Dilemma regarding pre-primary aged child on an International student visa!!!

[carolynr6280]

Hi

I have come to Oz on an International student visa (572) with my 5 year old son. We arrived in January and I went to register him for Pre-primary in February, I was told as pre-primary wasn't compulsary and he would be put on a waiting list (annoying as he has had education in UK but couldn't do much about it). I filled in a registration form with all our details, including visa type we were on.

Today I had a phonecall from the school to say he had a place and could start tomorrow (yippee I thought). Went to the school to fill out a form and headed off to the uniform shop to get him kitted out. Just before I got to the uniform shop I had another phone call from the school saying he now COULDN'T have the place because of the visa we are on and they had to give it to another child who has higher priority than an international student.

My son was so excited about going to school and I then had to tell him he wasn't going - he was so sad!!

I was wondering if anyone else had come across on a student visa and had problems getting their children into school.

I would have thought that the Oz government would welcome an international student into their schools as we have to pay extortionant fees for our children to be there. Also I can't believe the school didn't check my previous registration form to find out my residency status before ringing me to give me the good news (which turned into bad news).

Sorry for rambling but I had to get it off my chest, the Oz education system has really annoyed me today.

Carolyn x

[connaust]

Have you though of asking the institution you study at? They must have a Welfare Office who is supposed to be able to assist with such matters...

[neilalys]

sorry to hear your bad day, were out soon and our 5yr old has been at school for a while but as were not getting out there till november we will wait till jan 2010 when she can go straight to primary school, so chin up and enjoy ,treat your 5yr old to a treat and it will calm things down if there like ours, all 3 dont know were moving yet so weve got that to come, good luck with your studys, were brissy bound soon,

[carolynr6280]

Originally Posted by connaust

Have you though of asking the institution you study at? They must have a Welfare Office who is supposed to be able to assist with such matters...

I am currently on holidays from my TAFE (we get longer hols than schools) so no one to ask at the mo but will see what the education board in Perth has to say about this.

Originally Posted by neilalys

sorry to hear your bad day, were out soon and our 5yr old has been at school for a while but as were not getting out there till november we will wait till jan 2010 when she can go straight to primary school, so chin up and enjoy ,treat your 5yr old to a treat and it will calm things down if there like ours, all 3 dont know were moving yet so weve got that to come, good luck with your studys, were brissy bound soon,

Thanks for your reply, good luck with your move, hopefully the kids will love it once they get out here. I started off being brissy bound but then came to Perth. Wishing I had stuck with brissy as they have to take kids in pre-primary over East, where as over in WA they don't have to take them until year 1. Other than the schooling we are really enjoying it out here and my son loves it. He got treated on Wednesday to cheer him up

Carolyn x

[neilalys]

only ever had a day in perth hope we will travel to there at some stage but family in qld and i lived there as a child for 8 years so lots of contacts, all the best neil

[Rossmoyne]

Hi Carolyn - the school has messed up a bit really as they should have checked your visa first. Unfortunately as a temporary resident on a student visa, and your son being under compulsory school age, any places available at state schools has to be offered to permanent residents/citizens of Austrralia first. However the school really should have looked into this before offering you a place and I can imagine how annoyed and disappointed you are. As you would have had to pay huge fees to put your son into state school because you are on an international student visa, have you considered putting him into a private school. I don't know what the fees are in private education, but surely they can't be any much more than government school fees. Good Luck - I hope you sort it out.

[carolynr6280]

Originally Posted by Rossmoyne

Hi Carolyn - the school has messed up a bit really as they should have checked your visa first. Unfortunately as a temporary resident on a student visa, and your son being under compulsory school age, any places available at state schools has to be offered to permanent residents/citizens of Austrralia first. However the school really should have looked into this before offering you a place and I can imagine how annoyed and disappointed you are. As you would have had to pay huge fees to put your son into state school because you are on an international student visa, have you considered putting him into a private school. I don't know what the fees are in private education, but surely they can't be any much more than government school fees. Good Luck - I hope you sort it out.

Hi I enquired at a local private school and was told it was around $4000 more than state school. Which is not in my budget and don't want to end up in debt by sending him to private school. To be honest I'm not worried about his education as he had been at school in England for 15 months and can read and write, it is more the social side of it that he needs as most of his friends that he has made are at school in the day and he doesn't get to mingle with kids.

I spoke to the principal at the school and she told me what pre-primary children were doing - learning letter sounds and numbers 1-20, he did all this over a year ago, and she said the school would welcome a student who could already do this. I am currently home educating him so that he doesn't forget what he has already learnt.

Carolyn