ekp1974

Hi, We are currently in the UK but my husband has been offered a job in Perth and I'm not sure whether to veto or not. I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. My son was born in Nov 2006 so if we stay in the UK, he will start proper school this September. From what I can work out, in WA the school year runs from Feb to December and he wont be able to get into Kindy until Feb 2012 and then will only get 15 hrs pw. Is this right? I'm worried that this will impact on his education, as he would be getting full time schooling from this Sept if we stay here. Any advice is really very appreciated. Thanks.

Kim67

It's early on a Saturday morning so brain too dull to work out years for you, but he will start Grade 1 (the first full time compulsory year) the year he turns 7 if he is a November baby. Heaps of threads on here about education in Western Australia. Having seen kids that start in the British system earlier and kids that start later in the Aus system, in my opinion there is no disadvantage to starting later.

eddie007

Australian children start school later, like some enlightened european countries as the benefits of staying at home in the family environment are valued higher than in the uk

If i had had my children here i would have welcomed the "late" start

Good families give children a better start than classrooms and teachers... Where it falls down is where the kid is stuck in front of the elctronic baby sitter and not given appropriate stimulation in the home environment..

I wouldnt veto an australian lifestyle for my children... In fact its why we came here i. The first place... Better lifestyle... Outdoors accessible most of thr year... Big open spaces, opportunities for outdoor activities... Sailing, swimming, surfing... More sports.. Imho a better balance

kar-kier

Your son would have started Kindy this year, which is 2 and a half days a week (some places do 3). He will go into Pre-Primary in Feb 2012. If you arrive before he is due to start Pre-primary, he could go into Kindy, if they have a space!

Realistically this means he will start full time education 6 months later than he would of back home!

Hope this helps!

al150n

Our son was born July 06 & has just started kindy doing 2 days a week. He'll start pre-primary next February & year 1 the following February.

He'd been doing 4 days a week at pre-school in the UK & would have started in the 4+ unit last September. He left pre-school at the end of the summer term 2010 & has been back at home with me full time up until starting kindy 3 weeks ago which has all been a bit odd for both of us.

To him it's meant basically starting from the bottom again but he's fine with it & because of his time in pre-school in the UK he's well aware of what is expected of him in class.

Our daughter has just gone in to year 1. She started 4+ in the UK just after her 4th birthday (she was 6 yesterday) so with us moving she's done just under 2 years at that level. She is well ahead of most the children in her class with her reading, writing & spelling & because of this her teacher is giving her extra work at home to keep her level up. In class she also works at a higher level than most the other children although it is all on the same subject.

I don't see it as an impact on my kids education as it means they are ahead at the moment & I also like to see how well they've settled in to their classes as they already had an idea of what to expect & what is expected of them. Our son can't work out why other kids get upset when they're left by their Mum's at kindy as he's well use to being left. Personally I still think they start pre-school & school way to young in the UK but that's another debate.

Alison x

HelenTD

It's great that your daughter is working at a higher level in class than the other kids, but why is she being given extra work at home?

al150n

As she is already ahead in her class her teacher wants to keep it that way. A few other children (10 I believe) have got extra work to do at home but instead of simply doing things like word recognition my daughter is doing spellings of the words instead as she can already read them. She is also 1 of 2 children on a higher level with their reading at home.

Alison x

odyssey

my view is you can be a genius at 3 but by 10 it all changes and evens out. I dont htink the amount of education <7 makes any difference at all to be honest apart fro to the parents. love, social awareness, moral code, behaviour matter more.

it just works out.

HelenTD

For me there is an issue of some kids not working to a high enough level during the day at school. I don't see why they have to do extra, at home or school, just because they're ahead. On the other hand, some kids want to do it and enjoy it.

Do the kids who are behind, or the kids who are 'on target', have to do extra at home? I know what I have experienced at our school, just interested in hearing what happens elsewhere.

eddie007

Hopalong kid brings home extra work and extension work.. She loves it... Cant wait to get stuck in, has to be TOLD to stop..Mumbles struggles just to survive a whole day so time away from school is spent doing things he enjoys... Gorgeous is too busy at the fishing, sailing and socialising to do anything that looks like homework....

No doubt they'll all become useful members of society eventually... Whether they did home work at 5 or not...

avi

So like my two hehehe gorgeous is too busy applying makeup and preening in the mirror or texting boys computer is always wanting to read do sums or play on computer or wii or xbox .