Schools?????

[Nicci]

Hi all

I have had a look on some of the treads and (thanks) they are all very helpful.

My daughter is going to grade 1 next year, and she is going to a very good government school here in SA.

Unfortunatley we are stealing her lime light of THE BIG SCHOOL year, and are leaving to go to Perth

towards the end of February, shame I feel really guilty about that.

But all of that aside we are looking at living in the North Western suburbs of Perth.

If anyone can give me suggestions which government schools are good around that area

it would be very helpful.

Appreciate any advice

Thanks

Nicci

[DesV]

I have heard very good reports about Kinross Primary.

Des

[Enrica]

Can you be more specific.?

You can try the 2 schools in Duncraig

3 schools in Kingsley

2 schools in Woodvale

2 schools in Ocean Reef

1 school in Currambine

2 schools in Joondalup

These are all good schools and in good areas.

[The Parsons Family]

Hi Nicci

There are 92 government primary schools in the West Coast Education District.... which areas are you thinking about settling in?

Have a look at the Department of Education and Trainings website - you can get an overview of each school once you have decided on which suburbs you would like to stay. The overview will give you an idea of the size of the school, what level it is and whether or not it is a merit select school (in other words do they get to choose their own teachers) etc.

School Profiles

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse the issue

Shout if you need anything

Gaille

[Guest Lara]

There are 4 primary schools in Duncraig. 2 are in Duncraig North and 2 are in Duncraig South. All of them have excellent reputations.

Can you be more specific.?

You can try the 2 schools in Duncraig

3 schools in Kingsley

2 schools in Woodvale

2 schools in Ocean Reef

1 school in Currambine

2 schools in Joondalup

These are all good schools and in good areas.

[Nicci]

Thanks guys

That really helps

Can you give me the names of the schools in those areas

so I can look them up on the websites

And another thing?

Do you have to live in those areas where those schools are?

[The Parsons Family]

I think I have listed all the schools in the areas mentioned....

Duncraig :

Davallia Primary School

Duncraig Primary School

Glengarry Primary School

Poynter Primary School

Kingsley:

Creaney Primary School

Dalmain Primary School

Goollelal Primary School

Halidon Primary School

Woodvale:

North Woodvale Primary School

Woodvale Primary School

Ocean Reef:

Beaumaris Primary School

Ocean Reef Primary School

Currambine:

Currambine Primary School

Joondalup:

Joondalup Primary School

Yes you have to stay in the area in order to go to the school.

Cheers

Gaille

[Almost Aussie]

Hi all you wonderful people,

We'll probably land at the end of March 2008 and also consider living in the north west, as that is what most of the people on the forum suggest. Seems like Duncraig is almost entirely owned by South Africans or are there other suburbs like this as well ?

My 3 kids also need to attend primary school and this info safes me plenty of time and research. One concern though is that we'll be staying in a pre-arranged (by my employer) furnished apartment close the centre of city (not sure where exactly) for the first 6 weeks while our container is still at sea and we have time find a home to rent. The kids will need to find a school ASAP.

1.) Will they allow my kids in a Duncraig school if we are still not sure where we'll find a suitable home to rent while in the 6 week period ?

2.) We're afrikaans and the kids will obviously need some extra attention with their english language proficiency. Any of the mentioned school that might be a better option for this than others ?

Once again, thanks for all the help !!!

Eugene & Denise Peters

[Enrica]

Dear Denise

You have to stay in the area before the kids can be registered in the feeding areas for those particular schools.

You have to prove you are in that catchment area, ie need a rental agreement.

The schools terms for next year are as follows:-

Perth: 2008 School Calendar Term From To

Term 1 Monday 4 February Friday 11 April

Term 2 Monday 28 April Friday 4 July

Term 3 Monday 21 July Friday 26 September

Term 4 Monday 13 October Tuesday 16 December

With regards to the Afrikaans, most government schools have a Spec Edu Unit that can help with remedial /extra English

Hope that helps.

Edited November 28, 2007 by enrica

[Alias]

Hi Nicci,

We have just enrolled our kids in Kingsway Christian School in Darch there are 146 South Africans learners and lost of teachers in KCC. Look on the website www.kingway.wa.edu.au

Enjoy your research.

Gerhard

[Almost Aussie]

Hi Nicci,

We have just enrolled our kids in Kingsway Christian School in Darch there are 146 South Africans learners and lost of teachers in KCC. Look on the website www.kingway.wa.edu.au

Enjoy your research.

Gerhard

The web address seems to be wrong. Can you please supply the correct one and also the school fees as i would assume it's a private school.

Thanks

Eugene

[Enrica]

Eugene , try www.kcc.wa.edu.au/

And yes it is a private school

[Nix]

I just wanted to highjack this post.......

It seems that getting into a good private school in the Sorrento / Hillary's / Duncraig area....in fact in ANY area close to Perth , is almost IMPOSSIBLE !

As we only decided to move to Aus this year and are in the process of prociessing our applications, it would have been impossible to apply for schools any sooner than now (for the 2009 school year!). I have received a negative response from ALL of the private schools I have tried - and all have suggested that I list for secondary schooling in 2015 now!

So, whilst I do not mind my child going to a state school for a year or two, I really do not want her entire primary schooling to be mortgaed becauase all the schools are closed !!!

Is anyone else having this problem?

Nix

Edited December 19, 2007 by Nix

[Enrica]

The waiting lists for the Private Schools are very long, the best is once you get here and deceide which area you want to settle in , you then put your child onto a waitlist for the primary school. There are a few spaces that come available during the year as people move interstate quite a bit here, and you need to be able to take your child out of their current school and into a new school at the drop of a hat.

I would suggest that your put your name down for a high school as soon as you get here as in my opinion, a private high school is the way to go. The Government primary schooling is of a very good standard. In most cases the class are smaller at the government school than in the private school.

Another thing, most school are not interested in taking names or being very helpful if you are not here.....

You should no be stressing to much about schooling at this stage.

You need to change you mind set, unlike South Africa most of the Governement schools are really good.....

The curriculum is exactly the same. Your child would certainly not be at a disadvantage because it was in a government school for primary school.

[Nix]

Enrica - fantastic, "calming" advice....thank you very much. Very hard to retain perspective from a distance and it helps to hear from those that are there.

One of the key reasons we are moving is our daughters education, so this "hiccupp" took us for a loop......

[The 3 R's]

Hi There

We are hoping to be in Perth by early Jan 09, our son is 6 (currently Grade 0). I have copied a post from another thread - Reasons to stay in SA, which has started all my questions, so any help or advice would be great.

QUOTE:

"Strangely enough, one of the reasons I miss South Africa most is the education system. My children are in primary school here in Australia, and I find the education system here to be ridiculous. There is no discipline AT ALL, even time out (naughty chair) is illegal, so basically there is nothing the teachers can do to force kids to pay attention. And there is no reason for them to pay attention. Subjects that we have in South Africa, like biology, history, geography etc do not exist here. The kids do some maths, spelling and reading, thats it, all the way through primary school. My son in year 4 has literally been learning about pirates all term! They don't get homework ever, and if they do they don't have to do it if they don't want to, the teacher doesn't mind! And they never write tests or exams, they get passed automatically, they are not allowed to be held back. So they really don't have to listen in class because they don't even get tested on the little they do learn. At high school level they still do no subjects like we did and they still don't write exams. There has been a big debate lately about whether to start bringing Australian History into the high school syllabus! Every now and again they get a government test to write, but it means nothing, they still get pushed through to the next year, regardless of whether they know what 1+1 is or not. The high schools only go to year 10, and that is when most kids leave. If they want to carry on to finish year 12 they have to go to a different school or to TAFE. Most don't. In Western Austrlia there is also no such thing as school sport. If your kids want to do rugby or footy or netball etc, they have to join the regional team which is a pain because if you work it is impossible to get them to practice. I am absolutely disgusted at the state of their education system, but in saying that - I am talking about public schools here. Private schools are different, they do the exams and subjects that we did, and they have the discipline that we are used to. So basically, unless you can afford to send your children to a private school, you are in for a big shock!

End of Quote

I have seen on other threads that some people are more than happy with public schools and that there is no need for private. We are still away off, but I would like to start looking at schools / areas to stay.

Can you perhaps give me an indication of public vs private school fees (we are going to Perth - not sure if where you live is relevant). Also, does fees include books, stationery, etc.

If children are in a public school and they need to join a 'regional team' for sports - do you pay for this and is it expensive ?

Another thing, what is 'TAFE' - excuse my ignorance

[Enrica]

Dear The 3'Rs

School Fees

Public School primary about $50.00 per year

Public High School about $350.00 per year

Private Primary School from $3000 to $12000.00 per year depending on weather its semi private or private

Private High School from $3800 to $15000.00 per year once again depending on if its semi Private or private school.

These fees exclude books/stationary and uniform

Books and stationary vary from about $100.00 in primary school to say $300.00 in highschool.

Sports is done outside of school, you enroll the kids in a club ie cricket/soccer/rugby/t-ball/hockey/basketball/swimming /netball/tennis /footy or what ever sport you child is interested in.

Cost vary from club to club from around $100 per season to say $370.00 per season.

TAFE is the equivelent to Techinical College or the Technicon in South Africa.

hope that is of some assistance

Regards

Enrica

[Noele]

Hi

We live in Perth and my children both go to a public primary school in our suburb, we pay $120-00 per year for both, which includes all their writing books but excludes the stationery. I think who ever wrote the article below has it wrong with regard to high schools only going to year 10, they do go all the way to year 12. I do agree that the schools are a little more relaxed but I have found that the children are allowed to be children in the afternoons and play instead of being bombarded with homework. My children have to read every day and are given a worksheet to complete over the seven day period. If it is not completed they have to do it during their lunch break. Homework depends very much on the teacher and not the school. Although they do not have sports in the afternoon at school, they are exposed to all the various sports during there p.e period which they have three times a week and fitness twice a week first thing in the morning. In years 5, 6 & 7 they have interschool competitions and they include, triathlons, swimming, running, touch rughby, basketball, volleyball etc. They also have faction teams at school (inter-house), so I am more than happy that they get explosure to sports at school. Club sports are mostly on a Saturday/Sunday which is good because the parents can actually watch their children having fun on the sports field instead of being at the office and missing out on their children growing up. You do pay extra for club sports, most of this money is to cover insurance. I agree that the discipline could be better, but I am not too sure how much longer discipline in South African schools will go on for, the world is changing and children are being given more rights and parents/teachers less.

Noele

Hi There

We are hoping to be in Perth by early Jan 09, our son is 6 (currently Grade 0). I have copied a post from another thread - Reasons to stay in SA, which has started all my questions, so any help or advice would be great.

QUOTE:

"Strangely enough, one of the reasons I miss South Africa most is the education system. My children are in primary school here in Australia, and I find the education system here to be ridiculous. There is no discipline AT ALL, even time out (naughty chair) is illegal, so basically there is nothing the teachers can do to force kids to pay attention. And there is no reason for them to pay attention. Subjects that we have in South Africa, like biology, history, geography etc do not exist here. The kids do some maths, spelling and reading, thats it, all the way through primary school. My son in year 4 has literally been learning about pirates all term! They don't get homework ever, and if they do they don't have to do it if they don't want to, the teacher doesn't mind! And they never write tests or exams, they get passed automatically, they are not allowed to be held back. So they really don't have to listen in class because they don't even get tested on the little they do learn. At high school level they still do no subjects like we did and they still don't write exams. There has been a big debate lately about whether to start bringing Australian History into the high school syllabus! Every now and again they get a government test to write, but it means nothing, they still get pushed through to the next year, regardless of whether they know what 1+1 is or not. The high schools only go to year 10, and that is when most kids leave. If they want to carry on to finish year 12 they have to go to a different school or to TAFE. Most don't. In Western Austrlia there is also no such thing as school sport. If your kids want to do rugby or footy or netball etc, they have to join the regional team which is a pain because if you work it is impossible to get them to practice. I am absolutely disgusted at the state of their education system, but in saying that - I am talking about public schools here. Private schools are different, they do the exams and subjects that we did, and they have the discipline that we are used to. So basically, unless you can afford to send your children to a private school, you are in for a big shock!

End of Quote

I have seen on other threads that some people are more than happy with public schools and that there is no need for private. We are still away off, but I would like to start looking at schools / areas to stay.

Can you perhaps give me an indication of public vs private school fees (we are going to Perth - not sure if where you live is relevant). Also, does fees include books, stationery, etc.

If children are in a public school and they need to join a 'regional team' for sports - do you pay for this and is it expensive ?

Another thing, what is 'TAFE' - excuse my ignorance

[Malinda]

Hi there alll, We are going to Perth hopefully before the new school year next year. My question is this: I have a 9 year old daughter who is in grade 4 here.

She turns 10 in December, What grade would she go to in Oz????

Also - her question do they wear uniforms in public schools??

Thanx so much

Malinda

[Guest Lara]

She will go into Year 5 in 2009.

Yes they wear uniforms at public schools.

Hi there alll, We are going to Perth hopefully before the new school year next year. My question is this: I have a 9 year old daughter who is in grade 4 here.

She turns 10 in December, What grade would she go to in Oz????

Also - her question do they wear uniforms in public schools??

Thanx so much

Malinda

[Malinda]

Thank you so much. That clears up a lot for me.

Malinda

[The 3 R's]

Thanks so much for the help and info, can you perhaps give an indication of the number of children per class - does it vary quite a bit between private and public, or is it much of a muchness ?

There are some gov schools in Jhb with between 42 and 46 children (primary schools) in a class, but then there are some that average about 30, most of the private schools limit the numbers to between 22 and 26 per class.

[Enrica]

The Government schools avergare about 26 kids per class

Semi private Schools average between 26 and 32 kids per class.

[customeyes]

Hi There

We are hoping to be in Perth by early Jan 09, our son is 6 (currently Grade 0). I have copied a post from another thread - Reasons to stay in SA, which has started all my questions, so any help or advice would be great.

QUOTE:

"Strangely enough, one of the reasons I miss South Africa most is the education system. My children are in primary school here in Australia, and I find the education system here to be ridiculous. There is no discipline AT ALL, even time out (naughty chair) is illegal, so basically there is nothing the teachers can do to force kids to pay attention. And there is no reason for them to pay attention. Subjects that we have in South Africa, like biology, history, geography etc do not exist here. The kids do some maths, spelling and reading, thats it, all the way through primary school. My son in year 4 has literally been learning about pirates all term! They don't get homework ever, and if they do they don't have to do it if they don't want to, the teacher doesn't mind! And they never write tests or exams, they get passed automatically, they are not allowed to be held back. So they really don't have to listen in class because they don't even get tested on the little they do learn. At high school level they still do no subjects like we did and they still don't write exams. There has been a big debate lately about whether to start bringing Australian History into the high school syllabus! Every now and again they get a government test to write, but it means nothing, they still get pushed through to the next year, regardless of whether they know what 1+1 is or not. The high schools only go to year 10, and that is when most kids leave. If they want to carry on to finish year 12 they have to go to a different school or to TAFE. Most don't. In Western Austrlia there is also no such thing as school sport. If your kids want to do rugby or footy or netball etc, they have to join the regional team which is a pain because if you work it is impossible to get them to practice. I am absolutely disgusted at the state of their education system, but in saying that - I am talking about public schools here. Private schools are different, they do the exams and subjects that we did, and they have the discipline that we are used to. So basically, unless you can afford to send your children to a private school, you are in for a big shock!

End of Quote

I have seen on other threads that some people are more than happy with public schools and that there is no need for private. We are still away off, but I would like to start looking at schools / areas to stay.

Can you perhaps give me an indication of public vs private school fees (we are going to Perth - not sure if where you live is relevant). Also, does fees include books, stationery, etc.

If children are in a public school and they need to join a 'regional team' for sports - do you pay for this and is it expensive ?

Another thing, what is 'TAFE' - excuse my ignorance

I have to say, that as a school principal (albeit at a private school), I don't agree with the above quote at all. Some of the comments are ridiculous! Most students do NOT leave school in Year 10. If they do leave in Year 10, it is usually to complete an apprenticeship or go to TAFE - in other words, continue their education in a form other than traditional school. The debate about Australian history was whether to make it compulsory or not. Don't know about you, but I also had a choice whether or not to do History at my South African High School.

I could go on and on, but should probably get off my soap box here! The fact of the matter is that the Australian education system is very different to the SOuth African one. However, please consider where the Australian students rank in world wide international testing. In the 2006 PISA tests which are the INternational standard and have 57 participating countries, Australia ranked 4th in Science, 9th in Maths and 6th in Reading. Not bad for a country with a disgusting state of education!!

Exams and rigid discipline do not make a better education system. Just as there are some bad public schools in South Africa, there are some bad public schools in Australia. However, there is a level of accountability here that is not present in South African schools.

Anyway, send me a PM and I can recommend some local Perth schools to you. TAFE is roughly equivalent to Technicon.

[The 3 R's]

Dear customeyes

Thank you for the info. One of things I like about this forum is the diversity - people from all of the world with vastly different experiences and opinions . I have PM'd you.