Schools in Golden Grove! (Adelaidebrits)

Really like the Golden Grove area so wanted to know views of people on here about Nursery - Primary - Secondary schools in that area, both good and bad views most welcome!!

My kids are 3 in July and 7 in August, so not quite got my head around what year the eldest would be in and also when the youngest would start primary school in Oz??

Do they do Nursery funding in Oz??

Anyway thanks for your :help:

QUOTE (ToonWilliams @ Jun 16 2006, 06:10 PM)

Really like the Golden Grove area so wanted to know views of people on here about Nursery - Primary - Secondary schools in that area, both good and bad views most welcome!!

My kids are 3 in July and 7 in August, so not quite got my head around what year the eldest would be in and also when the youngest would start primary school in Oz??

Do they do Nursery funding in Oz??

Anyway thanks for your :help:

Hi,

My Kids are 7 and 4. Primary school is excellent - can not fault it - as long as you live in Golden Grove you can get in - but if outside the area it can be hard to get in as it is so popular.

There are also several Private schools, Pedare, Gleeson and Kings Baptist.

Not sure about waiting lists for the first 2, but know that there are over 400 kids on waiting list for Kings! So no chance there.

Your eldest would be one of the oldest in Year 1. The cut off date is mid July. Any kids who are 5 after mid July start in reception and do 1 and a half years in reception. Two terms in transition, then reception proper in January for the year.
So if your child is 6 in mid July (start of the 3rd term) they will go in to year 1 for 2 terms then move up to year 2 in January. I am not sure how flexible the school will be if you wanted your 6 year old to move in to year 2.

With regards to the three year old - they are really behind with pre-school here in Oz. Where as my daughter was doing 5 half days a week in UK at the age of three, here they only offer a friday morning (at Golden Grove Kindy) "Pre-entry" - and I am not sure if that is from 3 or 3.5 years old. Once they turn 4 they are entitled to 4 half days a week - the golden grove kindy only charges $50 a term.

I was lucky that my youngest turned 4 soon after we got here. But If she had been three I would look at a private day care centre to help with her education - or better still spend time with them at home learning the basics.

What has shocked me more than anything is that many kids start school at 5 years old with out even knowing their phonetic alphabet.

I wouldn't worry about senior schools yet. The golden Grove High school has mixed reviews. Personally I am not a big fan - but with a reasonable choice of private schools on your doorstep there would be plenty to choose from.

Good luck

Ann

Both my boys went to GG Primary and it's a fantastic school. They then went to Kings Baptist which is the best secondary in the area but yes it's difficult to get into but worth putting your name down if you are interested. It's about $1000.00 a term. The Golden Grove Kindy is also very good.
When are you arriving? My niece and family have just arrived and are looking to connect with some other new Aussies.
Good luck
Lally

QUOTE (Rippo @ Jun 16 2006, 10:16 PM)

QUOTE (ToonWilliams @ Jun 16 2006, 06:10 PM)

Really like the Golden Grove area so wanted to know views of people on here about Nursery - Primary - Secondary schools in that area, both good and bad views most welcome!!

My kids are 3 in July and 7 in August, so not quite got my head around what year the eldest would be in and also when the youngest would start primary school in Oz??

Do they do Nursery funding in Oz??

Anyway thanks for your :help:

Hi,

My Kids are 7 and 4. Primary school is excellent - can not fault it - as long as you live in Golden Grove you can get in - but if outside the area it can be hard to get in as it is so popular.

There are also several Private schools, Pedare, Gleeson and Kings Baptist.

Not sure about waiting lists for the first 2, but know that there are over 400 kids on waiting list for Kings! So no chance there.

Your eldest would be one of the oldest in Year 1. The cut off date is mid July. Any kids who are 5 after mid July start in reception and do 1 and a half years in reception. Two terms in transition, then reception proper in January for the year.
So if your child is 6 in mid July (start of the 3rd term) they will go in to year 1 for 2 terms then move up to year 2 in January. I am not sure how flexible the school will be if you wanted your 6 year old to move in to year 2.

With regards to the three year old - they are really behind with pre-school here in Oz. Where as my daughter was doing 5 half days a week in UK at the age of three, here they only offer a friday morning (at Golden Grove Kindy) "Pre-entry" - and I am not sure if that is from 3 or 3.5 years old. Once they turn 4 they are entitled to 4 half days a week - the golden grove kindy only charges $50 a term.

I was lucky that my youngest turned 4 soon after we got here. But If she had been three I would look at a private day care centre to help with her education - or better still spend time with them at home learning the basics.

What has shocked me more than anything is that many kids start school at 5 years old with out even knowing their phonetic alphabet.

I wouldn't worry about senior schools yet. The golden Grove High school has mixed reviews. Personally I am not a big fan - but with a reasonable choice of private schools on your doorstep there would be plenty to choose from.

Good luck

Ann

Thanks for all that information Ann, still trying to get my head around the school year thing, my daughter is currently in year 2, she is extreamly switched on and despite being the youngest I was told by her teacher last week she is in the top 3 of a class of 30!! Goodness knows where the brains came from but obviously we are very proud parents. So If I read your thread right she would only go into year 2 rather than 3 which is where she will go in September here in the UK?? I wonder how flexible the schools in Oz are about things like that, I mean keeping them in the same years etc!?!?

Thanks for the names of the schools etc at least I can take a look online and add them of my list of things to see when we arrive mid August for our rekkie!!

One other question did you get your kids school in the UK to write some sort of report about them or did you just take their last standard school report, or did you take nothing???

Thanks again

Hi

We are heading to the Golden Grove area and are planning to look at GG. My two are currently in Year 4 and Year 2 and I therefore have assumed that they will continue in those years and go up in January. I am not too worried about this as I feel it will give them a chance to adapt to a new school and country.

Mandy :bouncy:

When we came over Jamie had just completed Year 2 in the UK, and did another term of Year 2 here until the end of the year. However, the school he is at has so far managed to get him into a mixed year class, so when he was Year 3 he was in a 3/4 class, now he is Year 4 in a 4/5 class. This means he can continue to be stimulated without getting bored and I would highly recommend it, so might be worth looking into at the school of your choice to see if they'll do something similar with your daughter.

I'm sure she'll get on fine - the other thing we have noticed here is that it's quite a steep learning curve initially as they do all the maths in the 'traditional' way (not all this 'chunking' and stuff they did in England!) and we all had a crash course in Aussie money too for his maths lessons!!

One thing I have learnt since coming over here is not to compare the year groups in UK and Oz.

I was expecting my daughter to go in to year 2 when she got here as she is quite bright and had just completed yr 1 in UK (having spent the whole year in a year 2 class)

They told me they were putting her in to year 1 and I was disappointed - but needn't have been - she has been streamlined with other bright kids her age and has been encourged to expand her knowledge.

What has benefited her is the non-achedemic stuff they do here - much more than UK. Building confidence, discussions, sport - heaps of stuff.

If you are coming to Oz to stay for good then just let the schools choose which year. Unless your child is the next mastermind I am sure they will be just fine.

With regards to paperwork - The school gave me all her work - but put together a special (sealed) envelope for me to give to her new school. It contained her latest report, a covering letter and samples of her work.

I hope this is of some help

Ann

QUOTE (Rippo @ Jun 17 2006, 11:40 PM)

One thing I have learnt since coming over here is not to compare the year groups in UK and Oz.

I was expecting my daughter to go in to year 2 when she got here as she is quite bright and had just completed yr 1 in UK (having spent the whole year in a year 2 class)

They told me they were putting her in to year 1 and I was disappointed - but needn't have been - she has been streamlined with other bright kids her age and has been encourged to expand her knowledge.

What has benefited her is the non-achedemic stuff they do here - much more than UK. Building confidence, discussions, sport - heaps of stuff.

If you are coming to Oz to stay for good then just let the schools choose which year. Unless your child is the next mastermind I am sure they will be just fine.

With regards to paperwork - The school gave me all her work - but put together a special (sealed) envelope for me to give to her new school. It contained her latest report, a covering letter and samples of her work.

I hope this is of some help

Ann

Yes thank you Ann, that is a huge help!!

This is my biggest fear about moving to Oz, is finding a good school that the kids will settle quickly in!!

I am sure it will all be fine but still cant help worrying about it!!

I would like to say thanks to Ann & Diane as well. Info really helps.

Mandy :bouncy:

QUOTE (MJHuk36 @ Jun 20 2006, 02:10 AM)

I would like to say thanks to Ann & Diane as well. Info really helps.

Mandy :bouncy:

Hi Mandy

You are welcome! If I can help I will try.

Ann

View Full Version: Schools in Golden Grove!