kez81

I must admit the teaching stadards do worry me here in australia, i have a 4 year old at kindy she seems to love it and is getting on really well.

My issue is every time im at the school the bigger kids are outside playing sports with the teachers it seems to be all the time, its is good to be keeping the kids fit but they do need time in the classroom learning too,

my nephew back in the uk is 13 second year and just done his 4th year maths prelim because he so good at it and passed!!! He is getting soo much encourgement at school from the teachers they seem to enjoy seeing the kids do well there he is also very sporty but does sport after school and 2 periods a week the rest is all about learning different subjects.

Like i said my daughter is only 4 but i have concern's already about her education its worry's me alot, i had an excellent education in the uk and think my daughter deserves the same!!!

BTW im not slating aussie education just concered with what ive seen so far any info would be much appreciated.


kez

kez

NickyC

"i had an excellent education in the uk"

No kidding?

Sleeping Beauty

my take on this?

i have a 9 year old (in year 5 here in aus), and a 5 year old (just started kindy). the 9 year old is a middle of the road kid. we put him him a small private school a few years ago, becasue we did not want him to go to our local high schools (zoo's!!). the class sizes were about 18 pupils, and the teaching methods were the good old fashioned ones. he had 2 lots of homework per night, had to stand up when an adult entered the room, etc etc (you get the picture). my 5 year old is bright as a button. they are both one of the youngest in their school years here in aus, ie. there are 11 year olds in the boys year, where he is not 10 yet, and the little un has only just turned 5. the girl in kindy, i do not have a problem with. they have just started using 'jolly phonics' (a uk originated learning program), and she is progressing well. the 9 year old, we do. his dad checked his homework on thursday night, and made him re-write it all due to it being badly written out(they only get 1 lot per week). his own standards are slipping. i have asked him about his school work, and he says they are doing work that he did about 2 years ago. now i have helped out in this class, with children that are at year 2 level (and there are a few, 2 groups of 5 children). these were not the lowest ability group in the class, there are a few children who are lower than that, who have not yet been assessed, for one reason or another. our take on this, is that our son, is coming down to the level of his peers in his class. i am not saying english education is better than aussie education, or vice versa, i am just stating what has happened to our son. maybe it is because there seems to be less emphasis on education over here, you see plenty of children out of school, and nobody seems to bother about this. whereas in the UK, there are welfare officers checking why children are shopping with their parents etc. also, i was in a group interview the other day, and a guy informed us that he left school at 11 years old
i just get the impression from this that education is not paramount in some peoples mind set. if/when we can afford it, we will be trying to get our son (and eventually daughter) into a fee paying school, where the class sizes are smaller and our children will benefit more. this is just our experience, and is not meant to offend anyone.

kez81

im not trying to say im brains of britain im far from it!!! but i should have worded it better my education was excellent it was there if i wanted it but i did muck about a bit a school and could have done better totally!!!!

My point was my teachers and school was excellent I was a bit of a wee shite though lol!!!

kez

kez81

spelling is my bad point as you have pointed out thank you!!!!

i should have done the spell check!!!

kez81

thank you for that, it gives me some insight to it all!!!

Nomore

Hmmm, yes Kez, your spelling is crap!!!

kez81

totally, that's the uk education system for you lol!!!

quercus

Hello, these are, briefely, my experiences with comparative education.

My children did one year of state school in NSW and didn't seem to have problems fitting back into UK schools, education wise, the eldest getting good GCSE grades after one year back.

I noticed that socially life was more stressful once we had returned. UK children seem more sexualised than their equivalent australian peers. They also have a much tougher veneer, and seem older than their old Australian friends.

An English friend did a years swap from the German school he taught maths at, to teach at the Catholic school near us in NSW. His biggest complaint was the Australian children were less prepared for class, forgetting books, and also the 'long weekend' was common.

My personal opinion was that my children were more relaxed and happy at school in Australia, and it didn't seem to do them much harm educationaly, but they have never been privately educated so I can't comment on that sector.

StevenChez

I've not read through all the replies, but this is what my son is currently studying :

Year 3 (will be 9 in Jan, would type eight but me 3 year old has stolen the bloody eight soddin key!)

Clock faces : 12 and 24hr - correct recognision. Correct placement on blank clockface.

Audio Testing : A set of tests played via headphones wherein they are asked various maths and spelling questions which must be heard, understood and written within 10 seconds. This would include 'what is 4 x 3, what is 12 x 2, spell 'holiday', spell laughing, beautiful; give a 2 word description of sun'.

Degree's : If you are facing North and turn 45 degrees clockwise, in which direction will you be facing (I nearly psd myself laughing when my best friend said, dah South!).

Geography : They already know most continents and european countries and will be moving on to oceans in June/July ready for more planned geography classes in year 4.

French/Foreign Language : Various words, nothing demanding, just good fun including mandarin, xhosa etc etc.

My friends daughter of the same age (can't type eight!) goes to a different school and is the editor of their year 3 monthly newsletter which they write, type, edit, provide photo's, photocopy and distribute and it includes all their own ideas. Now that's what I call progress.

I can only hope that we strike lucky and find a good school with good standards of education, but if not, then we'll have to decide whether we can move them up a year or keep them back in the realisation that life will teach us all we need to know in the end.

Just my thoughts.

Cx

BadgeIsBack

I hadn't realised Australian have problems with things, I thought they were all ignorant and just accepted everything

BadgeIsBack

Agreed. This has always been the case. Many kids with any education - or equipped to succeed in the education system - both formal and informal will have gained much of the skills needed to succeed from their parents.

It saddens me seeing all the parents with no decent books in their houses complaining about reading standards and their children's teachers....I see it time and time again.

cornishoz

you may be interested to know that in nsw each area education district has a school with "opportunity classes" for year 5 & 6. students sit an entrance exam in year 4. the curriculum is the same but it is all extension work and generally the kids go on into the local high schools in the top streams or sit the selective high schools test in yr 6 . my son is in yr 3 in the same school as the area op classes and all the teachers have been trained to identify students who are gifted & talented and there is a register of children and the subject areas they excel in. there is information on the nsw education website http://www.curriculumsupport.educati...gats/index.htm
there is also information on the university of nsw wesite http://www.gifted-children.com.au/gerric
if you are not headed to nsw im sure other states have similar programs. however the biggest challenge for your children in the first 6-12 months will to be to settle socially and this was the focus we took with our 3 sons 3 yrs ago. 2 redid part of a year which meant they coasted a bit academically for a bit but it gave them social confidence.it hasn't harmed them academically they just redid some maths history and geography. you will be surprised how similar the curiculems are. as another poster said look at the outcomes at 18 and after uni-very similar in my opinion as a parent not an educator. its fine being the best at school work but if you can't get on with your peers you won't be happy. go & visit several schools and get a feel for whether your kids will fit in and at what level

NKSK version 2

Just found this site:

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/pri...lanning/Year3/

Which is very useful (you can access other years also).

If you are concerned - particularly if you may go back to the UK, or you just need to a reference point to measure WA's shonky education system against - this will help. Gives you ways to assess your child's learning and what the UK would expect at each year.

northernbird

Interesting website.