adamexmouth Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Hello everyone, We are currently trying to enroll our 7 yr old son into school. On the application form it asks for a permanent address and details of Doctor ect... As we're not in Aus quite yet we can't provide this. Will we have to wait until we are in the country or will the school understand our circumstances? Any help would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 If it's a government (public) school then you can't enrol them from abroad. Just do it when you're here and don't worry about it. No point really debating it with them, they want an address for their rules Private schools, it's up to them so discuss it with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 You wait untill you get there and have a permanent address. Many government schools won't enrol kids without a permanent address. If you want to go private then there is usually an application process involving the tendering of fees. Don't panic about getting an enrolment as schools are obliged to find a place for a kid in their catchment area no matter when they rock up. Permanent accommodation is your first priority Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamexmouth Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 You wait untill you get there and have a permanent address. Many government schools won't enrol kids without a permanent address. If you want to go private then there is usually an application process involving the tendering of fees. Don't panic about getting an enrolment as schools are obliged to find a place for a kid in their catchment area no matter when they rock up. Permanent accommodation is your first priority The problem is we have 7 wks temp accommodation while we look for something permanent. But we really need to get our son into school within the first month. Can we use our temp address for the time being? Or will we have to wait until we've found something permanent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 The problem is we have 7 wks temp accommodation while we look for something permanent. But we really need to get our son into school within the first month. Can we use our temp address for the time being? Or will we have to wait until we've found something permanent? You would be much better to wait until you get something permanent, you don't want to be chopping and changing him around. If the school knows it is only temporary then they may refuse enrolment anyway - and some schools may well ask for a copy of your rental agreement. No one is going to get their knickers in a knot if a kid is out of school while parents get settled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDSON 4 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi, we have just moved to Qld and no school (state or private would enrol our kids before they were in the country, even though my OH was here 3 months before us. However it didnt take long once they were here. A rental agreement was a must for the enrolment, as was passports. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamexmouth Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi, we have just moved to Qld and no school (state or private would enrol our kids before they were in the country, even though my OH was here 3 months before us. However it didnt take long once they were here. A rental agreement was a must for the enrolment, as was passports. Hope this helps We wouldn't be changing schools. We will be staying in the same area. We've gone and booked 7wks temp acc now. What a nightmare, it now means neither myself or my partner can start work for the first 7wks or so. Will the school not except our temp address if they know we are looking for permanent acc in the area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 You really need to visit the schools to see which one would be the best for your child because they do vary a bit and what suits one would not necessarily suit another. I was under the impression that if you are in the right area a state school cannot refuse admission? Maybe it is different in different states though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We wouldn't be changing schools. We will be staying in the same area. We've gone and booked 7wks temp acc now. What a nightmare, it now means neither myself or my partner can start work for the first 7wks or so. Will the school not except our temp address if they know we are looking for permanent acc in the area? Have you spoken to the school? I'd give them a call and disucss it with them as tbh, none of us can really give you a definitive answer. The state we are going to often has schools that are zoned and you now have to provide long term tenancy proof or other proof you own your home. They won't take a short term lease or just a utility bill as proof of living in the zone as this can (and has been) abused in the past. So we are going to wait till we get there, check out some schools, zoned and otherwise and see which one we like and hopefully apply and be accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 At 7 years old - he's not going to miss a few weeks off. Just make sure you read to him, and get him to read to you every day. Go through their sounds etc, numbers and so forth. Explore as much as you can, and in those first weeks he'll get a better education than he would in any school. It'll be better to settle him once. I got dumped in temp schools, and I didn't appreciate having to make and re make friends over and over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We wouldn't be changing schools. We will be staying in the same area. We've gone and booked 7wks temp acc now. What a nightmare, it now means neither myself or my partner can start work for the first 7wks or so. Will the school not except our temp address if they know we are looking for permanent acc in the area? You will really have to speak to the school. The problem is that some people book temporary accommodation in the catchment areas for highly desirable schools - then they move. I have only ever had to show a utility bill and immunisations records. However, more and more schools also want long term leases as proof. It's actually a very good idea to let your child have at least a couple of weeks acclimatising to a new country, new surroundings and temperatures rather than immediately putting him into a school. You need to consider jet lag as well. A school has to take you if you move into their catchment area, if you then move they are within their rights to then ask you to move your child ( they may or may not do this depending on how big the school is). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Have you visited the school and suburb you are interested in? I only ask as I had a short list of 4 schools which I visited when we arrived. However we ended up in a 5th school (which I had originally discounted due to the size) but really loved the area and a rental came up there and the school is good. I would definitely want to visit first as a couple of the schools that looked great on paper I really didn't like when I visited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Can you be 100% sure you can buy or get a rental within the catchment area of the primary school. They tend to be much smaller than secondaries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Newjez is right - there is no guarantee that you will get something you like in the same area and schools, especially those in high demand, are very wary. You have to live in your house 24/7 so get that sorted first and the school should fall into place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtomov Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 In my school you would complete the enrolment forms from our website http://www.olhchendra.qld.edu.au and we could have a conversation by email. Once you arrive we could meet and finalise the enrolment. It all depends on where you plan to live and work. We are at Hendra, which is inner north east Brisbane. We have places at present. Keep in mind though that summer holidays are starting soon and school resumes 30 January. Have a good holiday first. If you need vacation care I can help you with advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Newjez is right - there is no guarantee that you will get something you like in the same area and schools, especially those in high demand, are very wary. You have to live in your house 24/7 so get that sorted first and the school should fall into place It depends on priorites. The school was more important to us than the house as my kids' educations before bricks and mortar. We could've got a much bigger/more modern houses in other areas but the schools weren't as good. It doesn't always follow that the good areas have good state schools especially if there are private schools around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 One of you would be able to start work, and you would have to sort out some form of childcare after school for the other to start work anyway. You may be able to start this as full time, and then switch to after school care. Plus as has been noted, Oz are about to start their long summer hols anyway. We wouldn't be changing schools. We will be staying in the same area. We've gone and booked 7wks temp acc now. What a nightmare, it now means neither myself or my partner can start work for the first 7wks or so. Will the school not except our temp address if they know we are looking for permanent acc in the area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 The problem is we have 7 wks temp accommodation while we look for something permanent. But we really need to get our son into school within the first month. Can we use our temp address for the time being? Or will we have to wait until we've found something permanent? I had lunch with a friend today who happens to be a teacher (Govt school in Canberra). She was talking about which class she will be teaching next year and mentioned she will be getting a couple of kids from the UK and Ireland joining her class just after term starts. Neither of these families will arrive in Aust until early Feb but both have been able to enrol their children using the address of the place they will be staying at when they arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I had lunch with a friend today who happens to be a teacher (Govt school in Canberra). She was talking about which class she will be teaching next year and mentioned she will be getting a couple of kids from the UK and Ireland joining her class just after term starts. Neither of these families will arrive in Aust until early Feb but both have been able to enrol their children using the address of the place they will be staying at when they arrive. Thats really unusual for Canberra but probably a school where they are desperate for numbers before census especially Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Thats really unusual for Canberra but probably a school where they are desperate for numbers before census especially Don't think so - they will have 3 classes in each of Kindy, Year 1 and 2. My friend will be on Kindy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conniebygaslight Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 We enrolled ours before we arrived in Qld, I contacted the school directly and dealt with the deputy principal. When we arived we took passports and rental agreements, our kids are Aussie citizens though so not sure if that made a difference we did need rental agreement though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I understand where you are coming from as it was very important to us to get our 9 year old son into school quickly as we felt he would settle better if we did. I was able to get my son in within days of arriving so it wasn't a problem. We had a holiday home and the headmaster did want utility bills but I was able to show my email from the holiday home as proof and they accepted that. Although I do know some at the same school who were not able too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrincessPicklenose Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 We were in exactly the same position a year ago moving from Sheffield to Brisbane. We supplied a letter which clearly stated our current address (in the UK) and our UK doctor. We also explained in the letter our intented moving date and our intentions to send our girls to their school because we heard it was very good. Also, before you leave the UK, you can request a copy of ALL of your medical notes from the doctor. (Depending on the clinic, you may have to pay a small amount for photocopying). This is VERY important as you will need all of your son's immunisation history.... unfortunately the 'red book' just doesn't cut it!..... Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 We were in exactly the same position a year ago moving from Sheffield to Brisbane. We supplied a letter which clearly stated our current address (in the UK) and our UK doctor. We also explained in the letter our intented moving date and our intentions to send our girls to their school because we heard it was very good. Also, before you leave the UK, you can request a copy of ALL of your medical notes from the doctor. (Depending on the clinic, you may have to pay a small amount for photocopying). This is VERY important as you will need all of your son's immunisation history.... unfortunately the 'red book' just doesn't cut it!..... Hope this helps! It must depend on the school. We have had no problems using the red book (at the doctors to compare immunisations) and I don't remember if we had to show it at the school or not but if we did there were no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoiam Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 We wouldn't be changing schools. We will be staying in the same area. We've gone and booked 7wks temp acc now. What a nightmare, it now means neither myself or my partner can start work for the first 7wks or so. Will the school not except our temp address if they know we are looking for permanent acc in the area? If you are going to be living in the same area then the temp address is more than enough. But the question is will they give admission whilst the child is still out of the country. The admission process is pretty straight forward and you should be able to enroll him within a week of coming so don't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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