Waldo Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Me, my wife and our son are moving to Brisbane in May 2022. When do we enrol our son into school? Can we Enrol from the UK? I understand that there are catchment area's and stuff. My son and wife are Australian citizens and I'm a PR TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 No, you'll need to wait until you arrive because all schools have priority enrolment areas and they are obliged to find places for kids in their catchment. So your first priority is to find a home you want to live in 24/7 then you will be able to front up with details of your address and they will find the kids a place - they like you to wait a day or two so they can get things organised but technically if you rock up you could, theoretically leave them there straight away (not a good way to start the relationship though). If you decide that you want a school which is somewhere else, you can apply for an out of area enrolment but whether they accept you or not is anyone's guess and depends very much on their capacity. If you choose to go private then, yes, you could probably enrol from overseas if they are accepting enrolments. Don't sweat it though, nobody is going to give a toss if a kid is out of school for a few weeks or months of that is what it takes to get you settled somewhere. House and job first, school second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 As Quoll said, no one is going to fret if the kids dont start school until a month or two after you arrive. Everyone understands that migrants need time to settle in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Be aware that you may well need to have a 12 month lease signed to get into a good catchment area secondary school. They won't even accept the application without proof of residence. Primary schools are a bit less militant, but we had no luck trying 4 out of catchment schools which are closer to the high school and not in the opposite direction We are in Perth. I would also say it might help if you can starting them at the start of a term, ours have been upset by missing a few weeks and then finding they can't catch up and then getting low scores on tests. Waiting until Feb wasn't an option though as they stopped school in the UK in July! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 51 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said: Be aware that you may well need to have a 12 month lease signed to get into a good catchment area secondary school. They won't even accept the application without proof of residence. Primary schools are a bit less militant, but we had no luck trying 4 out of catchment schools which are closer to the high school and not in the opposite direction We are in Perth. I would also say it might help if you can starting them at the start of a term, ours have been upset by missing a few weeks and then finding they can't catch up and then getting low scores on tests. Waiting until Feb wasn't an option though as they stopped school in the UK in July! Schools don't much like talking kids after the beginning of Feb, unless they are absolutely new arrivals because census day is usually mid/end Feb and census data generates their income for the year. If they arrive after census then they're essentially not included in the annual budget. Not that that means anything to the kids but it may make some schools - if you're after an or of area enrolment - say no thanks. However, in general it pays to take your time to get the kids settled into a home - which may mean you have to get settled into a job first - before your start faffing about with schools. Nobody cares if they aren't in school anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 On 28/11/2021 at 11:37, Quoll said: Schools don't much like talking kids after the beginning of Feb, unless they are absolutely new arrivals because census day is usually mid/end Feb and census data generates their income for the year. If they arrive after census then they're essentially not included in the annual budget. Not that that means anything to the kids but it may make some schools - if you're after an or of area enrolment - say no thanks. However, in general it pays to take your time to get the kids settled into a home - which may mean you have to get settled into a job first - before your start faffing about with schools. Nobody cares if they aren't in school anyway. We found it easier to get them in asap, they had already been off school for months last year due to lockdowns, and then 3 months since they broke up for the summer. Obviously if they are just out of term in the UK a month or two won't matter. Makes sense on the budget front. The catchment primary has actually been really good for our son, and his teacher is lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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