How to sort out schools???

[SimonandSian]

Hi all, 

 

We are lucky enough to have our 189 VISA granted and are planning on moving over to Perth December/January in time for the new school year to begin in February.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or experience trying to get a school place sorted for a little one before moving to the other side of the world!? 

 

We are fairly certain on the area we want to settle as it is close to family and friends, but that still depends on available rentals etc. I am presuming we have to try to get something sorted before the schools break up in December but am really unsure how to go about this and would love some advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation. 

 

Many thanks  

[Quoll]

You will have to get a rental first. All government schools have catchment areas and are obliged to find places for kids in their area. So, don't sweat it, get your rental sorted then rock up to the local school. Show them your rental agreement, visa, vaccination record and Bob's your uncle. They don't like to enrol until they're sure you will be in area. Private schools are different, often longish waitlist, religious commitment requirements etc

[Guest]

What Quoll said. Though not sure if zones are standard for primary in Perth. If they are then yes, get a rental in the zone and school will enrol.

We didn't worry about enrolling till we had arrived. Went to tour a few schools, decided on one and enrolled. Our son started the next day without any issues. You really can't do much in advance of arriving so I'd not worry about it till you are here. 

Schools generally are staffed the week before they start the new school year so you can stop by or call and make an appointment if need be then. 

[M1sery]

On 21/04/2017 at 5:19 AM, SimonandSian said:

Hi all, 

 

We are lucky enough to have our 189 VISA granted and are planning on moving over to Perth December/January in time for the new school year to begin in February.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or experience trying to get a school place sorted for a little one before moving to the other side of the world!? 

 

We are fairly certain on the area we want to settle as it is close to family and friends, but that still depends on available rentals etc. I am presuming we have to try to get something sorted before the schools break up in December but am really unsure how to go about this and would love some advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation. 

 

Many thanks  

Also if the school isn't to its full capacity and you are not so close to the school but it's your preference they will take your child. 

We did the same when our son went to High School, there were two schools closer but we were able to enroll him in our preferred school. 

[Quoll]

30 minutes ago, M1sery said:

Also if the school isn't to its full capacity and you are not so close to the school but it's your preference they will take your child. 

We did the same when our son went to High School, there were two schools closer but we were able to enroll him in our preferred school. 

Out of area enrolments are very much at the discretion of the school, they are under no obligation to take a child who does not live in their catchment area.  It very much depends on demand and departmental policies about out of area enrolments.

[Sammy1]

Primary schools in Perth all have catchment areas. You will need to show proof of address before they will enrol. There are a few schools that may still take out of catchment students, however, this is certainly not the norm anymore and purely depends on if there is space.
Once you arrive, contact the school in your catchment area. All schools are open a few days before the new term officially begins. Schools often have many enrolments in the two or three days before schools start, so don't worry.

[brock79]

This thread is of interest to me also because if we move back to Perth we will also need to get our little one in to Primary School. 

I presume you can still enrol if you arrive part way through a school year? I've no idea when we'd be arriving as of yet. 

Thanks. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, brock79 said:

This thread is of interest to me also because if we move back to Perth we will also need to get our little one in to Primary School. 

I presume you can still enrol if you arrive part way through a school year? I've no idea when we'd be arriving as of yet. 

Thanks. 

It'll be fine. Lots of people move and kids start new schools throughout the school year. 

[Yelverton]

We enrolled our kids at the start of term 3 and had no problems.


Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

[SimonandSian]

Thank you so much everyone for the replies. Looks like this is one less thing to worry about in the build up to the big move to Perth! 

[starlight7]

I'd think you would want to look at the schools beforehand to see which one would suit you best.

[SimonandSian]

Yes we will - luckily we have friends in the area we intend to rent so will hopefully be getting our girls into the same schools as them

[benj1980]

We temporarily stayed with friends. We used their address and enrolled our children, we are still in catchment now 20 months later. They started school 4 days after we arrived.

[SimonandSian]

Benj1980 - thats very reassuring! 

[peeches321]

Hi Thanks for all your advise, I am in a similar situation with SamandSian hoping to move to Perth in January Feb 2018. I feel reassured that its not too difficult to get places once we find accommodation. Any suggestions / ideas on good schools in Perth

[benj1980]

On 23/06/2017 at 19:16, SimonandSian said:

Benj1980 - thats very reassuring! 

Obviously other parents thought we were cruel but we were keen for the children to start asap to help them settle in!

[Chasing a dream]

Hi,  was reading this topic and just wondering......if say we took a holiday rental for 4 weeks while looking for a long term rental, do you think the school would accept the address of the holiday rental as proof of residence for enrolment? 

Don't know yet if we will end up in Perth but hoping it is a similar process in most states?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Chasing a dream said:

Hi,  was reading this topic and just wondering......if say we took a holiday rental for 4 weeks while looking for a long term rental, do you think the school would accept the address of the holiday rental as proof of residence for enrolment? 

Don't know yet if we will end up in Perth but hoping it is a similar process in most states?

IME if a school is zoned they may well want to see proof of a lease or home ownership. A holiday rental won't cut it usually. 

In our state, not all primaries are zoned but the ones that are will expect a 1 year lease as proof to enrol a child. The non zoned ones may well suggest trying schools closer to home if they are further away but don't usually refuse you. All high schools are zoned and proof is needed to enrol. 

[benj1980]

We weren't asked to show evidence in terms of a lease however had a bank letter addressed to our friends house. It was an electronic type letter that we actually printed off from our internet banking. That said schools will have different policies and processes, we may have simply been lucky?

[SJB123]

On 4/21/2017 at 03:19, SimonandSian said:

Hi all, 

 

We are lucky enough to have our 189 VISA granted and are planning on moving over to Perth December/January in time for the new school year to begin in February.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or experience trying to get a school place sorted for a little one before moving to the other side of the world!? 

 

We are fairly certain on the area we want to settle as it is close to family and friends, but that still depends on available rentals etc. I am presuming we have to try to get something sorted before the schools break up in December but am really unsure how to go about this and would love some advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation. 

 

Many thanks  

Hi, 

We moved to Perth last December and I arranged our kids schooling a week or so before they were due to start (primary and secondary aged) as schools were shut before then. They all started on the first day of term no problems. Just make sure you sort out uniforms and kids over here also need their own books, stationery, etc, just be sure to ask for the list of requirements  

[SJB123]

Also where we are you need at least a 1 year lease to enrol, not sure if its the same with all schools though

[SimonandSian]

5 minutes ago, SJB123 said:

Hi, 

We moved to Perth last December and I arranged our kids schooling a week or so before they were due to start (primary and secondary aged) as schools were shut before then. They all started on the first day of term no problems. Just make sure you sort out uniforms and kids over here also need their own books, stationery, etc, just be sure to ask for the list of requirements  

Thank you so much. That's very reassuring. 

 

Hadnt really thought about uniforms but presume we will we will be able to buy when we have enrolled as we arrive 11th Jan (a few weeks before school starts)

 

out of interest, with the school years being slightly out of sync - do children generally resit the first term of the school year they are in?

[Quoll]

1 minute ago, SimonandSian said:

Thank you so much. That's very reassuring. 

 

Hadnt really thought about uniforms but presume we will we will be able to buy when we have enrolled as we arrive 11th Jan (a few weeks before school starts)

 

out of interest, with the school years being slightly out of sync - do children generally resit the first term of the school year they are in?

It's a foreign country with completely different education systems, not just "out of sync".  Enrolment depends on the child's age so they could be a year above or below where you think they ought to be and as they have never done the Australian system before there is no repeating, resitting or going back, they just get on with being in that school year. Enrolment cut off date in WA is 30 June so a child has to turn 5 before 30 June of that year before starting full time school and so on up the year levels.

[SJB123]

2 minutes ago, SimonandSian said:

Thank you so much. That's very reassuring. 

 

Hadnt really thought about uniforms but presume we will we will be able to buy when we have enrolled as we arrive 11th Jan (a few weeks before school starts)

 

out of interest, with the school years being slightly out of sync - do children generally resit the first term of the school year they are in?

No problem. Most schools have dedicated uniform shops, it will usually tell you where to buy uniforms from if you check the school website.

The school year over here is a bit weird, I assumed it would run January to December to coincide with the summer break, but it actually runs July to June. To put that in context, if for example your child was born in July and started Year 2 in September in the UK, by the time you arrive in Australia the following January they would actually only be starting in Year 1. Kids born September through to June restart the same year they were in in January.

Sorry if that sounds confusing...it took me a while to get my head around it!!

[SimonandSian]

2 hours ago, SJB123 said:

No problem. Most schools have dedicated uniform shops, it will usually tell you where to buy uniforms from if you check the school website.

The school year over here is a bit weird, I assumed it would run January to December to coincide with the summer break, but it actually runs July to June. To put that in context, if for example your child was born in July and started Year 2 in September in the UK, by the time you arrive in Australia the following January they would actually only be starting in Year 1. Kids born September through to June restart the same year they were in in January.

Sorry if that sounds confusing...it took me a while to get my head around it!!

That does sound confusing! 

 

Our 4 year old just started reception, born in march, so she will start reception again in Feb??