millar.wall.1985 Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Hi all Just hoping for a bit of reassurance really. I have a little one who is currently 4 years old, will turn 5 in March. We are due to move out Oct. This would mean our child will be in year 1 (UK schooling system). Ive been so excited to get out to oz but then speaking with other people at the weekend Ive been put off coming out to move in Oct because it may prevent continuity in my daughters education. From what I understood children of this age in Perth go to kindi? Do children of this age still learn phonics, reading, writing, basic maths? Learning with play? This is what I thought was the case:S but now Im told there are no learning objectives at this age? is this true? Not that Im expecting much (please dont think Im pushy/ or slating the austrailian education system) . Please no offence intended... (as you can probs tell, Im not the brightest spark!) Its just my daughters doing so well at her current school, I just dont want to cause major disturbance while shes enjoying it. I think this is my first major worry about going. I just need to hear that other kids have gone out there and continued to thrive! If it is a case that learning starts a little later here, what do parents do in the mean time to continue where their children left off in the UK? Advice from other parents, with kiddies of a similar age when moved would be brill Thanks Lauren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walkabout Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) Hi, I have 3 kiddies (aged 7, 5 and 3) and we arrived in November this year. My 7 and 5 year olds started their new school years in September in the UK (so year 2 and year 1) but then have gone 'back' to Pre Primary and year 1 for the end of the year here, my 3 year old had started nursery in the UK and will start kindy in Feb. Our experience so far has been great. I am sure it is school dependent, but yes they most definitely do teach them the basics for reading writing etc at both PP and kindy, in fact we have found that the expectation for Pre primary at least is much higher than it was at the school we were at in the UK. There are charts that you can look up online to see what year your little one would go into, but to me sounds like they would be going into Pre primary when you came, we have looked at it as settling in time, they have had a chance to get to know the school and what is expected, they can then concentrate on the rest of it when they go back in Feb. I have to dash now to get them to school, but just ask and I am happy to answer and question that you may have! Edited December 17, 2013 by Walkabout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot01 Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 There are number of concerns in your post that are common to many people coming to Australia so this is a general reply. The UK have a different education system to Oz in all sorts of things, but lets start with what the years are called. If your child is in e.g Year 2 in the UK and then finds that they are in Year 1 they are not going back a year - they could only be considered going back a year if they moved from one area of the UK to another and went to a lower class. You can't compare the two educational systems as they have different ages and are called different names. What you will find however that a child who is age 6years and 5 months old in the UK is probably going to be doing comparable things to a same age child in Oz. Obviously this will fluctuate depending on the teacher and the composition of the class, socio economic area etc For children age 0-5 all early childhood educators (school/ child care centres) are guided by the Early Years Learning Framework http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/250298/early-years-learning-framework.pdf. The curriculum is developed according to the Framework "The Framework forms the foundation for ensuring that children in all early childhood education and care settings experience quality teaching and learning. It has a specific emphasis on play-based learning and recognises the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development" so kindy age children are developing early reading and numeracy skills. Rightly so, the focus is on language development as this is the core to all learning. The Australian National Curriculum will kick off in 2015, some parts introduced earlier, some later. WA follows their own curriculum but closely modelled on what the other States are doing. This link will give you some idea about what happens in Pre Primary in WA. http://www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolsandyou/detcms/navigation/life-at-school/pre-primary/?page=4toc4 There is the WA Curriculum Framework with clear learning objectives but these are not as prescribed as the UK which might say week 3, term 1 literacy hour every year 1 child learns the sound 'sh'. The only time there may be a serious disturbance to a school age child is moving half way through Year 11, otherwise you have nothing to worry about and your child will adapt. In almost any Year 1 class you will find children who can read chapter books, and those who don't know what their letter sounds. Their needs will be met by any decent teacher. Latest research shows that UK is marginally ahead in literacy and numeracy at Year 4 but by age 16 Australian students are significantly ahead of the UK in numeracy and literacy so there is nothing to be concerned about. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/09/australia-ranks-fifth-in-literacy-and-13th-in-numeracy-says-oecd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judilc Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hi, we just moved and our daughter had to go into kindy as she was 5 on July9th so only just missed out. With regard to 'going back a year' we have found this to be the case in kindy, very play based my daughter said this school is great we just play all the time and hardly do any work. That said the head has reassured me that as she is more advanced than some of the others her educational needs will be met next year ( we lived in the Middle East for a while and she has been in full time education learning phonics etc since she was 3). My son in 2.5 years and is not in nursery so not being pushed like daughter was in Qatar nursery so I think he'll fit in great when he is kindy age. The classroom etc and facilities are fab at the school so I'm not concerned . I have met other uk parents who have not been happy with the educational content of kindy but you have to accept we live here now and this is the way it's done .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millar.wall.1985 Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 aw thank you everyone! i think a bit of reassurance was all I needed. The web links were very useful too. I think if we plod on as we are doing bits and bobs at home when we can, Im sure she will continue to progress. She will more about life, travel and gain fantastic opportunities too. Which we may not be able to give her if we stayed back here. Feeling much better now thank you:) Back on track looking forward to our move:) xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arwen Posted December 18, 2013 Report Share Posted December 18, 2013 Don't worry too much, may people bag the Australian system but in the recent OECD Pisa testing Australia came ahead of the UK in Maths, English and Science so they must be doing something right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy little Vegemite Posted December 18, 2013 Report Share Posted December 18, 2013 We were in Oz earlier in the year visiting family and I was really struck by how much more physically competent the kids in pre-primary seemed to be in general, climbing monkey bars etc. The play areas in the school playgrounds were amazing compared to our school here and the kids have so much more opportunity for outdoor play over there. My son will be 6 in March and we're moving over in April so he will be 'going back' as it were a few months due to the different start times of the school year, but I am taking comfort in this. If it takes us a while to enrol in a school or he has troubles settling then I know that we have this time on our side Happy Christmas and happy planning! Cath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozzachino Posted December 18, 2013 Report Share Posted December 18, 2013 If she is turning five next year then in oz she would be going into pre primary next year, and year one the year after, when you have arrived, so there wouldn't be any loss of continuity if i have understood your post, except maybe two months in pre primary next year due to the difference in the start of school years. my son starts kindy next year and he is four next june. I have found a school that is very education focused from their start in kindy and i am very excited about this. If you look hard enough i am sure you can find a school to meet your child's needs. realistically what is the alternative? Wait until she has finished school before you come?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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