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Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Right I have put my kids through some Primary and all of High School here, My husbands daughers University. (NSW and QLD)
First thing, State and Private vary, obvious that isnt it. Each have good and bad, dont think going Private will eliminate all problems. Secondly, if your kids are going to stay in the OZ system from now till end of High, why worry how stuff is learnt?, they will end up passing the OZ system. However, taking a kid out of OZ and putting them in a UK school is more difficult, they simply will not be up to the standards required in the UK. 2 years seems to be the difference, UK kids coming here are usually put up (often after with a mumVschool battle) my kids were two years behind in work covered when we went back to the UK, that is Work Covered by the UK kids had not been done by our kids. Education cutbacks here, for eg, languages in many Primary schools are cut out now, no funds, kids writing notes because of lack of funds for photocopy paper, so I imagine, cutbacks are pretty similar to all Countries. Special needs kids are put into classrooms with all the other kids, behavioural problems kids are disstibuted evenly throughout the shcool. Dont kid your self that funds will magically be available for special help for kids with learning disababilies, funding is tight too and there is a real battle for who gets the special needs teachers help. OZ has funding issues too. Any kid taking a State school place who have average intelligence and does the recommended 3 hours of homework a day will have a good chance of a UNI place. Private school kids amazingly who dont do the 3 hours study probably wont get one, see what I am saying it still boils down to how much work the kid puts in. Private schools realise tho you are paying to put pressure or 'push' the kids, thats the main difference I can see. School classes. average of 25 in grades 1/2/3 30 in 4/5/ 6/7 then High school 36 was our experience. Private schools tho surprisingly often had larger classes than State, although some real expensive ones could be as low as 18 kids. Teachers aides are rare except in Pre-school. Kids are put through a Net (testing) in grade 2 to pick up any learning difficulties. Schools do seem to have a lot of fun based learning, I dont think that is bad at all, most kids would probably learn more by not being bored rigid. Homework is very light in Primary. A reading book in grades 1-3 each night, 5 spelling words a week, maybe a word puzzle. In 4+ grades a homework project may come home once a term. The grade 2 boy (just turned 7) we currently have staying with us is doing a unit on other countries at school, taking 8 swimming lessons, adding up columns of 2, say 20+23, spelling words were these/ down/ almost/ some/ bread. They are doing a unit on measurements, hands on with jugs of water and tape measures, from which he picked it up really well. He is in a class of 24, which is broken up into 4 groups according to ability. Classes are not streamed, each class will be mxed ability. Discipline generally seems medium to high, although the odd teacher who could not control a tea bag usually set us up for a pretty bad year. Bullying procedures are in most schools, although it still goes undetected at times. Uniforms seem to be standard. Teachers dont seem to be terribly dedicated, I am saying that by the empty teachers carparks at 3.15 you almost get knocked over in the rush. They also seem to take an huge amount of sick days, most teachers we had would have 20+ sickies year hard to imagaine that going on in most jobs you'd last 5 minutes! Basically I dont see the system as a problem, it is different tho, and that does become obvious when you just arrive from the UK and suddenly become mother of the class genius! Or if you go back I imagine, you may need to spend some time catching up or slip back a year. Generally our kids seemed happy at school, obviously we had bad spots now and again, but generally fine, they certainly rarely felt overworked! Heat was our main issue, but that was limited to Feb/ March due to the long school holidays saving them from 6 weeks of it. On the whole we were happy, the only time a big problem happened was when we tried to switch countries in High School. |
I have read these education posts, the uk v Aus debate with interest and have come to the conclusion that if their education system was so bad they would be churning out a nation of idiots, and I dont think that is happening, is it?
Its no better, no worse, just different. sue:D :D :D |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Hi Dotty
These may seem like silly questions but it would really help if you could answer them. When does the school/uni year begin in Queensland and what are the hours of the school day (including lunchtime and breaks etc.)? I understand primary education runs until the kids are 12 (would this be Y7) is this correct? Here, as you may know its, Reception, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6 (kids aged 10/11) then onto High school for Y7-Y11 formal education. Y12 & Y13 for Sixth Form. How does this compare with Queensland? Hope you can help I've looked at some school and uni websites but they seem to give lots of information but this. Many thanks. |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
[QUOTE]Originally posted by dotty
Secondly, if your kids are going to stay in the OZ system from now till end of High, why worry how stuff is learnt?, they will end up passing the OZ system. Thanks for that Dotty, our daughter is 11 and the quote above is exactly how i feel! She is doing really well at school here, which isn't a great school in terms of behaviour etc. but its down to her and us as parents, not the teachers or the school, as long as She wants to learn and we as parents are willing to support and help her with homework, projects etc. then she will excel at any school be it here or in Brisbane! nice post Dotty, thanks for sharing your thoughts. with regards rach, mark and chanelle ;) |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by dotty Special needs kids are put into classrooms with all the other kids, behavioural problems kids are disstibuted evenly throughout the shcool. Dont kid your self that funds will magically be available for special help for kids with learning disababilies, funding is tight too and there is a real battle for who gets the special needs teachers help. OZ has funding issues too. and School classes. average of 25 in grades 1/2/3 30 in 4/5/ 6/7 then High school 36 was our experience. Private schools tho surprisingly often had larger classes than State, although some real expensive ones could be as low as 18 kids. Teachers aides are rare except in Pre-school. My wife is currently qualified as a Special Needs Teaching Assistant here in the UK, she was wondering if this is what is classed as a Special needs Teacher in Oz or is it the same as a teachers aide? Does there seem to be a shortage of Special Needs Teachers? Once again keep up the informative posts. :) |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by remmie1 Hi Dotty These may seem like silly questions but it would really help if you could answer them. When does the school/uni year begin in Queensland and what are the hours of the school day (including lunchtime and breaks etc.)? I understand primary education runs until the kids are 12 (would this be Y7) is this correct? Here, as you may know its, Reception, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6 (kids aged 10/11) then onto High school for Y7-Y11 formal education. Y12 & Y13 for Sixth Form. How does this compare with Queensland? Hope you can help I've looked at some school and uni websites but they seem to give lots of information but this. Many thanks. Kids start pre school the year they turn 5, so grade one they must have turned 5 by the previous December 31. Grades pre 1 234567 are in Primary school, then 8 9 10 11 12 in High. Most then finish at 17. Often a child who has only just been turned 5 in November or December will be held back so they have an advantage of being a year older when they start. But most will turn 12 in the final year of primary. Each state varies so this info is for QLD. Hope I got it all :) |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by PHIZA Great post Dotty, My wife is currently qualified as a Special Needs Teaching Assistant here in the UK, she was wondering if this is what is classed as a Special needs Teacher in Oz or is it the same as a teachers aide? Does there seem to be a shortage of Special Needs Teachers? Once again keep up the informative posts. :) I dont know what the job opportunities are to be honest, but there are a lot of posts here about teaching in OZ, if you do a search I bet more infor will come up. I'll go and find the education qld website address, it may help. www.education.qld.gov.au |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by dotty Kids start pre school the year they turn 5, so grade one they must have turned 5 by the previous December 31. Grades pre 1 234567 are in Primary school, then 8 9 10 11 12 in High. Most then finish at 17. Often a child who has only just been turned 5 in November or December will be held back so they have an advantage of being a year older when they start. But most will turn 12 in the final year of primary. Each state varies so this info is for QLD. Hope I got it all :) thanx Claire :D btw a nice lot of useful info there Dotty has helped alot thankyou ;) |
Pretty much agree with most of what dotty has said. The only things I would add are that I think sometimes the teachers aides/funding for special needs kids can depend on the size of the school (or perhaps something else? not sure what?). Our school is reasonably small (around 300 kids), apart from the preschool teachers aides (1 of which does 5 days a fortnight at the *big* school as well), there are 3 others that work in the school, split between the classes obviously. They also have a separate program with a specialist support teacher that runs for children with learning disabilities/special needs which I know that most other schools dont have, ours is lucky (not sure how they *got* lucky, but thats what we were told LOL). Depending on the problem with the child they have a program individually tailored to each child in which they get one on one help for up to an hour a day. This is state primary btw, Im sure secondary is a completely different kettle of fish.
Dotty, got all the classes sorted years 1-7 primary (finish at 12 years old), then 8-12 is secondary (finish at 17). Preschool isnt compulsary here, you only need to start in Year 1 (ie turn 6 first year at school). Lastly, not sure about the teachers not being dedicated, we have nothing but praise for the 2 teachers we have had for our boys this year & the school in general. Of the 2 teachers one hasnt had a single sick day this year, the other has had 1. They are always there to talk to after school & are extremely interested in the childrens progress & we have regular meetings & discussions with them about the boys. They are offering suggestions about the kids (both are classified as special needs) & work very closely with us to give us advice on things for next year. That's our experience anyway, it may change as they get older, but for now we are very happy :). |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by dotty QLD, school year starts end of January, UNI Februray. School hours (vary a bit school to school) 8.45 to 2.45 30 minutes for little lunch about 11 am then 40 minutes for big lunch about 1pm. School hols about 10 days at easter, 2 weeks end of june/beg July, 2 weeks end sept.early October and 6 weeks mid dec to end jan. High school can vary, some have shifts, but some examples of 7.27 to 12.50 (for seniors) others 10.20 to 4.20. If a school does not have shifts which is the majority it would be about 9-3 with 2 breaks. Kids start pre school the year they turn 5, so grade one they must have turned 5 by the previous December 31. Grades pre 1 234567 are in Primary school, then 8 9 10 11 12 in High. Most then finish at 17. Often a child who has only just been turned 5 in November or December will be held back so they have an advantage of being a year older when they start. But most will turn 12 in the final year of primary. Each state varies so this info is for QLD. Hope I got it all :) |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by dotty Right I have put my kids through some Primary and all of High School here, My husbands daughers University. (NSW and QLD) First thing, State and Private vary, obvious that isnt it. Each have good and bad, dont think going Private will eliminate all problems. Secondly, if your kids are going to stay in the OZ system from now till end of High, why worry how stuff is learnt?, they will end up passing the OZ system. However, taking a kid out of OZ and putting them in a UK school is more difficult, they simply will not be up to the standards required in the UK. 2 years seems to be the difference, UK kids coming here are usually put up (often after with a mumVschool battle) my kids were two years behind in work covered when we went back to the UK, that is Work Covered by the UK kids had not been done by our kids. Education cutbacks here, for eg, languages in many Primary schools are cut out now, no funds, kids writing notes because of lack of funds for photocopy paper, so I imagine, cutbacks are pretty similar to all Countries. Special needs kids are put into classrooms with all the other kids, behavioural problems kids are disstibuted evenly throughout the shcool. Dont kid your self that funds will magically be available for special help for kids with learning disababilies, funding is tight too and there is a real battle for who gets the special needs teachers help. OZ has funding issues too. Any kid taking a State school place who have average intelligence and does the recommended 3 hours of homework a day will have a good chance of a UNI place. Private school kids amazingly who dont do the 3 hours study probably wont get one, see what I am saying it still boils down to how much work the kid puts in. Private schools realise tho you are paying to put pressure or 'push' the kids, thats the main difference I can see. School classes. average of 25 in grades 1/2/3 30 in 4/5/ 6/7 then High school 36 was our experience. Private schools tho surprisingly often had larger classes than State, although some real expensive ones could be as low as 18 kids. Teachers aides are rare except in Pre-school. Kids are put through a Net (testing) in grade 2 to pick up any learning difficulties. Schools do seem to have a lot of fun based learning, I dont think that is bad at all, most kids would probably learn more by not being bored rigid. Homework is very light in Primary. A reading book in grades 1-3 each night, 5 spelling words a week, maybe a word puzzle. In 4+ grades a homework project may come home once a term. The grade 2 boy (just turned 7) we currently have staying with us is doing a unit on other countries at school, taking 8 swimming lessons, adding up columns of 2, say 20+23, spelling words were these/ down/ almost/ some/ bread. They are doing a unit on measurements, hands on with jugs of water and tape measures, from which he picked it up really well. He is in a class of 24, which is broken up into 4 groups according to ability. Classes are not streamed, each class will be mxed ability. Discipline generally seems medium to high, although the odd teacher who could not control a tea bag usually set us up for a pretty bad year. Bullying procedures are in most schools, although it still goes undetected at times. Uniforms seem to be standard. Teachers dont seem to be terribly dedicated, I am saying that by the empty teachers carparks at 3.15 you almost get knocked over in the rush. They also seem to take an huge amount of sick days, most teachers we had would have 20+ sickies year hard to imagaine that going on in most jobs you'd last 5 minutes! Basically I dont see the system as a problem, it is different tho, and that does become obvious when you just arrive from the UK and suddenly become mother of the class genius! Or if you go back I imagine, you may need to spend some time catching up or slip back a year. Generally our kids seemed happy at school, obviously we had bad spots now and again, but generally fine, they certainly rarely felt overworked! Heat was our main issue, but that was limited to Feb/ March due to the long school holidays saving them from 6 weeks of it. On the whole we were happy, the only time a big problem happened was when we tried to switch countries in High School. Teachers leaving on the dot when school finishes would give me a concern.......... My kids school always has teachers around aftre school.......and not just to run school clubs. Yet again.........good and bad all over the world............. |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by Olibeneli I good post giving a real life experience...........I hope no-one minds me saying that there is good and bad in your post....... Teachers leaving on the dot when school finishes would give me a concern.......... My kids school always has teachers around aftre school.......and not just to run school clubs. Yet again.........good and bad all over the world............. Can I just pick up on the teachers stampeding out on the bell theme. Firstly, I don't think that will be the case with all schools and with all teachers - I say that because when I was over in August and I went to my nieces primary school in Melbourne I was struck by the dedication of the staff (we were invited to participate in their lesson) - and the car park was nearly full around 5.00 pm, the school is about 5 doors from his house! It maybe in Queensland that the teachers are hot footing it from their un-airconditioned school!! Secondly many teachers do a lot of work at home, at lunchtime, during breaks which wouldn't be as obvious as the headline stampeding. You don't get overtime or a bonus for this incidentally! Thirdly, anyway do you notice office and factory workers not stampeding on the bell, sportspeople trooping off on the whistle, etc, etc. I won't mention the pay in Oz or UK either that teachers have to put up with but the expression pay peanuts, get monkeys springs to mind. Amazingly, in both countries for what they pay, they get well qualified and generally dedicated people. There are some exceptions but hey, every occupation has their exceptions. My salary was put in perspective when I read yesterday that Jonny Wilkinson earns £1.5 million p.a. BEFORE the world cup and that Will Carling earns more than my annual salary for giving a one hour 'motivational speech' to businesses. Reflects value to society me-thinks! Anyway, I don't want to sidetrack the great thread, just my 2 cents worth. Maybe I need to start a thread on education from the teacher's perspective. :D OzTennis:) :) |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by Madhouse! Can any1 confirm if thats the same for Perth??? The bits about schooltimes and when hollidays are, varies a bit more I think, but I can't tell you excact. I've been to 5 primary schools in WA, but can't remember much. I think we usually had a 15 min reccess (sp?) at around 10.30? and a longer one at lunch time. And school was from 8.45/9.00? till 3. Highschool I went to in a small town, and had the same time as the primary school, cos you had schoolbusses which were for both primary and highschool. EDIT: hmmmm, the title of this thread is points of views from MUMS, sorry, I'm not a mum (yet) I believe in keeping threads on track, but it's very difficult sorry :D |
Re: Schooling Points of view from MUMS
Originally posted by OzTennis My salary was put in perspective when I read yesterday that Jonny Wilkinson earns £1.5 million p.a. BEFORE the world cup and that Will Carling earns more than my annual salary for giving a one hour 'motivational speech' to businesses. Reflects value to society me-thinks! OzTennis:) :) ....don't get me wrong......I enjoy watching him play but I wouldn't pay sky TV for the privilege. |
paying for schooling equipment
We will be living in Brisbane, but a friend who is living in Perth said that she has to pay for all equipment her daughters will need for their particular school year, that includes books, pens and paper. Does anyone know if this applies in Brisbane too.
Stef Needing someone to buy my house NOW !! |
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