WA Primary Schools - What are they like?

[Hayles8Martyn]

I have 3 young children 1 in year 1 in the UK. I just wanted to know what the schools are like and do they run similar to the UK? I understand the education system will be completely different but Just thought Id ask what things they did and how the school day is structured?

What hours do they do and are they full time from age 5?

Thanks

[Guest]

It entirely depends on the school although a 'national curriculum' is coming in which may lead to more uniformity.

 

This is a piece written on a 'day in the life' on my son's primary school in WA

 

http://www.lanceholtschool.wa.edu.au/publications/adaylhs.html

 

Probably very different to most though.

 

He started at 9:00 (although from 8:30 for free play was encouraged) and finished at 15:15, and compulsory from 5 but pre-primary was also full-time from 4.

[Hayles8Martyn]

Thanks. Thats helpful!

[Guest guest68109]

I have 3 young children 1 in year 1 in the UK. I just wanted to know what the schools are like and do they run similar to the UK? I understand the education system will be completely different but Just thought Id ask what things they did and how the school day is structured?

What hours do they do and are they full time from age 5?

Thanks[/QUOTe]. I am not sure when you moving or planning to move as I see your post was April and I haven't been on for a while. I brought 3children over her to WA 5years ago. To be honest the first year of education was a complete disaster. By the way the three of them are in fee paying education. That doesn't necessarily mean private. You pay here for faith schools. So catholic schools and others administer fees. You are not paying for private education you are paying the extra funding the government does not pay for. Even Australian people don't realise that putting your kids into a catholic school does not make it private education. Anyway we came from very good schools in scotland. My 9year old twins were 2years ahead and my 3 year old Came from free 5mornings a week nursery education to nothing. I had to pay for one day a week 3year old kindly. In her 3year old nursery in scotland she was already learning the alphabet. She did not repeat that education here until she was five. Way behind. I taught my daughter to read myself. By the time she was in year 1 she was and still is way ahead of her classmates. It is better here slightly with the new national curriculum coming in. This is to make WA catch up with the rest of Australia. Primary school education was behind and slow and we were paying for the privilege. The twins have started high school and we are so far pleased with the education. Again it's catholic but not private. We pay roughly 5000 dollars each per year and my daughter is 1800 per year. That's the cheaper end of the scale. It's called affordable catholic education. They start at 830 and finish at 3 . The high school goes on until 320pm. Remember its a different country with different history and different ideas. They are learning australian history and culture which is very different from british history which is rich and very interesting.Five years on and we couldn't take them out now and move again. Please give your move over here a lot of thought. Come for two years and sample it. If you are taking them away from beloved family. My opinion is think again. My kids were devestated for a long time. We moved them away from their roots and to be honest they will never fit in here as Australians. But they are happy. We have a good life and a pool in the back garden. Just don't expect the same as you have now. We have had to work hard and adapt over the years. We are still here because the move for my three was huge and upsetting and I wouldn't put them through that again.

[Sammy1]

I have 3 young children 1 in year 1 in the UK. I just wanted to know what the schools are like and do they run similar to the UK? I understand the education system will be completely different but Just thought Id ask what things they did and how the school day is structured?

What hours do they do and are they full time from age 5?

Thanks[/QUOTe]. I am not sure when you moving or planning to move as I see your post was April and I haven't been on for a while. I brought 3children over her to WA 5years ago. To be honest the first year of education was a complete disaster. By the way the three of them are in fee paying education. That doesn't necessarily mean private. You pay here for faith schools. So catholic schools and others administer fees. You are not paying for private education you are paying the extra funding the government does not pay for. Even Australian people don't realise that putting your kids into a catholic school does not make it private education. Anyway we came from very good schools in scotland. My 9year old twins were 2years ahead and my 3 year old Came from free 5mornings a week nursery education to nothing. I had to pay for one day a week 3year old kindly. In her 3year old nursery in scotland she was already learning the alphabet. She did not repeat that education here until she was five. Way behind. I taught my daughter to read myself. By the time she was in year 1 she was and still is way ahead of her classmates. It is better here slightly with the new national curriculum coming in. This is to make WA catch up with the rest of Australia. Primary school education was behind and slow and we were paying for the privilege. The twins have started high school and we are so far pleased with the education. Again it's catholic but not private. We pay roughly 5000 dollars each per year and my daughter is 1800 per year. That's the cheaper end of the scale. It's called affordable catholic education. They start at 830 and finish at 3 . The high school goes on until 320pm. Remember its a different country with different history and different ideas. They are learning australian history and culture which is very different from british history which is rich and very interesting.Five years on and we couldn't take them out now and move again. Please give your move over here a lot of thought. Come for two years and sample it. If you are taking them away from beloved family. My opinion is think again. My kids were devestated for a long time. We moved them away from their roots and to be honest they will never fit in here as Australians. But they are happy. We have a good life and a pool in the back garden. Just don't expect the same as you have now. We have had to work hard and adapt over the years. We are still here because the move for my three was huge and upsetting and I wouldn't put them through that again.

 

The national curriculum was certainly not brought in to make "WA catch up with the rest of Australia". What it does do is provide a uniformity of education which enables an easier transition between state and territories.

 

Private education does includes Catholic schools that charge fees. By definition in Australia, any schools that charge fees (other than government schools and voluntary contributions) ARE private.

 

Children certainly start learning the alphabet in kindies here in WA. A child may attend free kindy up to four half days a week or two whole days a week as long as they turn four before June 30th (year of entry).This means that many children start kindy at three years of age.

 

Pre Primary education is compulsory for all children who will turn five before the 30th of June. This means many children start compulsory education at age four, as well as five.

 

There are excellent schools in WA and there are poor schools in WA, just like anywhere else in the world.

[docboat]

You need to beware of posts like little e's - as a parent of two primary school age children I cannot recognise that post as anything in my experience. And I speak as someone who went to primary and secondary schools in Scotland and Australia.

 

Schools here are not UK schools, that much is clear. There is a different emphasis on education - more social structure in the earlier years. But as someone pointed out in another post, you have Australian educated lawyers and doctors and Nobel prize winners and astronomers and engineers and teachers and ... well, you get the picture.

 

Schools do vary hugely. Remote and rural schools, with high levels of indigenous children, are very very different, geared more to survival of children whose parents could not care less if they could count or not. Rural schools in primary school are not now as highly successful - the children there are often sent to high school in Perth as boarders. They do very well at high school though.

 

In the city - I can only speak for Perth - there are also huge variations in the quality of school. You should choose carefully. Many choose to buy or rent in cachement areas of better schools, where the house prices and rents are accordingly higher. In general I think most primary schools are perfectly good. People from the UK often boast "my child is xx years in advance of Australian children', and that is completely irrelevant. Allow the child to enjoy that security of being advanced in Maths/English, and let them focus on other subjects at which they can then shine without pressure. My own boys are between 3-5 years in advance with maths, but that is because they attend both Kumon AND a tutorial school (Northshore ... excellent group) and they still benefit from their maths classes.

 

As an aside, I think UK education is pretty rubbish. Looking through the posts on this forum, I see examples of that low standard every day. I note the issues facing UK and Aussie university entrants who cannot write an essay. The average reading age of the UK public is about 8 years - and that is the standard used in the tabloid papers, who use an active vocabulary of 800 words. So I would welcome you to Australia, enjoy the differences, and let the children flourish in their new environment.

[NickyNook]

I am not sure when you moving or planning to move as I see your post was April and I haven't been on for a while. I brought 3children over her to WA 5years ago. To be honest the first year of education was a complete disaster. By the way the three of them are in fee paying education. That doesn't necessarily mean private. You pay here for faith schools. So catholic schools and others administer fees. You are not paying for private education you are paying the extra funding the government does not pay for. Even Australian people don't realise that putting your kids into a catholic school does not make it private education. Anyway we came from very good schools in scotland. My 9year old twins were 2years ahead and my 3 year old Came from free 5mornings a week nursery education to nothing. I had to pay for one day a week 3year old kindly. In her 3year old nursery in scotland she was already learning the alphabet. She did not repeat that education here until she was five. Way behind. I taught my daughter to read myself. By the time she was in year 1 she was and still is way ahead of her classmates. It is better here slightly with the new national curriculum coming in. This is to make WA catch up with the rest of Australia. Primary school education was behind and slow and we were paying for the privilege. The twins have started high school and we are so far pleased with the education. Again it's catholic but not private. We pay roughly 5000 dollars each per year and my daughter is 1800 per year. That's the cheaper end of the scale. It's called affordable catholic education. They start at 830 and finish at 3 . The high school goes on until 320pm. Remember its a different country with different history and different ideas. They are learning australian history and culture which is very different from british history which is rich and very interesting.Five years on and we couldn't take them out now and move again. Please give your move over here a lot of thought. Come for two years and sample it. If you are taking them away from beloved family. My opinion is think again. My kids were devestated for a long time. We moved them away from their roots and to be honest they will never fit in here as Australians. But they are happy. We have a good life and a pool in the back garden. Just don't expect the same as you have now. We have had to work hard and adapt over the years. We are still here because the move for my three was huge and upsetting and I wouldn't put them through that again.

 

Congratulations. What a great example of that superior Scottish education ... :laugh:

[ali]

My children went to state primary - we didn't have any problems at all with the school we chose. My daughter has completed her first year at UWA after state secondary education - my son completed his first year of state secondary education - both have had their needs met (very different children). We haven't paid extortionate fees, my kids have been happy and they've achieve their potential ... as a parent - what more could I ask?

[flag of convenience]

A fairly common comment I've heard over the years with regards to WA education is the ease of it. This being the case of kids from Asian and European backgrounds.

[newjez]

In a 15 mile radius of where I live in the UK, the schools range from the best in the country to the worst. Why would this be any different in oz?

 

This thread is like bees to honey.

[Guest guest68109]

Catholic schools are NOT private....check with any catholic school Principle. I was giving MY experience of how we managed and what we came up against. No need for the sarcastic comments. No need to be wary of quotes like mine. I said it as it is. I also gave the positives of how we live here.

[Sammy1]

Catholic schools are NOT private....check with any catholic school Principle. I was giving MY experience of how we managed and what we came up against. No need for the sarcastic comments. No need to be wary of quotes like mine. I said it as it is. I also gave the positives of how we live here.

 

Catholic schools that charge fees are private actually.

 

They are not classed as independent though, they come under the Catholic education department, but they ARE private.

 

Non denominational and protestant fee paying schools are classed as independent private schools. That is the way they are defined, sorry, but you are mistaken.

[abz123]

Catholic schools are NOT private....check with any catholic school Principle. I was giving MY experience of how we managed and what we came up against. No need for the sarcastic comments. No need to be wary of quotes like mine. I said it as it is. I also gave the positives of how we live here.

 

Think you might actually want to check the facts with the Principal​...