FromDurbs Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 I desperately need some advice from the old timers We arrived two weeks ago in Melbourne Victoria and have slowly been settling in. We are house hunting at the moment. We also decided on a school for our children. All the schools in the area we are looking at (just north of the city) are full and claim to be bursting at the seems. We are submitting an application to rent a house that falls within the school zone boundaries. And the school agrees to that as well. But then the school claims to be full and say we should apply but they are full and will not take the child. I understood that if you move into the school zone boundaries they HAVE to take you. Am I correct? I even remember reading that if they are full they need to hire more teachers to meet the demand. But of course I cannot find it anywhere now that I am looking. My children are in years 8 and 10. We are obviously applying late, because the school did not want to consider us before we had a lease signed, so we could not apply before the deadline in October. We are looking at state schools. The one school said that IF they took my Year 10, he would need to take the same subject choices as a child who just left because they would not be able to accommodate his choice. I find that ridiculous. What if he is a math whizz and the one who left is doing arts? Seriously. Sorry, needed to vent a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Oh my... Suddenly makes me glad we did the migration thing before considering kids. I'm sure some of the more experienced forumites will pitch in and offer some advice. Logically there must be a solution, because your case is certainly not unique. You just need to find out what it is Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeaS Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Hi FromDurbs, Yay! We both made it to Melbourne eventually... ? Sorry that you are havin such a crazy time with the schools, I don't know the system or how this all works...but we have just taken a rental in Cheltenham and all 3 of the local schools offered us places. We did school tours and walked around etc and then made our decision from there... Cheltenham is in the SE suburbs though... not sure if up North is more popular? Good Luck and hope you come right soon. Take care, x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDurbs Posted December 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Hallo Lea Yes, we are here and things (except for the school) is going fine. There is a Plan B school. I think the issue lies in the ages of the kids. Yours are younger right? Primary. Primary schools seem abundant, secondary not so much. It is especially my Year 10 one that is proving difficult. The Year 8 they will take, reluctantly. The one school we looked at had recently started and they are phasing in years. And the one year they dont offer is Year 10. Which is probably placing more strain on the Year 10's in the surrounding schools. I think if he was any other year ..... But we have a Plan B. I just dont like it as much as Plan A. FrunDurbsToMelbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted December 15, 2016 Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 The public school MUST take all kids in their catchment area - end of story.. NSW: “Students residing within that area are entitled to be enrolled at the government school that is designated for that intake area”. https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd02_06_enrolment_of_students.pdf VIC: “children have the right to be placed in their designated neighbourhood school” http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/participation/Pages/placement.aspx QLD: "Parents are able to send their children to the state school of their choice, depending on available places. Some schools have an enrolment management plan in place that means students may not be able to attend unless they live within the designated catchment zone". http://education.qld.gov.au/parents/find-school/enrolling.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 15, 2016 Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 Tell 'em @Riekie !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDurbs Posted December 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 Thanks @Riekie. That is what I keep telling my husband. You dont quote Victoria, though ! Same applies, I assume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDurbs Posted December 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 Sorry, see you called it WA, but it links to Victoria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanRB Posted December 16, 2016 Report Share Posted December 16, 2016 On 12/15/2016 at 10:57 AM, Riekie said: The public school MUST take all kids in their catchment area - end of story.. NSW: “Students residing within that area are entitled to be enrolled at the government school that is designated for that intake area”. https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd02_06_enrolment_of_students.pdf WA: “children have the right to be placed in their designated neighbourhood school” http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/participation/Pages/placement.aspx QLD: "Parents are able to send their children to the state school of their choice, depending on available places. Some schools have an enrolment management plan in place that means students may not be able to attend unless they live within the designated catchment zone". http://education.qld.gov.au/parents/find-school/enrolling.html People should at least read the other information on the links pages before they get their hopes up. For the Victoria link above further context is as follows: Designated neighbourhood school The designated neighbourhood school is the school that is nearest the student’s permanent residence, unless the regional director: needs to restrict new enrolments at a school has designated the neighbourhood boundaries for the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DXB2OZ Posted December 16, 2016 Report Share Posted December 16, 2016 Phone your local council - they will be able to give more details as to various alternative options. Your child has to be accommodated, but this may be by going to another local school. Every time we have dealt with ours they have been very helpful. At least you will get some answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 On 16/12/2016 at 2:57 PM, AlanRB said: People should at least read the other information on the links pages before they get their hopes up. For the Victoria link above further context is as follows: Designated neighbourhood school The designated neighbourhood school is the school that is nearest the student’s permanent residence, unless the regional director: needs to restrict new enrolments at a school has designated the neighbourhood boundaries for the school. Note: Regional Director (not school principal) - in which case, the school zones would be amended to include the closest public school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 Here is WA: "Every child from Pre-primary to Year 12 is guaranteed a place at their local public school". https://www.education.wa.edu.au/web/our-schools/enrolling-in-school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDurbs Posted January 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 An update on this. I received a phone call from the principal at 9 pm in the evening that they will take our children, since they have to and we live in the area and they want to meet with us the evening before school starts. The school office is closed till the day before the school starts and I have no idea what stationary or uniforms to buy. Life would have been so much less stressfull if they had just spoken to us at the end of last year. They should have known at the end of last year that they needed to take us and might as well have told me as much. I was left worrying about the school the entire January! After I received the telephonic brush off from them the day before the schools closed, I sent our application forms in via email and I think that is what they replied to now. One of my colleagues said they were probably just gatvol (he used a different word) at the end of the year and did not want to deal with us. So in short, if anyone else is in the same boat, dont believe them when they say they cannot take your child. I am still not sure whether he can choose any subjects or need to take what is available. That will only be known a few hours before school starts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dill Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 Thanks for updating! Good luck getting everything sorted in time and sorry that you had to spend so much time worrying about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 I'm sure that subject thing is just rubbish. They can't force a kid to take someone else's subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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