to be listening to the concerns we have raised so we have decided that we will just get her doing other little fun workbooks at home and learn an instrument. Hoping for a better teacher next year or we will have to look at switching schools.

fish.01

I think schools can vary a lot...they certainly can here in brisbane. For example, some outer suburban govt schools (approx 14km+) are "far" worse than some high quality inner city govt schools. You would not think they are part of the same system. I believe the same happens in the UK. I think changing suburbs/schools within any australian/uk city can make a huge difference. Many BE'ers have commented on how much better their Australian schools are compared to the UK and vice versa....locality is everything...

HelenTD

Yes, agree that there is a huge amount of variation. However, here in Perth, living or attending school in a very expensive suburb is no guarantee of good quality education. One theory for this that I've heard is that teachers who have the highest priority for places, eg they've worked in rural or remote areas or "hard to staff" schools, get priority over permanent spots when they appear. Of course, they would rather have a permanent spot in a high SES area, so they cruise on in and keep operating that way until retirement.

Also, a lot of primary schools here have strict boundaries - if you don't live in the zone you can't get in. There are schools with open boundaries - but there are reasons for that.

hoveactually

I'm sure you are correct but how do you choose? I could change suburb/school, with all the cost and stress that entails, and my child could still end up with Northernbird's ineffective teacher (for example).

fish.01

I guess there are no guarantees but most locals choose on long term reputation combined with talking to other parents who have used the school recently combined with published data, annual reports, vibe of school etc. Same way it would be done in the UK I would imagine.

hoveactually

All very well if you are a "local" but much more difficult if you are a recent migrant.