young2682 Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Hi, We moved to Melbourne on Monday, we are currently staying in Parkdale but hoping to move to Berwick beginning Oct. I was chatting to a local yesterday who said my daughter will not be able to go to a kindergarten now as not long left of the term. She turns 5 in Jan (if in UK would have started big school yesterday!) and is in desperate need of mental and physical stimulation. We are obviously very VERY new to the area so havent sought out things to do with kids yet. We need to conserve as much money as possible so cant afford to pay out too much for childcare! My husband starts his job tomorrow and I will be all alone with my daughter and my 3 yar old son.......!!!!!! HELP!!!! :eek: Thank you in advance for any help you can give me :wubclub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Have a look at the City of Kingston web site for child care etc. The person is right, Kindergarten is hard to get into for the full year due to the large nos of children these days since the baby bonus. Our school year finishes in December and your daughter should start school on Feb 1 or thereabouts. If you are staying in the area you could approach primary schools now and have a look and decide where you want to send her. Need to enrol. If you are moving to another area such as Berwick then you can check out the City of Casey for schools for that area and child care etc. You could probably get your daughter into a child care centre a couple of days a week to give her some stimulation until she goes to school. Also join the forums for baby and kids etc such as http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/index.php?showforum=83 http://www.kpv.org.au/page/view/kindergartens-in-victoria-131/ There are other forums around that you can join and they have a wealth of information about schools, kinder, etc. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shusselmann Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Hi, Check out your local Playgroup association: http://www.playgroup.org.au/ Going to Playgroup will give you something to do, and also give you more contact with local mums who may have advice about other activities or childcare options. You could go to Playgroup where you live now and where you hope to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I guess the problem is that your daughter is probably a bit old for playgroup at nearly 5 - most kids would be at kinder. She falls a bit 'between the cracks' because she is also a bit young for school- a lot of parents hold their kids back, seems to be the fashion at the moment and she will be starting school with some kids who are almost 6. I would definitely check out some of the day care places to see if there are any that would suit- maybe a day a week would be ok for a bit of stimulation for her.I think for your son playgroup would be perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bertie Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Hi I am in Berwick and have plenty to keep my 3 year old occupied, not sure about getting a kinder place for your older one, but if you hoping to send her to school in Jan? I know that Berwick Primary do something once a week for a couple of hours at school to introduce the new preps to the school enviroment. So you could try other schools to see if they do anything similar. Or perhaps try day care a couple of days a week. hope you get something sorted :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibella Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Hi there, don't stop trying because one person said so! We arrived in our area (North East Melbourne) about 3 weeks ago and I phoned all the kinders in the surrounding area and I found three of them who could take my daughter immediately. If they have a spot they will take her! Remember even though it's holiday soon (think the 24th September) for two weeks after that there is still quite a bit of kinder time until around the 22nd December, so I would definitely try to get her in. I chose the one that had kids going to the same primary school as her, so that she would at least get to know some of the kids. She went to school in the UK for nearly a year and now went back to kinder (pre-school) and she is loving it! Really enjoying the outdoors spaces, making dams and rivers and painting houses with mud, making friends and getting used to Australia.:smile: She made a gorgeous plate for fathers day and they've had a visit from the fire station & a doctor so far. Also try and find out about Ocassional Childcare in your area - this is normally held at a community centre and I have two nearby. The offer childcare at reasonable rates per hour ($7) and my daughter also going there and making friends, although they have kids of all ages so the little ones do annoy her some times. Good luck and don't give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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