The Coulsons

Hi

Just wondered what everyone did regarding school places?, did you registar your children from the uk or wait until you were out there. We are arriving in the gold coast 28th Jan just after the new term starts would i be able to get him a place at such short notice or do all the schools have long waiting lists, the school i will be taking him out from currently does!
I have short listed 3 primary schools but i would prefer to have a good look round before i commit, but dont want my kids out of school for to long if there aren't any places left
Debbie

steve`o

some schools wont let you register a child untill they have seen proof that you reside within the catchment area, best bet is visit each school and make your decision based on your visit and do i want to live in the catchment area for this school

good luck

regards steve

ps you wont be out of school as they only go back at the end of jan early feb from the summer hols

The Coulsons

Hi Steve
Thanks for your reply i guess i am worried that there won't be any spaces left with it being the start of a new term, but thanks for your help.
Debbie

quoll

If you live in a school's catchment area they are obliged to find the children a place so dont panic. It might help to email them to say that you are coming and hoping to live in their area but as Steve said, you will need often need an address in the catchment area especially if the school is a popular one. They will probably do a census in mid February to confirm resource allocation and it does get more difficult to get an out of area enrolment after that because a child will not contribute to the resource allocation unless they are there at census.

Dont panic, they cant turn one of their own kids away!

ABCDiamond

State schools have by law to take all children in their area, they have no choice. If they end up with more children than they can handle, they request more teachers, and/or portable classrooms if needed.

Many children do start mid term, especially those new from Overseas or other States.

Even though the first day of term in 2009 is 27th January. The school office will open earlier. Ours, for example, opens on 5th January 2009.


Private schools often have waiting lists.

emelems

Just to re-iterate what everyone else is saying... if you are in catchment then they have to take the child on.. if the class size is too big then they make another class... simple

Em x

ShoreyM

Also, don't wory too much about taking them out of school for too long. They're about 6 months behind anyway. For instance if your child has just started year 2 in th Uk in September 08, they wouldn't start year 2 here till Feb 09. Hope that makes sense.

comet555

I agree with everyone's comments. I just thought that I'd mention private schools are different though. If that is what the poster had in mind then there could be waiting list. I believe you can put your childs name on it at any time though, even while in the UK (with a fee of course).

However states schools have to take your kid if you live nearby.

neil248

Proof of living in the catchment area for Clover Hill State School was required before they would register our daughter. We had not yet moved into the rental house in the catchment area and the proof they suggested providing was a receipt for a major item to be delivered to that address. We promptly bought a large fridge from the Good Guys, took the receipt back to the school and I think it was all sorted on the same day.

GaryKristensen

We enroled our son in Toowoomba Prep whilst still in the UK last year. we enrolled him in the Spetember and we arrived in the November. We also ordered his book list etc prior and it was waiting in the achool office for us. They also sent us the newsletters etc to the UK and a day for us to visit upon arrival.

Kat

hereshoping

It's worth noting that many schools (at least in VIC) have an enrolment ceiling, and if they are full up to this number they will not take any more students and cannot be forced to do so.

Those with these limits in place are often the better/ more popular schools, it's worth checking this out rather than just expecting to get into your local school as soon as you arrive no questions asked.