3 yr old nursery and schooling - help

[JoP]

Hi

 

We are awaiting our visa to move to Sydney later this year. We have a little boy who is 3 in August and would of been starting 2 1/2 days at a nursery in the uk this September, which would be free. (:biggrin: saving on childcare!)

 

Please can anyone tell me how it works in Oz, iv read that they dont start school till their 6 ?? so is it just paying for nursery/ childcare till then. I know at nursery in uk they start learning abc, etc from 3, so im a bit worried that he maybe missing structured learning, I know its our responsibility also to teach him numbers, abc etc.

 

I would be grateful for any info on the yrs 3 - 6. Where they go, what you pay for, what they learn.

 

Thank you

 

From a very excited, although a little nervous, jo

[purplealster]

Hi,

 

Welcome to pomsinoz!

I am in Sydney and have 3 kids - 6,4 and 2.

 

There are really only three options when it comes to childcare. You have long day care, which is what most working parents use - hours are from about 8.30am to 6.30 pm depending on the centre. This is quite expensive - can be up to $120 a day depending on the age of the child. The younger the child, the more expensive the fees. A three year old would be between $80-$100 a day. If you are coming here on a permanent visa and you are working or studying, you will qualify for the 50% rebate on fees so you only end up paying half. The 2nd option would be a pre-school - hours are shorter usually 9am to 3pm - fees are alot cheaper - I pay $52 a day for my daughter. You usually have a choice of a 2 day per week slot or 3 day per week slot which tend to run consecutively ie Mon/Tue/Wed or Thurs/Fri. The third option is occasional daycare - these are almost like preschools, however you do not have a confirmed place - you can book a spot two weeks in advance but if they are full -tough. Some have permanent spots, but you would have to go onto a waiting list and spots are quite hard to get (again, depends on where you live).

I am not going to go into specifics about what the kids learn as this isnt something that has ever worried me - I personally think that they have so many years of school ahead of them I am happy for my kids to just play. I am not bothered about abc's etc at preschool - that is the purpose of kindergarten at primary school. The following thread goes into more details about peoples experiences about what they do at preschool - may be worth a read - will give you an idea.

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/education/136240-standard-pre-school-education-oz.html

 

Regards

 

Purp

[JoP]

Thanks Purp

 

Your reply is really helpful

 

Regards Jo

[Quoll]

I dont know where people get the idea that kids dont start school until 6. It used to be that way in WA but for a long time now, full time school starts for most kids for when they are just 5 or just about to turn 5 (in NSW they have to turn 5 before 31 July of the year they start in the Feb). The Education Act says they HAVE to be in school (or approved program) when they are 6.

 

Up until their first year of full time school then in most states it is user pays (ACT has a universal free preschool program for 4 year olds and some other states have aspirations to that but AFAIK none of them at the moment) and you could be up for up to $80 - 90 a day for child care - depends on the establishment, the hours etc and you may (depending on your visa) get a child care rebate. Your 3 yr old son wont start preschool until 2014 and kindergarten in 2015. He will go through as one of the older kids in the cohort

 

How much you pay in NSW depends on your visa. If you are on a temporary visa then you will pay $4.5k per child pa up front otherwise it will be the regular "voluntary donations" which average out around $100 a term plus all the other things like visits, performances, extra skills lessons, etc etc

 

Schools dont expect you to teach your child anything like letters or numbers before they start school, they start from a really low base as many parents do very little with their kids before school.

[pintpot]

Can't comment on the preschools - but as far as primary schools go, the law is they have to be there FT by age 6, and different states have different cut-off dates to set the earliest you can send a child. In NSW it is 31 July, so if your son was born on that day in 2009, you could have sent him to school either in January 2014 or 2015. As his birthday is in August, it's an easy one as there's no decision to make - it is January 2015

 

I like my son's school, as posted here, he's recently started In Kindy (1st year of proper school in NSW). Personally I think what they do in that year is pretty basic compared to what I'm used to in the UK, but it soon evens out.

[JoP]

Thanks everyone for all your advice and info :-)

 

Jo

[Guest shusselmann]

Hi Jo,

I think other people have covered the school starting age and cost. We moved over when our eldest son was 3.5 so he did a year of preschool and has since started primary school. As he had been preparing for school in the UK and doing fairly structured learning I was also looking for this in his Sydney preschool. We found that far less emphasis was put on sitting down and reciting or looking at numbers and letters but there was plenty of time spent being read to, looking at books and doing role play like shopping and other number and matching activities. We also felt they tackled procedures much more with cooking and gardening. Generally his Sydney preschool was far more outdoor based than his London one and much more emphasis was put on socialising i.e. playing games that included the whole class. It seemed like a fun way to spend the year before school, although I don't see any problem with the structure he was getting in the UK either! I guess if you get more of one type of activity you'll get less of another and it all balances out in the end...as long as they're happy and want to go to preschool, and then school, you're on to a good thing :-)

All the best with your plans.