school starting age confusion
 

Sorry ME AGAIN.....if my child is 5 in January do they start school in January that year?

Am getting confused by the july cut of dates info....because if she didn't she would be 6 when she started? Is this right?

PP

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Its up to you whether she starts at 5 or 6. Some people keep their kids back a year. My daughter will be 5 in Feb and I had the choice of keeping her at pre-school or sending here to Kindergarten. I am sending here to school as I want her to be in the correct year when we go back to England.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Hi yes they will be able to start Kindergarden. I put my little boy in at that age and he loved it. Good luck

Re: school starting age confusion
 

School is compulsory from the age of 6 years, however they can attend sooner. Most primary schools start taking enrolments in May each year, for the following year, i.e. 2009. Children must be five years of age or older by 30 April of the year they start school. If your child turns 5 before the 30th April 2009 then they can start school in January/February 2009 and would be in Prep.
This is based on Victoria.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Also depending on State Kinder can mean different things. In Victoria kinder is year of pre school from around the age of 4 years, after this they then move on to school and would start in the prep grade.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Hi
My son is just 4 this month and we are planiong to get to NSW this Jan (or there abouts) so he not 5 till Aug 09 when can he start kindy as he starts school in uk this sept and is kindy full days?? any help would be great as a bit confused
Deb x

Re: school starting age confusion
 

He will be able to start school Jan 2010. Our preschool has a 3 day programme for 4 year olds and they go from 8.45am until 2.45pm.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Hi Plantpot, the child needs to turn 6 before 30 June to start Grade/Year 1. Your child would start pre-school, prep, kinda (called different things in different states but full days, five days per week). Because it isn't a compulsory year, it can be hard to find places - start emailing schools to put your name down now. Good luck.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Plantpot is going to NSW so WA rules don't apply.

There is no optional, non-compulsory first year of school in NSW and the official cut-off date here is 31st July.

Plantpot's child can start school in NSW in the same January that he/she is 5. Plantpot can hold the child back a year if she wants to but I wouldn't bother for a January birthday. January birthdays are in the middle of the year (so to speak) so the child is unlikely to be the youngest.

In NSW, the first year of school is called 'kindergarten' - but it's normal school, full-time and compulsory. :)

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Okay, I thought when QLD changed their cutoff date to 30 June, it was supposedly to bring it in to line with the rest of Australila. My kids have been to school in QLD and WA and the cutoff age is 30 June. It was supposed to stop the need for kids changing states to constantly have to repeat years. Sorry Plantpot I thought all states were in alignment now, but obviously not.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Hi
Thanks for clearing that up but have to say I didn't realise that the kids would have to go back a year in Bens case one and a third of a year because he misses that july cut of date My daughter is starting year six here so she goes into yr 5 in jan in NSW????? she is 11 jan 09

thanks again for your help
Deb x

Re: school starting age confusion
 

Just wondering what kids learn at Kindie ie, would you expect them to be able to know the alphabet and read and write before they join school. It's a tricky one as our (nearly) 4 year old knows the alphabet and can count to 100 so I'm concerned that he will be bored if he doesn't start school proper in Victoria until 2010. Not too worried about our 7 year old as I don't think it would hurt her to repeat a year and hopefully would help her socially. My other concern is that if things don't work out and we return after 2 years, how on earth do they catch up again? I assume we would have to somehow get some extra tuition?

Re: school starting age confusion
 

We go to QLD next week, my daughter will be 14 in March and would be entering year 10 here in Sept, what year will she go into? Also my other daughter will be 6 in November and would be going into P2 tomorrow (:(), will she go back into P1?

All help appreciated :)

Lynn xx

Re: school starting age confusion
 

No your daughter will go into year 6 same as the UK. My son will be 10 in feb and he goes into year 5 at the start of the term in Jan next year.

Re: school starting age confusion
 

The assumption is that kids know nothing until they get to school - the range of kids entering kindergarten (as we call it here in ACT/NSW) is so vast that some have never even picked up a pencil and others are reading Harry Potter and so the teachers basically start at the beginning, no pre-requisites. If you get a good teacher they will accommodate kids who are reading/writing but if you dont strike it lucky they will deliver to the middle.

BTW dont think of it as "repeating" a year - just think of it as joining the new system at the appropriate age level and the nomenclature is different. Aus has a general preference to put kids with their age peers and that has distinct benefits, especially later on in schooling where a child much younger than the cohort can struggle socially and emotionally.

As for what to do if you decide to go home after a couple of years - you could try and ask for an early entry into school if a child is close to the cut off date. You may need an independent psych assessment to determine their readiness for school and you could try the "he would be disadvantaged WHEN we go home at the end of this contract". Meanwhile, keep on doing what you are doing - the home is a great teacher and if he has been engaged enough to learn letters and numbers in the home environment then continue to foster his love of learning - reading and number - and he should be OK to fit into the UK system if he returns. Someone did post on here the key stage activities but I have lost that link, google may be able to help you.