Schooling in Melbourne ************

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Schooling in Melbourne ************; Age to start etc
Topic Started: 22 Dec 2004, 08:48 AM (1,278 Views)
Lindsay Clan	22 Dec 2004, 08:48 AM Post #1
Posts: 3,286 Group: Moderators Member #144 Joined: 22 December 2004 Migration Status Citizen My Mood Content My Location Pakenham, VIC, Australia	Hi there I'm Lorraine (married to Stu - bert doozer) and have finally got round to signing up and start using this site that Stu has told me so much about. As you probably know we've got police checks and had medicals yesterday and all ok. So all going well we should hear about our visa in the next couple of months, fingers crossed. ;) I have read somewhere that the starting age for school over there is 6, is this right? Also are the schools primary or infant/junior and so on? Our daughters will be 6 and 10 by the time we get there and so could be within the same school or they might be in totally different ones. We're hoping to come to Melbourne area and have heard that Geelong and Fern Tree Gully are nice areas to go to. We will be renting for a few months until Stu gets a job etc and then we can decide where we would like to buy. Lots to think about and do but looking forward to doing it. Anyway, that's me for now, hope everyone has a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year!!! :lmao: Lorraine



Jaykay	22 Dec 2004, 07:39 PM Post #2
Addicted Member Posts: 163 Group: Members Member #32 Joined: 10 September 2004	Hi Lorraine My daugher was 5 in mid January and she started school in Prep at the end of January, so she'll go into Grade 1 next January having just turned 6. I have found that alot of parents have not started their kids at primary school until they are 6 (not sure why though). We have a primary system and a secondary system over here. Prep to Grade 6 is the primary system Grade 7 to Grade 12 is the secondary system. You will find that both of your children will be attending the same school for the next year at least (depending on when your older daughter's birthday is). Most primary schools and secondary schools are separate, but there may be a few private schools that are both in the same place. Hope this helps. Regards



Lindsay Clan	23 Dec 2004, 08:59 AM Post #3
Posts: 3,286 Group: Moderators Member #144 Joined: 22 December 2004 Migration Status Citizen My Mood Content My Location Pakenham, VIC, Australia	Hi there Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. My oldest daughter's birthday is in July so she will have just turned 10 when we're hoping to get there next Aug/Sept. Do you know much about private schooling over there, costs etc and how it compares to state schools? Anyway, have a great xmas and new year!!! Lorraine



Jaykay	23 Dec 2004, 11:23 AM Post #4
Addicted Member Posts: 163 Group: Members Member #32 Joined: 10 September 2004	Hi Lorraine Sorry but I don't really know much about the Private School system over here. My daughter attends a very good catholic school, even though she is not a catholic. The school has a very good reputation, and she already had 2 cousins attending, and her Aunty is also a part time teacher there (which is one of the reasons why she got in at short notice), so we thought that this was the best option for her. Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful :D



suemac	23 Dec 2004, 12:47 PM Post #5
Member Posts: 65 Group: Members Member #79 Joined: 19 September 2004	From my experiances here, it seems most people are quite happy with a public or possibly a "church" school primary education. My son starts at a public school next year and it will cost the grand amt of $160 a year! And no more than 18 in a class. For high schools, a lot more people would go for a private school than at primary level. We would find it beyond us, some are well over $10 000 a year. There are a lot of very good public schools, but it depends on what catchment area you fit into.



mezza586	24 Dec 2004, 01:44 AM Post #6
Moderator Posts: 273 Group: Members Member #27 Joined: 10 September 2004	Lindsay Clan Dec 22 2004, 08:48 AM Hi there I'm Lorraine (married to Stu - bert doozer) and have finally got round to signing up and start using this site that Stu has told me so much about. As you probably know we've got police checks and had medicals yesterday and all ok. So all going well we should hear about our visa in the next couple of months, fingers crossed. ;) I have read somewhere that the starting age for school over there is 6, is this right? Also are the schools primary or infant/junior and so on? Our daughters will be 6 and 10 by the time we get there and so could be within the same school or they might be in totally different ones. We're hoping to come to Melbourne area and have heard that Geelong and Fern Tree Gully are nice areas to go to. We will be renting for a few months until Stu gets a job etc and then we can decide where we would like to buy. Lots to think about and do but looking forward to doing it. Anyway, that's me for now, hope everyone has a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year!!! :lmao: Lorraine This link may help. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/ch/generic...Events.asp?PG=6 Meryl



Hels	28 Dec 2004, 11:28 PM Post #7
Addicted Member Posts: 133 Group: Members Member #69 Joined: 14 September 2004	My Nephew is going to be 6 at the end of January, 05. He has just completed his prep year and in hindsight, my sister wishes she had waited to start him this coming year. She has found that he was still too immature to cope with school system. I think it depends on your own child and how you think they will cope with school.



mezza586	29 Dec 2004, 01:38 AM Post #8
Moderator Posts: 273 Group: Members Member #27 Joined: 10 September 2004	Hels Dec 28 2004, 11:28 PM My Nephew is going to be 6 at the end of January, 05. He has just completed his prep year and in hindsight, my sister wishes she had waited to start him this coming year. She has found that he was still too immature to cope with school system. I think it depends on your own child and how you think they will cope with school. It can be a very difficult decision to make. I agonised over it with my eldest (now 25). It is often considered advisable here to start a little older rather than the reverse. The main criteria is social maturity. I think SA has/had more than one intake in the year. It will never happen in Vic but it would make life easier for many young students and their families. Meryl



Melhelpinghand	29 Dec 2004, 08:34 AM Post #9
Member Posts: 32 Group: Members Member #145 Joined: 23 December 2004	Nice melon Hels !



melibeam	3 Jan 2005, 09:45 PM Post #10
Member Posts: 90 Group: Members Member #97 Joined: 1 October 2004	My son had started year 1 in September in London. He will be 6 in Feb. When we arrived in Melbourne in November they wanted him to start prep in Jan this year. We argued that he had already been in school over a year in Uk and reluctantly they let him do the last few weeks of term in prep and he will now start in grade 1 at end of Jan. I don't know if it is the particular school he is in, but lots of the kids seem much older. He was invited to a classmates 7th birthday in December! I still don't know if its right to let him start grade 1 but I think already having done over a year of school in UK he would be bored going back into prep here. Will see how he goes over the next few months.



Lindsay Clan	4 Jan 2005, 04:41 AM Post #11
Posts: 3,286 Group: Moderators Member #144 Joined: 22 December 2004 Migration Status Citizen My Mood Content My Location Pakenham, VIC, Australia	Thank you all for your comments on the schooling over there. My youngest as I said before will be 6 this coming April and so therefore will still be the same age when we're hoping to get there in Aug/Sept this year. She's already completed reception year and will have done year 1 by the time we get there so I think we'll have to wait and see how it all pans out once we've got settled. I agree with the comment that I think she'd be bored redoing the same year she has just finished as she needs to be kept active all the time but we'll have to wait and see. Thank you! Lorraine



annie	4 May 2008, 04:32 PM Post #12
Newbie Posts: 8 Group: Members Member #115 Joined: 19 October 2004	Lindsay Clan Jan 4 2005, 04:41 AM Thank you all for your comments on the schooling over there. My youngest as I said before will be 6 this coming April and so therefore will still be the same age when we're hoping to get there in Aug/Sept this year. She's already completed reception year and will have done year 1 by the time we get there so I think we'll have to wait and see how it all pans out once we've got settled. I agree with the comment that I think she'd be bored redoing the same year she has just finished as she needs to be kept active all the time but we'll have to wait and see. Thank you! Lorraine Sorry I have searched, and googled, but what year would children aged 11 - turning 12 in november and 14 ( turning 15 in december ) be in. Thank you



bigAPE	4 May 2008, 08:19 PM Post #13
Administrator Posts: 4,286 Group: Admin Member #1,299 Joined: 6 April 2007 Migration Status Citizen My Location Hampton, Victoria	Hi Annie, You might want to post this in General Discussion as this forum isn't viewed that often and you will likely get a faster response. Al



travellingspils	25 Aug 2009, 07:12 PM Post #14
Newbie Posts: 7 Group: Members Member #2,885 Joined: 25 August 2009 My Location UK	Secondary VCE ranking Hi - I am new to this forum and hope that I am putting this post in the right place! My family and I are moving to Melbourne (East side) in October and I am trying to get to grips with the secondary schooling system. I found a good link to the VCE rankings in Victoria and so have been using this to judge whether a school is good or not. My findings are that the expensive private schools are clearly at the top of the table plus the selective girls schools (much like the UK). Then the lower paying fee schools seem to be next generally followed by the non-fee paying schools. My 14 year old goes to a regular school in the UK and wants to continue to go to a co-ed as she has lots of male friends (and I mean friends) which i think is a good thing. :confused: So my dilema - I can't afford an expensive private school but could afford a low paying fee school. Does anyone have experience of either - is a low paying fee school any better than a regular school - what are the benefits? I have just started looking in the Berwick area and have found Beaconhills which comes about 200 in the VCE ranking and also liked the look of Berwick Secondary which comes about 300. I know that VCE results do not necessarily mean that the school will be a nicer place to attend but how else can i make a choice? Any thoughts will be great!



ashmalog	3 Sep 2009, 01:28 AM Post #15
Newbie Posts: 3 Group: Members Member #2,887 Joined: 26 August 2009 Migration Status Permanent Resident My Location Berwick victoria australia	Hi there I was told by a government school in the district of casey that as long as my son was 5 years old by april 1st in the year he was 5 then he could start school in the february (start of term). he will be 5 in the february so he can go. if he was a june baby then he would have to wait until the following feb which would make him almost 6yrs of age. another question - does anyone know of the government secondary school linked or in the zone for the chase estate in Berwick? appreciate ur help.


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