liz and mark

Hi
spoke to agent
asked if we would have to put kids in to school straight away and was told that we would be breaking the law and it would be classed as truancy.Does anyone have anything on this subject.
we are hoping to arrive october and I was thinking of letting kids stay off school till the new term in feb, to save running out buying new uniforms etc for just a few weeks because they will be breaking up for the christmas holidays and on return they would be going up a school year.
Any help would be appreciated.

liz and mark

Wendy&Mike

Hi
Sorry, i cant answer your question, but i also have the same problem. Intend to arrive in Sept (with 3 kids) and thought that by the time we had sorted out an area to live, accommodation, and visited schools it would probably be Feb before they started. Surely, as long as you are seen to be making enquiries at schools it shouldnt matter ?!
Would like to hear from anyone who has any experience on the above.
Wendy

Nicstids

Surely you could say that you're educating them at home until such time as you find a school that's suitable for their needs. It's allowed here obviously, so I would have thought they'd allow it in Aus as well...(Happy to be corrected) By the time they get round to checking exactly what schooling you're providing, you'll probably have put them in school anyway.

Just a thought.

Nicstids

lucinda75

I agree with Nic, its hard to make a balanced rational decision on schooling in a couple of weeks,,dont forget how long it took us all to choose the schools in the UK..weighing all the options up...blah de blah.. PLUS dont forget the jet lag..it makes you out of sorts for ages...and then theres the stress (excitement!!) of being here..finding somewhere to live thats not a hole....AND looking for a school??? nah...Im sure you wont be the first family to give yourself a breather...anyway, from what Ive seen of local primary scools, they vary enormously, and looking back, I chose a school because of its walking proximity, whereas, had I waited a month or so..she could have gone to a more preferred school.
Definitely ask EVERYONE you come across about schools, seriously, even the girl down the bank!!!!

( and dont worry about moving the kids to a new country..they will love it more than they let on..!!):lecture:

shaun/lor

we arrived nov last year, my son was 6 years old in dec. he stopped school in the uk at half term just before we left and didnt start school in australia till their new term in feb. it was fine no one asked any questions and thought we had done the right thing when we told them at his new school. in fact our school years in england were just that little infront of the oz one, so my son has not lost out at tall.
we have made friends with a couple from scotland, who sent their kids straight away on arrival in oz. because of their ages. they rented a house and put the kids in school , girl 14 and a boy 12. but now are building a house in a different area and the kids will have to change schools(which they dont want to do,after finding friends etc) or find their way to school everyday, which is a fare trip. so the building of the house has to be near the school, you cant look too far away.
hope this helps you out abit, please dont worry too much. i was really worried about the same thing and all is not as important as it seems. good luck lorraine.

andie

all kids are entitled to a holiday, mine havent had a break for ages, we are definately having at least a month travelling around oz, we need to find out where we are going to settle first. we are treating the first few months of sorting every thing out as a holiday, the kids will have enough to deal with moving the other side of the world, away from friends and family, and im not going to shove them straight into school. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME FUN FIRST.:PARTY: :PARTY: :PARTY: :PARTY:

cinderella

Exactly, who is to know you are not on holiday!

Take your time and choose the right school for you and your children, as it will be one of the most important decisions you make.

Good luck.

Cinderella

andie

thanks cinderella, the kids are very nervous about emigrating and if we can help them enjoy the whole experience we will. myself and hubby will do the worrying about jobs, schooling etc. while my kids are having fun at the theme parks, theyve planned the route. :scared: :scared: they will hopefully start school after a month or so, we wont keep them off for too long, theyll be driving us crazy by then anyway, no doubt they.l still be fighting even in australia.

cinderella

Where are you going to?

andie

we are heading brisbane area, well on the outskirts, within 100 km of brisbane city, we dont exactly know where yet, thats why we need to travel around for a while. there are lots of places i want to visit before deciding where to settle. there are lots of lovely areas, but we do need to think of jobs, hubby a mechanic and myself being a pesonal trainer, we need to suss out the job front.

cinderella

We are not sure where we are going. Husband wants to go somewhere around Brisbane, I think maybe Adelaide. You are way ahead of us though. We are still at the application prep stage, (Business Skills). It is a small world though, and so you never know, oneday our paths may cross.

best wishes Andie.


Cinderella

andie

good luck to you cinderella and famiy, you may only be at the beginning but believe me, it soon creeps up on you, weve been waiting 2 years, and now we are rushing around like idiots!!!!! sorting out all the stuff i now wish i hadnt brought, especially the xmas presents the kids had, which we now need to sell at a car boot. oh dear the house is upside down, im so stressed :scared: but yes. it will be worth it in the end.

Wendy&Mike

hi andie
We are also going to the Brisbane area- in Aug/Sept. When do u intend to go?
We spent 5 weeks there last summer and loved it. We found areas very different and are still going to need plenty of time to decide on exactly the area we want to settle. The 5 weeks did however give us a good idea of some areas and the type of community we want to settle in.
wendy

andie

hi wendy and mike, we hope to go early june, just waiting for house sale to go through. its hard to decide which area to settle in isnt it????????? we are just going to have to decide when weve had another look around.

Jacqui

We left the UK in July so we decided to let the kids have their 6-week break at least, before sending them to school. We also had to decide where to live and didn't want to waste money on uniforms etc. We originally planned to send them to school in the new school year in February, but by September we felt they were ready to go back to school. We had taken them out and about and they had had a real good 6-week break, but then the bickering started and the novelty of the swimming pool in the back yard was wearing off, and we couldn't face another 4 months of them being off school!!

We bought them educational books from the local newsagents and also brought some with us from the UK. On the days that we didn't go out, we made them sit down for a couple of hours working through their workbooks, to keep their brains ticking over. The Aussie workbooks were good, because they covered slightly different subjects, eg history and geography, so it was good for the children to colour in maps of Australia and locate all the major cities, and find out about legends like Ned Kelly. On long journeys in the car, the children took their workbooks with them to keep them occupied. We don't feel that their 6-weeks off was wasted.

No authorities checked up on us, despite us having to fill in the children's details on the family allowance forms at CentreLink. I'm sure they could have stayed off school longer and no-one would have noticed! In any case, wherever we went people automatically assumed we were here on holiday because of our British accents. If you are planning to go to theme parks etc. make the most of doing it during the school term time, at least it's not busy then!