Sparkeltastic Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hello folks. I would like to know how old children are when they start school in Queensland and does the academic year begin in September as in the UK? We have completed our final payment for our visas and if successful I am trying to figure out the best time of year to come for the children. My youngest son turns 4yrs in Dec 2015. Thanks :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Can't help with the year your son would go into without guessing (I really should pay more attention, considering I work at a school!) but I can confirm that school runs January to December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Your youngest will start full time school in January 2017. No, it's a foreign country with a Southern Hemisphere school year which usually starts late Jan early Feb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkeltastic Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thank you for the replies. I think QLD has a pre school type year which is called prep? It would be nice for him to go there first before going into school which I think he can begin in 2016? . Also it means I get to spend more time with my last baby before he starts school! I was worried we would land in Dec so the oldest 2 can begin school in Jan and he would have to start straightaway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The year before full time school is only part time and you may well have to pay for it. He won't get into school in 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaclyn Hayes Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 How old are children when they start pre school in Queensland? Anyone have any good Web sites to look at regarding fees etc? Thanks in advance ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkeltastic Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks Quoll. I meant begin prep in 2016. Only part time will be fine and better for us in the beginning. Do your children go to school in Oz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkeltastic Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Jaclyn, I have looked at a few schools and they seem to have pre-school attached to them. It depends where you want to live? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hello folks. I would like to know how old children are when they start school in Queensland and does the academic year begin in September as in the UK? We have completed our final payment for our visas and if successful I am trying to figure out the best time of year to come for the children. My youngest son turns 4yrs in Dec 2015. Thanks :rolleyes: Schools start the first Monday or Tuesday after Australia Day, 26 January. Children start in Prep. They have to turn 5 by 30 July of that year. (That was recently changed from 30 June) This year, Year 7 has gone into high school. So the high schools currently have a one-off arrival of two new years from Primary school - 7 and 8. Schools in the "better" areas are getting pretty fussy about their catchments. Can be hard to get in if you live outside the catchment. You can find the catchments on the website of the Queensland Education Dept. Schools will ask for proof of residence - a rental agreement, driving licence etc Catholics run their own school system. Of course, it conforms closely to the public school system and gets state subsidies. There are parish schools and others run by orders such as the Franciscans, Marist Brothers etc. The better Catholic schools are very fussy about their catchments too and it's hard to get in if you are not a practising Catholic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 If you're thinking private education, I'd suggest contacting a few in the area you want to move to and start a dialogue. I was in contact with 3 schools before we moved out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks Quoll. I meant begin prep in 2016. Only part time will be fine and better for us in the beginning. Do your children go to school in Oz? They did, many years ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks Quoll. I meant begin prep in 2016. Only part time will be fine and better for us in the beginning. Do your children go to school in Oz? Prep is full time btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 If you're thinking private education, I'd suggest contacting a few in the area you want to move to and start a dialogue. I was in contact with 3 schools before we moved out. The year before Prep is Kindergarten. Yes, it's part time and has government subsidies, so much cheaper than childcare. The ones around here go from 9 to 3 two days a week, and for three days a week on the second week. Some parental involvement required. Schools begin after six weeks of summer holidays. You would want to have your kids accepted by early December to be sure they have a place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I have a lot of teacher friends, (though all teach at high schools) and have also been investigating child care/kindies for a granddaughter who will be coming permanently from the UK in November. She was born on the 30th July 2013, - the cut off date is now 31 July, so she just sneaks in. Of course, we don't HAVE to send her that year, if she doesn't seem up to it. I would pretty much forget about the elite private schools - very long waiting lists. Also very expensive. Not much change out of $30,000 a year, and their costs are rising three times faster than inflation. If you don't know anyone here, you have three resources: 1. Realestate.com.au Look up the median price of a three bedroom house in various suburbs. If it's around $700,000 plus, the school will be fine. For that sort of money, you should be within about seven ks of the CBD (Central Business District) 2. The website of the Queensland Education department, for the catchment areas of the schools. The high schools will be different from the primary schools, obviously. I think that the criterion for the primary school catchment boundaries is that no house should be more than a mile away from the school. A topographical map might come in handy too. My house is almost on the boundary of two catchment areas. The one that applies is actually up a very steep hill. Brisbane is very hilly. 3. The Translink Website of the Brisbane City Council. That will show you the busways, ordinary buses, the trains, ferries, Citycat etc. Always good to be near decent public transport. There are also bikeways Unlike Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane has one big Council. (All the little councils were amalgamated in the 1920s). This does a lot for efficiency all round, re running a decent library system and public transport (though public transport is not cheap.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Yes Prep is the first full time year of school (like reception in the UK) and he would be starting in early 2017. My DD is just started Prep. Last year she attended Kindy. It had a 2 year waiting list (luckily I put her name down just after we arrived but a lot of people camped out a week or two before that!). They often do a 5 day fortnight. Depending on the area you might need to get names down early as the good ones have waiting lists. Saying that there are a lot of long day cares that have some kind of Kindy program included in the day. School was very straight forward. Some are enrolment managed meaning you have to live in the catchment area, but as long as you do then you can enrol whenever you like. If you are out of catchment then you would want to get your name down as far in advance as they allow (often around 6-10 months beforehand in our area). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beddy Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Hello folks. I would like to know how old children are when they start school in Queensland and does the academic year begin in September as in the UK? We have completed our final payment for our visas and if successful I am trying to figure out the best time of year to come for the children. My youngest son turns 4yrs in Dec 2015. Thanks :rolleyes:personally I would say settling as a family is more important from the onset no matter when your visa or circumstances determines .Once you are settled in a job , suburb etc then I would consider schooling , daycare etc . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 For the last eight months or so, I have been putting on waiting lists my granddaughter, 18 months, and her still-in-utero brother. In the inner north. Or innerish - as far north as Chermside. They are coming here permanently in October. Both for childcare and for kindy, to keep options open. There are some places that have very long waiting lists. There is one around the corner, which takes kids only from 18 months, and we will be very lucky to get in there. In general, however, I was told it was not too difficult to get a place around here. Moreover, we are all waiting with baited breath to see what the federal government is going to do about childcare. The Productivity Commission's final report was delivered to the government before Christmas. Its midyear interim report, which can be read online, recommended - among other things - that the government subsidize nannies and also extend visas for au pairs so that they can stay 12, rather than just 6, months. There are some very contentious issues - e.g should parents who don't/can't/won't/ work get subsidized childcare? Should there be a levy on big business? Should people on high family incomes (e.g.over $300,000) get any subsidy at all? Submissions to the Productivity Commission made for interesting reading. Obviously, if subsidies are allowed, the nanny industry will have to be regulated - not easy since the subsidies would come from the federal government but the state governments would have to do the regulation. But if nanny subsidies are allowed, which seems highly likely, it would make a lot of sense for a family with two or more young children to get a live-out nanny. Nannies get paid $25-30 an hour. Obviously, that's beyond the reach of most families - without a subsidy. With a subsidy, it will be feasible for many - not having to pack up little kids in the mornings would also be very convenient for working parents. Abbott, who has stuffed up all round, has assigned this job to one of his better young ministers - Susan Leys. Let's see what she comes up with! All this relates to child care rather than to kindies. But if subsidized nannies are allowed, presumably demand for all kinds of pre school child care places will drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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