Advise about when to enroll

[JEMS]

Hi

Any advice will be appreciated. I have tried to make contact with a school in the catchment area we are looking at residing, but so far no reply back yet.

My son is in Grade 3 in SA. My husband is already in Oz, and the original plan was for me to wait until my son finished his year in December before going over, while my husband is already in Oz working. However, we are now thinking that it might be best to come over as soon as possible, and perhaps enroll for the 4th term in Year 3 there. Their term runs from 6 October to 18 December and I believe this will at least give him enough time to be properly assessed and to adjust to the new school system?

I am not sure if this is allowed, recommended, feasible or not?

Thanks

[AFreshStart]

Jems,

Fear not, your child will be assessed just fine, all children go through a one on one assement before entering school and work through a series of exercises to test their understanding and comprehension and this allows the teacher to assess their needs.

It's difficult bringing your child in on the last term as you have no idea where the rest of the kids are at mentally. One thing we have found is that (and I can only speak of our inner city Sydney school) they are expected to do MUCH more than in South Africa.

For example in order to pass Kindy they are expected to read and write the alphabet, write their names, sight read 100 words and count to at least 50 (most can go to 100) and read 3 books a week.

I couldn't imagine dropping my son into the last term having come from South Africa as he couldn't even identify the alphabet, it would be terribly demoralizing.

If you've not had a response, why not get your husband to call and make an appointment to see the headmaster and have him voice his/your concerns?

If the school is worth anything they should respond and it's a good indication of what it's going to be like. We got a response from our son's headmaster the day we sent it, at 11pm Aus time, answered all my questions, invited me to have a tour, when I arrived (like your husband I arrived first) he showed me around, gave me all the paperwork and when the family arrived he invited our son to sit in on a class as he had missed orientation.

These are things that make me love our sons school even more, and it's a State school, not private, he and his staff are just so invested in the kids.

Cheers

Matt

[leeferg1]

Not quite the same circumstances, but when we moved from remote WA to Bunbury, we enrolled them into their new school for the last week of the last term....after speaking with the principal (who happens to be South African), he suggested we move the boys up a grade to fit in with their age group (when we first came to Oz, I put them in the grade they would've been in in SA - so a year older than the rest of their class mates).

The teachers used that week to assess them to see if they were indeed ready for the jump of grades. They both were, so my youngest missed out on Grade 3 and my eldest Grade 6. It has not negatively affected them at all.

Another positive, when they started school in the new year, they at least were familiar with the school and had made some friends.

Your son being in Grade 3 makes it a lot easier than if he was going into Grade 1, where the expectations are higher in Oz.

I agree with Matt, get your husband to make an appointment with the school and take things from there.

In my honest opinion, if your son's schooling is the only reason you're still in SA, I wouldn't think twice about getting on that plane and joining your hubby.

[Mara]

I agree with leeferg1, come on over.I honestly think being without his Dad, and the strain on the family, which children surely feel, is much worse for him than anything he may encounter when he starts school here.

[JEMS]

Mara, Leeferg1, Thank you for the replies. I want to come over with all my heart. This distance thing and the fact that we only have this small window to chat to my husband before hours catch up is driving me crazy. I am just not sure if schools will allow us to do this, but I cannot imagine that it would be against some form of law.

I will ask my husband to go and physically speak with the school so that we can get this sorted.

Thanks

[rozellem]

Yes, come over asap. Where are you going to settle? Never know, there might be people on here at that school, or little friends in the area to play with.

[JEMS]

Hi Rozelle

We are settling in Sydney, and currently looking at the Carlingford area. My husband works in the CBD but besides being incredibly expensive to live there, we thought living in a normal suburb would be better for our son since we are coming from a small town where "traffic congestion" means taking an extra 5 minutes to get home from school, a total of a 10 minute drive then.

[blung]

We are going to be enrolling both of our boys into term 4. We did email the school but after no response a phone call worked. They are happy for us to come chat to them once we are there, short assessment and then to enroll.

I think it is going to be disruptive any way you look at it but we are not going to be too hard on our boys for this term and are treating it as an adjustment term before next year.

[rozellem]

JEMS, there is a Facebook group called "South Africans in Sydney (the Hills)" please join them and ask your questions. There are 1000's of RSA's living in the Hills and they will be able to tell you about schools, housing, transport, etc. Dont get too fixated about living in an exact spot at the moment and be prepared to be a little flexible about area as you gather more information. PS. My family have a beach house at Klein Brakrivier.

[JEMS]

Thanks All. I am just waiting on my husband to get home in Sydney and will then chat to him about this.

[JEMS]

I just wanted to leave an update in case anyone ever reads this thread again. We were contacted by the Principal of the school in Oz that we are interested in and he advised that it would be best to start our son there as soon as possible and not to wait for the new year. Their 4th term runs from the 6th of Oct to 18 Dec so we will enroll him for the 4th term. Also, he will initially be placed with his peers, so in Year 4, not Year 3. They will assess him on that level and if he is on par, he will move onto Year 5 with them next year. If not, he will do Year 4.

So, just some feedback if anyone is interested.

[ProudlySouthAfricanInPerth]

Glad you got sorted Jems. Usually the schools dont respond to enquiries unless you are living in their catchment already.

Also many people move schools during the year so don't worry about that aspect of it, there will always be people coming and going so schools are well equipped to deal with kids entering the school part way through a year.

[AFreshStart]

Glad you got sorted Jems. Usually the schools dont respond to enquiries unless you are living in their catchment already.

Also many people move schools during the year so don't worry about that aspect of it, there will always be people coming and going so schools are well equipped to deal with kids entering the school part way through a year.

We only contacted two schools, both of which wrote back within a day. One from the headmaster directly, and whose school my son is now at and the other the school secretary, but both were willing to chat to us even when off shore and the headmaster most welcoming. Was surprised to see he responded at 11pm Aus time to boot! Unless we were really lucky? They won't enroll you until you are here, but we found were happy to answer questions.

We exchanged several e-mails and he arrange for me to come in, visit the school a day or two after I landed and took my son in for an open day and then spent some time with me filling in all the paperwork.

Cheers

Matt

[JEMS]

We contacted the school in the area that we are looking at settling and while it took almost a week to get a reply, I did get a very apologetic email from the Principal about his delayed response. It was also sent nearly 10pm at night, and he was very accommodating. I could either open channels of communication now, or I can come and meet with him when we arrive. Either or, he is more than willing to discuss my son's education, which was fantastic. So we have just over 5 weeks to go before we arrive, and will then make arrangements to go and speak with them in person.