There is no equivalent to "3 yo kinder" in Qld anymore. You can certainly have children in day care at any age, and there are also some private kindys that take younger children. But the majority of kindys in Brisbane are C&K, and are community run and do a one year program. They only accept children who are between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2, so that is the children who's birthdays are between July 1 the year before, and the first day of school term are 4 when they start. The children whose birthdays are from end of Jan until June 30 of the school year are 3 when they start and turn 4 in the first half of their kindy year. Then prep is one year later than that. So for my boys:
DS1 born Feb 2005 - kindy (pre-prep) in 2009, school (prep) in 2010
DS2 born Sep 2006 - kindy (pre-prep in 2011, school (prep) in 2012.
Its so confusing isn't it... just to add to this, the C&K kindy that Aidyn went to offered a 'pre-kindy' program for 3 year olds, but it was only for 2 hours, once a week!
Tell me about it. But from what I've gathered, she has to wait until 2010. But I'll ring up now to put her on the list. Soooo confusing.
Why can't it just be like it was when I went to school. They year you turned 6 was the first grade at school, the year you turned 5, was pre-school at primary school, half a day 3 days one week, 2 days the next, so SIMPLE
Yes, I agree - so confusing!! we have just moved from Melbs to the Gold coast and I am having problems trying to work it all out too!!
my son is just 6 and starting Year 1 at a state school. Fine. But I have another baby almost about to arrive and have already started to think about this little one's early education.
shall I put his/her name down somewhere for pre-prep soon after birth?
Sorry, what does C&K stand for?
also, where can I post for info about occasional care at the Gold Coast ? There seems to be heaps of long term child care, but I am wanting something only once or twice a week for about 3-4 hours at most.
Just want to add - you can still get the childcare rebate if your child goes to a C&K kindy, but you have to pay the full fees first, then claim back your rebate after directly from centrelink. You just have to tell the director or the kindy treasurer that you want to claim it. Unlike day care, where you can get the rebate as reduced fees. Our kindy is quite cheap - $16 a day, and it operates two separate class groups - group 1, which is Mon-Wed and Group 2, which is Thurs-Fri. When you put your child on the waiting list, you choose which group you would prefer. The hours are 9-2:30.
I cannot speak highly enough of C&K - I am so glad my DS went to kindy, and now my DD is going to start there in a couple of weeks. They are great for preparing your child for school, and they operate on a play-based curriculum, that is child-led - meaning the teachers are often guided by the children and what their interests are and what suggestions they give for things they like to do at kindy. Also the teachers monitor the children throughout the year for "prep-readiness" - and by the end of the year if they do not think your child is prepared or ready for prep, they will suggest keeping him or her in kindy for another year. I have to say it was the best thing I could have done for DS - he went into Prep confident and fully prepared, and I can't wait for DD to go to kindy too - she has been looking forward to it for months, because she knows the teachers from when DS went there and she knows all the fun things they do there.
so if my child is born in late January (just before the school year starts), am i right in saying that he/she can start pre-prep when they are 4 years of age?
Is there any early education for him/her when they are 3 years of age?
Runnermum, your child would be like my DS1 who was born in Early Feb. He does pre-prep this year, as he turns 4 in Feb. Then Prep next year, starting just before he turns 5.
There are some places that take 3 yos, but you will have to hunt around. There is also day care of course, who usually have a pre-school room for 3 -5 yos, but it costs more.
We had the same dilemma at the end of last year. By the time I had worked out how QLD worked all the C&K Kindy's had taken their enrolments. But as it turned out daycare suited us better anyway. The Centre we sent our DD(5) to had a 'school readiness' program for their pre-school room. The room leader had liased with the local public school and even sent home a 'school readiness' report mid-year. The hours also suited us better as you get a full days care instead of a couple of hours, and I had 2 regular days instead of having Mon, Fri and alternating the Wed. And yes CCB applies. However I do think C&K is a great change for children that may have become bored and outgrown the programs at long day care.
I know it is sooo confusing, and I live here and went through the change! Plus they are very strict with the cut off for prep, if the child is born on 1st July they do not get to go till the next year.
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