Janna and Nick

I am looking for any information please on kindies and childcare North of the river in Perth.

In the UK, you find a child carer (either a child minder or nursery), pay the appropriate fee and go off to work 5 days a week. When the child is three you get your government sponsored places which allows the child to attend a nursery 5 times a week for 2 and a half hours. You can double up on these if you like. For example, my daughter does 2 days a week but we claim 4 sessions. You also get childcare vouchers which helps you save tax.

She would be starting school in the UK in October but because of our move to Australia, she obviously won't be. So now comes the question of childcare...

What's the norm in Australia and how do I go about finding out about childcare in North Perth? Is there a comparable system in Australia?

As far as kindies go, is there a list somewhere of them? and how does it work? I understand there is a waiting list for most of them so I'm a bit concerned that I won't be able to get my daughter a place as she would be going to kindie next year.

I have done research on the internet on this but don't seem to come out with anything concrete or feel I've actually achieved anything! I've also searched on here but not with much success!

So I would appreciate any help those in the know could provide.

Zenshin

Hi we are returning to Perth soon and have done a bit of research. Our daughter is a little older though. When is your daughter's birthday as that will affect which year she will be allowed to apply for a pre-primary place which is 5 days a week and normal school hours. The year before pre-primary is kindergarden and is 2 days per week. Since kindergarden and pre-primary are not compulsory you may find a lot of the popular places are booked up.

My daughter is a 1st July baby so she misses the cut off date by 1 day. In effect this means that although she is half way through Year 1 here in the UK, she is only just eligible to start pre-primary this year and Year 1 next year. If you look up the education departments website they have a calculator to see which year your daughter will start compulsory schooling (Year 1) and then you will know if you are looking to get her into pre-primary or kindergarden. Where abouts NOR are you hoping to live? I have emailed schools to get an idea on whether they may have places for my daughter in pre-primary and they are usually pretty good at getting back to you and sending enrolment forms etc.

Janna and Nick

Hi Zenshin, she is an 11th July baby so also just misses out. I was looking forward to her starting school this year but now not so!

Do you have any idea how much it would cost for childcare?

Janna and Nick

We are hoping to live in Joondalup, Connolly, Tapping maybe even Ellenbrook. That's also a tough question actually because it's affordability but a good education is priority!

Zenshin

We were looking at possibly Tapping or Ellenbrook also. We didn't look at childcare centres when we were there back in May since we wouldn't need them. You might want to email Tapping Primary and they could possibly help you with the local centres to contact. The staff at that school are quite helpful. I will ask family and friends over there about childcare costs for you. I think it might be quite varied where you go. My sister has to raise her daughter by herself and I know her childcare costs were subsidised so she ended up paying something ridiculous like $10 a day (was about 5 years ago though) Found this link http://www.careforkids.com.au/articl...icle.asp?ID=56 which basically says you can get up to 50% of childcare fees back. They take off the value of any child benefit you may receive first though. The childcare rebate is also not means tested at the moment. There are other links on the site which suggest rough costs of the different types of providers.

I think it is probably a good thing that you daughter won't have started school yet as she won't know any different. Unfortunately, my daughter will think she is taking a step backward as she is so proud of being a Year 1 as she loves the extra stuff she learns compared to reception. I have not lived in Perth for 12years so I am unsure what they teach but I have been told they learn a lot more in pre-primary than they used to when I was little. Just have to convince her now.

Janna and Nick

Thanks Zenshin. Bless her, I am sure she will be fine! It's so funny to think they are little people who have their own thoughts on exactly what they want and that something such as moving down a year is a big deal for them. Although perhaps not so bad as she could take that year to fit in and adjust and then get on with the learning! Do you feel she has grown up too quickly because of the British school starting age or not really?

Anything you could find out about childcare cost would be fab! I'll take a look at that website and drop Tapping Primary a line.

Thanks once again!

Zenshin

Yes and No. We were really worried when she first started school as she seemed so young but she thrived on it and loves the discipline/routine of going to school. She has always been very mature for her age since we don't have any friends here with kids the same age. She knows a lot of kids much older and they have always treated her as equal. At the same time though we have always tried to make sure she stays a kid and although she has travelled a lot and has had exposure to the world she still has the naivety of a 5 year old. Can't say the same for a lot of her class mates after seeing them dancing at their latest disco? It worries me a little that the kids in the UK of her age act like they are teenagers? It may well be the same in Perth - I don't know.

We have been in two minds whether we should push to get her in the year above since she is only a day off the cut off or whether we should just let her go in the year they want her to. Her teacher here seems to think we would be better off trying to get her put ahead based on how well she is doing here. Hard to say really until we are back living there again and find a school we like as everything else relies on that.

Janna and Nick

It is difficult. Well ultimately you will know what is best for her. Good luck with that decision!

It is very scary looking at little girls who dress like adults, wear make up etc etc...

I look forward to your updates!

northernbird

Talk to the school you choose when you get here. At the school I work in we have just allowed a child in exactly the same situation to go up a year. It is worth asking and bringing school reports and work to aid the principal in their decision.

Zenshin

Thanks for that. I have been given a lot of grief from some family members and people on other boards in Perth for suggesting we may try to see if she can be put up a year. Her principal has agreed to an informal assessment on where my daughter is at before we move out. I know it will be up to the principal at her new school to assess if it is in her best interest to do so. I am happy to go along with that as then at least they are looking at her as an individual case. Just can't stand it when people just flat out refuse due wanting to stick to rules without considering what may be best for the child.

HelenTD

You might be lucky and get her put up a year - it happened to a family at our school too, as the pre-primary class was full and their daughter went straight into Year 1. There is no difference between her and the other kids in the class. Mine is a late June child and is only 2 weeks older than her. I do wish they were consistent in putting kids up, though, as both of mine have been bored in class. Any paperwork/assessment you can bring with you would be very useful, but be warned that some principals here are very inflexible - and you'd have to decide if you wanted to go to a school like that anyway.

When choosing a suburb, check for nearby non-govt schools, so that you've got that option as well. There are good childcare centres around and some of them have better programmes than the kindy/pre-primary sessions at schools (a backward step sometimes). There are also low-cost pre-kindy programmes scattered around the suburbs. I'm trying to find out if there's a central information source for these, as I've only seen signs up as I drive around my usual routes. I'll do some more homework on this.

bellaleggos

Hi, I live in Tapping, my daughter is 18 months and shortly after she was born I emailed Tapping Primary school to see if she has to go on a waiting list. The head there told me that I need to go to the school the May/June that she turns 3 - so 2011 as she turns 3 on June 23rd, and then she would start in the Feb. Be aware that Tapping Primary is about 2 split temporarily over 2 campus so Kindy to Year2 will be at a new campus and Year 3-7 at the current campus.

As for daycare, my daughter started 1 day a week recently and will go up to 2 days next month. She goes to Currambine Kids Care (as it's near the train station and I work in the city and catch the train while she's at daycare). They charge $73 a day, you also get a percentage paid for my the govt. - this depends on your joint income, and then whatever else you pay, you also get 50% back - one is called Child Care benefit, and the other Child Care rebate. E.g It costs $73 a day, but the govt pays $15.90 a day so I only have to pay $57.10 and then every quarter I get half of that back, so it really only costs me $28.55 a day (but I do have to pay the whole $57.10 upfront).
She had her name down at Currambine Kids Care from Oct 08, got a place in Jan 09 but I deferred till Nov 09 - but they have a huge waiting list. My advice would be to check a few places out and get her name down on a few of them. The other one I would recommend is ABC in Sinagra which is very near Tapping. I wouldn't recommend ABC in Tapping as I haven't heard very good reports, and when I called them twice to go and look around, I didn't hear back from them either time so I didn't think that bode well.
Anyway I'll stop rambling now - good luck and let me know if you need any further info.