Hi

Each school has to produce an annual report which is a bit like an ofsted report, it contains results and info on the school.
These can be found on the schools websites, you may have to hunt for them but they are there.

Good luck

We are moving to the northern suburbs of Brisbane and schools are a big issue for us too.We cant afford to go private and are positive we will find a good local school.Schools were we are moving arent in catchment areas so we should have more choice than here ,where schools in good catchment areas send up house prices.

Hi, personally I felt my daughter who is in year 8 had a better education in England.
She does not even study IT here and hardy ever gets homework even though she is in top class.
In England she had so much homework that she struggled to finish it on time.

Having said that she likes the children better and enjoys school more thats probably because she finds it easier.

End of year 9 she can drop maths too which I think is really bad.

We live on the Northern beaches by the way.

I have to say my daughter is 5 and I HATE it when she gets homework.I think that,while a good education is great,its so important to enjoy school.
I dont think dropping maths sounds too good though.
Andy

Now that is worrying! No IT, Maths or homework - i don't understand the reasoning behind that, especially as IT is necessary in virtually every job nowadays.

This is one of my largest concerns that we will come out there to live and may decide to come back because we don't settle and my children having to repeat years back in the UK due to being behind or not having covered core subjects.

Have you heard whether this is the same in every state? Is it a private or state school? Or are they all the same re: subjects taught/curriculum etc..? Are you going to change schools?

I wouldn't worry about IT.

My feeling is that there is very little benefit in the teaching of IT at school......PROVIDED that you have a computer at home (and if you don't, get hold of a really cheap one just for the kids)

I haven't directly taught my daughter any IT skills and yet somehow, she's a complete whizz at it.

The best primary schools and most secondary won't be teaching high level spreadsheet use or programming anyhow because they just don't have the staff. I teach in an "exclusive" private school in WA and we don't teach IT as a stand alone subject. The kids still have fantastic IT skills though.

My view on homework is also that it is overvalued. I can only think of one real benefit of homework up to upper secondary - that it helps engage parent and child in the child's learning. It helps enhance your relationship.

That's it.

I have - as ever -significant concerns about my kids' education in Perth state schools. My current issue is why they watch a video (e.g. The Little Mermaid etc) every Friday!
I am about to order (or download) National Curriculum documents from the UK so that I can see what standards UK kids are expected to work at (i.e. what they should have learned) by the end of certain years or key stages.
Then I'm going to spend a few hours a week making sure that my kids are up to the UK level.

The idea of dropping maths at the end of year 9 is a bit odd. When we did a recce in November we looked at a high and a primary in Sydney (North Shore). Both schools said they found kids who came from the UK were 6-18 months BEHIND when they arrived, a fact borne out by a friend whose very bright kids struggled to catch up. Obviously depends on the kid and the school but to be honest I'd find it hard to believe any educational system could have lower standards than the UK!

It's not true that you can drop Maths after Year 9 in NSW.

Maths is a mandatory subject in the NSW School Certificate so must be studied up to and including Year 10.

It can be dropped for the HSC.

My daughter has the option to drop maths at the end of year 9 when chosing her options.
I don't know about the rest of Oz

I'd check that with the school because it doesn't sound right.

All children in NSW in Years 7-10 are supposed to study maths. Maths is a mandatory subject in the NSW School Certificate and all children sit the School Certificate Maths exam at the end of Year 10.

School Certificate info is here: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au.../sc_intro.html.

"To receive the School Certificate, students are required to study courses in each year in Years 7-10 in English, Mathematics, Science, Human Society and its Environment and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education.

At some time during Years 7-10, students are also required to study courses in Creative Arts, Technology and Applied Studies and Languages Other Than English.

Each year all students in Year 10 sit for statewide tests in November in English-literacy; Mathematics; Science; Australian History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship; and Computing Skills."

Both of my girls - one primary, one high school have IT lessons. Public schools. They do all the core subjects plus others, in fact eldest girl does more subjects and has access to many other courses than she ever had in the UK. But that is her current school compared with her old one. I have no idea what other schools in both countries teach over and above the core.