I am about to inform my boys headteachers about our emigration plans. What information do I ask them to supply to me. I understand I need to have certain assessments/reports/absent figures for enrolment in schools in Brisbane. One boy will still be at infant school (aged 9) the other will be at high school (aged 13). Also their birthdays at the the beginning of September (11th and 12th- close eh !) will they go down a year ?

Any help appreciated.

If the school my kids go to is representative of the all then you need take nothing! Honestly we arrived with a huge portfolio from my kids home school togethr with health registers (the red book thing) and tried to present them to the school but they seem disinterested.

As for ages, my eldest daughter who is 7 and was half way through P3 has joined year 3 here. However, you have to watch out because our P1 is equivalent to Kindergarten here. The upshot is that my daughter is really in P4 now. Does that make sense?

Surfdude, in Brisbane your 9 year old will be in Grade 5 (assuming that hes turning 10 in sept?) & your 13 year old will be in Grade 9 (same assumption, 14 in Sept). You wont need to bring anything with you for enrolment apart from their passport or birth certificate for verification of their age & possibly vaccination records.

Same again here, we enrolled two teenagers in Melbourne & needed nothing from UK.

My 9 year old is in grade 4 and my 13 year old in grade 8. Upon enrolment the school put them into grades according to their ages, which were the same grades they were in in the UK. However as they all find the work easier, I wish they had been put a grade above.

When enrolling we needed to show their vaccination records, and proof that we lived in the catchment area.

Now that my eldest is in a private school, I would recommend it to anyone, if you can afford it (and the fees are nowhere near as bad as in the UK). Much better discipline, strict standards of dress code, smaller class sizes, the work is more challenging and there is more homework, and the pass rates for those wanting to go on to university are better. The government high schools round here are just so laid back and I was desparate to move my eldest out of our local one, I'm so glad a place came up for her at the private school.

All you need is the red book, as they are only generally only interested in the vacination record.

My girls private school did take copies of previous reports, but only as we had them with us. They were not essential.

Private schools here cost from $2,000 per year, so not expensive compared to the UK.
You can even get really good ones for $4-5,000 per year.

I agree with Jacqui on her comments.

Many thanks for all your replies, very helpful. What is this red book and where would I get it from ?

MrsDagboy yes the ages you assumed are correct and interesting to read.

if you havent got a red book your doctor can give you a copy of your childrens vaccination records. i got mine from local child health department for £10 (admin fee) as i needed them for medicals.

Hi the red book is what you receive from your health visitor when your children are born. It contains growth charts vaccination records etc. Every check up can also be documented. There are even pages for you to record first smile etc etc.

My children are 6 and 2 and both have one. Hope this is helpful.
Irene

As others have said, vaccination certificates.

Surfdude, other states are different to Qld in the ages - both starting school & cutoff dates. Thats why Jacquis kids are in different grades, shes in WA.

Dont all children in the UK get a "Red Book" ?

I have red books for my two youngest but not for my 13 year old. I guess they weren't around in 1991, I was just given a small card booklet with spaces to record vaccination and growth. The Aussies also have an identical red book thing for babies.

Re fees for private schools, here in Mandurah the top schools charge around $2500 per year at high school level, slightly dearer for years 11 & 12. For primary school the fees are just under $2000. You have to add on the cost of uniform, which is only available from the school shop and the cost of stationery and text books, which bumps up the yearly fees by nearly $1000 in all, not forgetting also the costs for camps and school trips. Up in Perth though, I see the fees for the top schools are nearer $12,000 per year, plus costs. There are some Perth families who send their children to our school in Mandurah, to save on the fees! Shame for the kids having to commute over two hours each day though.

While waiting on the list to get into private school, we were advised by the registrar to keep sending in copies of the latest school reports. I sent in the most recent ones I had from the UK because my children all had very good SATS results, then continued sending in their reports from the primary school here. Last year they sat tests similar to SATS, WALNA tests they were called "WA Literacy and Numeracy Assessments", so I sent the results of those off too. I also called the registrar frequently just to confirm we were still interested, to check if she'd received reports ok, things like that to show our keenness. Although we wouldn't have been very high up on the waiting list, being new arrivals to Mandurah compared to those who applied when their kids were born, those outstanding school reports must have counted for something. At the interview the principal had all my paperwork spread out in front of him, and said that my daughter was just the sort of pupil he wants in his school, not just because of her academic level, but also because of her good social skills report. I do know of another family who can't get in, because at their interview the principal pointed out that the social skills and behavioural problems of their son was of concern, and he would only reconsider if the boy could produce a report which much better marks and comments! There's me thinking the interview was just a formality, but it appears they do turn people down.

So far we've been very pleased with the private schooling, but lack of funds means that the other two children will have to see primary school through to year 7 in the meantime. Not sure how we're going to manage with uni fees in the future, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

I have no red books ! I think I will have to arrange a print off of vacination records from my docter. Wonder how much that will cost !


I do intend to send the boys to a private school (not too expensive) but am slightly concerned with the waiting lists. I do not want to have to put them in a state school whilst they are waiting. I did contact Sheldon College (thanks ABCDiamond) but they will not add to the list until we have seen the school/headteacher in April.

We arrive 24 April - will the schools be open after the Easter break. I hope I am right - I had read that they too have easter holidays ? We intend to let them get used to their new country for a couple of weeks whilst we choose the 'right' school - we desperately do not want to get this wrong.

Having said that we arrive 24th whatever, but if our house sale does not complete will have to come back on the 3 May.

I think that the reason for Sheldon College not wanting to add you to the list, is that they like to see the child first. To see if they will fit in with the college. They do not like disruptive children etc.
It does make it a bit more difficult for you, but all I can say is that when we went there, we were offered a place starting the next week.

The staff at the private schools tend to be at work most of the holidays except for the National Holiday days.

April 24th isn't far off now, do you know where you will be staying when you get here ?

edit:
Term 2 starts on April 20th, the we have April 26th as a holiday (Anzac Day)

ABC Diamond, we intend to stay at a hotel on the Gold Coast, (was booked as a holiday fact finding mission to validate, but now fortunately, it looks like may be permanent) we have had it booked for some time. We thought this would be a good base to get over the jet lag for a couple of days, then travel around the areas of most interest. Cleveland looks good and I know Sheldon have a bus which runs from there. We do not want to become to 'certain' on areas to live. We appreciate all the comments /views posted on here and go from there, won't know until we see the places for ourselves.