5 year old starting in the 2nd term

[Summer]

HI, Is there anybody who has a 5 year old turning 6 before April 30th 2008 who can advise me as to what a child is required to know when going into Year 1 in NSW. My daughter is in reception this year in Cape Town and should go into the second term in Sydney but I can't decide whether I should apply for kindergarten or year one. Has anybody had any experience of this? I don't want my daughter to be held back but also don't want her to struggle to keep up. Would she be the oldest in the class if she went to Kindergarten. Is there any kind of preparation I should be doing with her while we wait. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Piet & Madelene]

Haai daar ek hoop die inligting gaan jou kan help.

Ek self is nog nie in Australia nie maar my broer is daar vanaf die 17de Januarie en hy ondervind die volgende

Sy seuntjie sou die jaar eers graad een toe gegaan het in SA en nou is hy sommer in graad 2 in Australia. Hulle weier om die kind n' jaar terug te hou en hulle sit hom nou 1/2 dag in graad 1 en 1/2 dag in graad 2. Wat beteken die kind moet 2 jaar se werk in 1 jaar doen en ek meen hy is afrikaans en dit is alles in Engels. So ver ek kan verstaan hou hulle jou kind nie agter in n' std nie hulle sit hom elke keer deur wat beteken jou kind gaan nooit al die werk onder die knie kry nie. Sy dogtertjie sou eers volgende jaar in SA skool gegaan het en sy moes ook nou begin met skool in Australia. Dit is iets wat my ook nogal baie pla want dit beteken almal van ons wat oor gaan se kinders word n' graad of twee aangeskyf want hulle werk streng volgens ouderdom. As daar iemand op die forum is wat ons meer inligting hieroor kan gee sal ons almal wat kinders het en nog oppad Australia toe is die inligting baie waardeur.

[Nats123]

Interesting thread.

I think I am a bot more fortunate that both my kids are English but my concern is that both of them are basically the youngest in their class with birthdays at the end of November and also in December.

So should they be advanced a year it might feel like two years for them?

So where is Dax now?

Nats

[Michelle M]

Hi,

My son turned 7 last month. We came to Aus last year Sept. He was suppose to start gr.1 this year in SA but because of the age difference they decided to put him in gr. 1 last year September.

He did really well and almost caught up with the other kids (bearing in mind that he had 2 months) but when we got his report I could see that he was not quite there yet. I asked the school to keep him back and let him start gr.1 this year. They said because at his school, they have gr.1 and gr.2 in the same class with the same teacher, the kids do the level of work that they feel comfortable with and at the end of the year if I still feel that he is behind the kids of his age group, we can keep him back.

At the moment he reads the same level books as his friends and his does the same level maths. I'm not 100% sure how he compares to the other gr.2 kids. Thought I will give the teacher a while to assess him and give him a while to find his feet before I ask.

I am giving them the benefit of the doubt this year but will INSIST that they keep him back if I am not happy with his progress at the end of the year.

You must do what you believe is best for your child.

Hope this helps

Take care

Michelle

Edited February 14, 2008 by Michelle M

[sa2auz]

Hi there

We are in Sydney and my son started Kindy this year he is 4 turning 5 in March. My son is one of the youngest and most of the children are turning 6 before June. The children learn to read and write in Kindy in Aus and I think it is a good idea for them to start Kindy and learn the basics the aussie way. Your child definately won't be too old if in Kindy and I find there is a good extention programme for the kids that are more advanced and like wise those that don't have a clue are supported as well. My son has 17 in his class and the other kindy class has 16 so I feel they are equiped well enough to cope with the gaps in the stages of learning.

You also won't have a problem starting late the schools are very supportive especially of newbies.

Good Luck

[Summer]

Thanks so much for your replies- I am feeling alot better about keeping her in Kindy and not pushing her up to Year1. She is a bright child so if she catches up fast is there a chance they would move her mid-year to year 1? We are probably going to be living in the Forestville/Killarney Heights area, is anyone familiar with the schools in those areas? I would love some positive or negative feedback!

[Dax]

So where is Dax now?

Nats

At the time of your post he was snoring a hole in his bedroom's ceiling

NSW' Teaching differs from South Australia, but i concurr with advice pertaining to enrolling the child in Kindy for starters, as he will pick up some reading/writing skills there and it will be good for his settling into the system when he moves on to Reception/Year1 with other kids that has more or less the same scholastic background.

Personally i would hesitate to enroll my kid (if he had no previous exposure to reading/writing) in a Year1 class where all the other kids already have a basic reading/writing foundation. He may work through the backlog fast, or he may not.

I would not take the chance

Cheers

Dax

Edited February 16, 2008 by Dax

[saffer2]

We arrived last year (midyear 2007) with a 5yr old turning 6 in June. He went into kindy and I would 100% recommend that you do not even think about Year 1. I am assuming that you are arriving in Sydney as for each of the States the school starting age is different. So you might want to ignore this if that is not the case.

In Sydney, kindy is the year the kids learn to read. We arrived 6 months into the school term (from Grade 0 in JHB) and were surprisingly far behind. The teachers and school have been great, but by the end of the year we were NOT fully caught up. There is a wide range of ages in the class - usually 18 months age differences. My youngest (July baby) will be in kindy the year he turns 5, but for my oldest with all the changes I think we made the right decision. He isn't even the oldest in the class.

PM me if you need anything.

[peepee]

Hi

We have been in Melbourne 10 months now. My eldest (7 turning 8) is in grade 2 and my youngest (just turned 5) has started prep (grade0).

Prior to coming over my eldest was in Grade 1 in a private girls school in pretoria. She recieved additional reading and writing instruction, OT etc. We thought we were almost ready for the challenge. The recommendation in Melbourne is that your child should be able to know the alphabet, count to 20 and write her name and a few other words prior to being accepted into grade 0, yes it is no typing error, GRADE 0.

My eldest could read 50- 100 page story books at the end of last year, she is in grade 2 this year. She only started to read in grade 1 in SA. Yes they are a year behind in SA. There is a difference in school standards as well, as some schools aren't as strict, and some parents don't care. My wife has spent at least 2-3 hours every day in preparing the girls to meet the standard and it has paid off. Yet I suppose you can call us compulsive people.

It does make a differnce if the kids can speak English. My kids are English speaking. A boy has just strated in my grade 2's class, he can hardly speak english. He looks bewildered and I feel for him daily! Then again, I come from n afrikaans home and was dumped in an English primary school. i could not speak a word of English... We learn at our best when we a small!

The teachers normally divide thekids into groups and it revolves around their level. She will continue to educate a clever child who progresses fast at highre standards and will continue to educate the groups at lower standards according to progress. If the child improves, he gets upgraded in the groups, normally a colour ranking. The ranking is seperate for language and maths.

Ask your teacher where you can help to improve the education and ask where your child is falling short. Communicate!

Hope this helps

[Dax]

Prior to coming over my eldest was in Grade 1 in a private girls school in pretoria. She recieved additional reading and writing instruction, OT etc. We thought we were almost ready for the challenge. The recommendation in Melbourne is that your child should be able to know the alphabet, count to 20 and write her name and a few other words prior to being accepted into grade 0, yes it is no typing error, GRADE 0.

Grade 0 is known in South Australia as Reception, thus the R - 7 or R - 10 with th enames of schools.

Like I said on another thread, I'm not an expert on JP teaching, but what you indicated above are pretty much the standards for Reception (Grade 0) in South Australia as well. It's not a hard and fast rule however, and one sometimes find that some Kindies went another "extra mile", and their kids rock up in Reception in the Primary School with a somewhat stronger background.

Dax

Edited February 16, 2008 by Dax

[Summer]

Well, that settles it for me. I think that the stresses of moving to a new country, leaving pets, friends, family and the only home she has ever known behind and being faced with having to make new friends and attend school from 9 til 3! are enough for any 5 year old to face without having to be catch up with a class of children who can already read and write. I also think it is easier to be the most advanced child in the class than the one who has to repeat the year because he is not keeping up.

[GraytoAuz]

Hi

My Emma is turning 6 in July - what would be the implication for her should we for example go there in January 2009?

Looking forward to hear from you guys!!!

Melanie

[sa2auz]

Hi there Melanie

I would recommend that your child start year 1 in Jan as she would be 6 and half. My son is the about youngest in Kindy just turned 5 so he would be 6 in March next year so your child would be about right if I go according to our year. The kindys in NSW are learning to read and basic maths etc and are learning to tell news etc in front of the class. The standard does vary per class as I say there are big differences in Age most turned 5 from April onwards last year so are turning 6 this year. Are you moving to NSW?

Hope this all makes sense.

[GraytoAuz]

In a way yes - but is worrying is the fact that they already learnt reading and I supposing writing in kindy - where now she is in grade R - and is only learning to write her name - recognising letters of the alfhabet - very very basic - so she will be missing all of that? I hope I make sense.

Should I worry?

Thx

Melanie

[bosmans]

Hi

Am I getting this right:

SA Nursery school = Oz kindy - turning 4 during year

SA Nursery school still = Oz Reception year (at pre-primary school) OR kindy - turning 5 during year

SA Grade 0 = Oz Grade 1 - turning 6 during year

SA Grade 1 = Oz grade 2 - turning 7 during year

SA Grade 2 = Oz Grade 3 - turning 8 during the year

So if my (afrikaans) child turns 4 this year October and we immigrate by the end of 2008, should he go to reception year or kindy in 2009?

He is not going to nursery school at the moment - will it be worthwhile putting him in school until we leave, so he can pick up more english, or will it be better to get first school exposure in Australia?

Thanks!

Edited April 5, 2008 by bosmans

[bosmans]

Enrolment information

There is a place for your child:

In kindergarten if he/she turns four by 30 June 2008

In pre-primary if he/she turns five by 30 June 2008

A school age calculator is available which will tell you when your child can start kindergarten or pre-primary school.

Attendance is not compulsory, however over 90% of children in Western Australia attend kindergarten and 95% attend pre-primary school.

Seems I found some answers on internet! (at http://www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolinginwa/kindergarten.html ).

Edited April 5, 2008 by bosmans

[Geland]

Hi,

Any recommendation for Kindy's in Sydney ? We would be residing somewhere between Chatswood, Cherrybrook, Castle hill ?

Much appreciated,

Oppad