Which means that next year, he begins Prep.
It took me awhile to understand the school system here, and figure out that there were 3 types of primary schools we could send him to. Public, Catholic (semi-private), and Private (aka pay-through-your-a**) Schools. And having gone on a couple of school tours, I'm always confused at the criteria I really should be looking at for a choosing a school, and how that affects his entrance to particular High Schools etc.
Anyhoos, I shall just jump past all my dilemmas and explanatory notes, to the list (by no means exhaustive, though LONG *lol*) I've come up with, which could hopefully help a few mums out there battling the Aussie public school system:
School:
- How big are the school grounds? What are the designated play areas (if any) for the different grades?
- Does the school have a buddy system (pairing say, a Year 5 with a Prep kid, to help the latter adjust)?
- What's the school's policy on bullying? (Some have a zero-tolerance approach.)
- Is the school zoned for Enrolment or does it have "boundaries"? (ok, from what I understood, Zoned schools have set a kilometer radius around them, which means that if you live outside of that radius you're not eligible to enrol to that school. Other schools have "boundaries" which they put in place only when demand for places in that school exceeds supply, which means that priority is given to children who live within a kilometer radius of that school. It's all really fuzzy to be honest, each school has its own policy, but it seems that if you live near enough to the school of your choice, they would still have to take you in regardless.)
- Does the school have a tuckshop/canteen? How often does it run? (Helps to figure out how many lunches you have to pack!)
- What high schools is the school affiliated to, if any?
- Lessons:
- What's the school's definition of school-readiness? (Most Prep teachers don't expect kids to be able to read of know their ABCs or Numbers yet...they're there to learn, which is refreshing to the Singaporean format! Phew!)
- What's the size of each class, and how many Prep kids are there in a year? (Class size helps to suss out how much individual attention your child will receive.)
- What's the timetable like? What breaks are there for the kids? (Some schools have fruit breaks in addition to lunch and recess, with fruit being provided by the school.)
- Does the school do composite classes (ie. combined years) or straight classes? (Either of which has its own advantages & disadvantages.)
- Is Prep Year a straight prep (only prep-aged kids) or Composite (Prep and Year 1s together)?
- What's the school's emphasis on literacy and numeracy?
- How are the children's progress assessed/monitored?
- How does the teacher/school deal with kids who need more attention, or who aren't challenged enough during class?
- What second language (if any) does the school teach?
- Does the school have a Religious Education class? Is it opt-out or opt-in? What do children who opt-out of these classes do during the lesson time?
Extra-curricular:
- What type of technology programs (computer classes etc.) does the school provide? (Some schools have computer tablets that the children learn with.)
- Is there a full-time Art teacher or Music teacher?
- What excursions are there for Years 1-4 (Years 5 & 6 typically have excursions, some schools do trips to Canberra to learn about Govenment on alternate years, or Surf Camp). What about incursions (Aidan's kinder typically had chick hatcheries or rabbit hutches coming to visit!)
- What's the school's sports programme (eg. P.E., swimming, footy etc.)
- Does the school have a performing arts or music program?
- Does the school have a parent council, and/or ways parents can get involved with the school?
- Is there a before-and-after school program for the kids whose parents work beyond school hours?(nowadays these are "outsourced" to neighbouring centres)
At the end of the day, ask questions that are important to you, questions that you really care about. Think about what you want your child to be exposed to, and how these influences can shape him in his formative years. For example, EG and I do feel that it's important for Aidan to be exposed to people from several different cultures, and to make friends from different backgrounds, hence the ethnic mix of a school was an important consideration for us.
If possible, during the school tour, have a chat with the Principal and Teachers to get a sense of their values and how they teach their children. One of the schools we "interviewed" had a low staff turnover rate (which could mean they're happy chickens over there), and balance that out by sending their teachers on development courses to learn new techniques and teaching methods.
Like I said, there're dozens of questions to ask when considering a school for our kids.
What other questions do you reckon we should ask? Feel free to Leave a Comment below!
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