not ready for prep

**guccibabe** · June 24th, 2010, 07:10 PM

just wanted to get an idea of anyone else who has held their child back from prep a year... where have u sent them? he is currently at a c & k which i adore, but they do not think another year with them will be beneficial..they think he needs some help with his language and sending him somewhere like state school prep may help?? arghhh i am so confused with whats best to do now?? im trying to find another preschool but dont really want to go backwards and put him in child care???

**Visitor7** · June 24th, 2010, 07:21 PM

Such a hard one isn't it! You could try Prep and if it doesn't work out, then look at other options with daycare etc. Many daycare centres now have the same curriculum in their pre-prep room as C&K. With his language skills, what kind of help does he need? Do you think a speech therapist would help?

**Lulu** · June 24th, 2010, 07:30 PM

what's C & K?

FWIW, I wouldn't put him in prep jic, it would be awful to pull him out again.

Have you tried your local council website? They may have some info available about what to do. Down here we have 'deferred kinder' for those that feel their kids aren't ready for school.

I don't think I know one parent that regrets holding their kids back from prep an extra year.

**Visitor7** · June 24th, 2010, 07:33 PM

C&K is the community run kindy in Qld. Until this year, it was the only 4yr old kindy that had a curriculum designed for kids to get ready for school. But now childcare centres do it as well. C&K teachers have different certificates etc than childcare workers.

I agree with Lulu, the people I know who have held their kid/s back from prep haven't regretted it. Some just aren't ready at such a young age.

**Floweryfields** · June 24th, 2010, 07:39 PM

You can keep them back from prep, however unless this is decided by teacher/support worker etc, you will have no choice but to start him in grade one the following year. The prep teacher can choose to hold your child back from starting year one if necessary, but if you don't enrol them in prep, as it is not compulsary, you will not be able to enrol them the following year - it is all based on birthdays unfortunately. This is in Qld, other states are different.
I wasn't aware of this rule until recently when talking to a support teacher about this exact thing.

**Lulu** · June 24th, 2010, 08:17 PM

You can keep them back from prep, however unless this is decided by teacher/support worker etc, you will have no choice but to start him in grade one the following year. The prep teacher can choose to hold your child back from starting year one if necessary, but if you don't enrol them in prep, as it is not compulsary, you will not be able to enrol them the following year - it is all based on birthdays unfortunately. This is in Qld, other states are different.
I wasn't aware of this rule until recently when talking to a support teacher about this exact thing.

That's bloody appalling. I won't be told by anyone when my kid starts school or what class they will start in! I held back DD1 for no reason other than I wanted another year of maturity behind her. Purely based on age is just STOOOPID.

**Visitor7** · June 24th, 2010, 08:49 PM

Yeah that's right, prep isn't compulsory, but starting year 1 is at the 'right' time. But it's such a young age for a child born before 30 June! Especially as your DS Tariq won't even be 5 by the time he starts (prep).
I will have this problem with DD2. DD1 starts prep when she's 5.5 yrs of age, but DD2 starts when she's 4.5 yrs of age.

**guccibabe** · June 25th, 2010, 12:58 PM

I am seeing a speech therapist next week to see what they have to say and get any help DS may need. but my gut really tells me to hold him back for maturity reason but i just dont know what to do next year. i wish c & k would allow him to repeat but she said he needs more help for his language??? i guess after i see the therapist i can get their opinions as well. does anyone know of any other centres/schools that have an excellent reputation for pre-prep on the Gold Coast? thanks for your ideas xx

**Visitor7** · June 25th, 2010, 01:06 PM

I can't give any recommendations for prep on the Goldie, but I do wanna say that if it were me, I'd be going with my gutt on this one. You know your son the best. All the best with your app next week, let us know how it goes.

**PumpkinZulu** · June 25th, 2010, 01:11 PM

Isn't prep different in qld though? Isn't it sort of the equivalent of pre prep? From what I remember of primary schooling in qld, ps goes until grade 7, so missing prep in qld isn't as big a deal as missing it in Vic, as they will still get 7 years of primary school education? Is that correct? If it is I see no problem with skipping prep; I did, skipped prep and went straight to grade 1 at 5.5 from what I remember, but my younger brother did prep when he was 4.5. Just depends how ready the child is. Good luck with your appointment.

**Visitor7** · June 25th, 2010, 01:14 PM

Prep was bought out about 4 or 5 years ago. It replaced preschool. It's full time 5 days a week, but not compulsory. Kids still do the normal grade 1 to grade 7, but some kids start a year younger now than others. So some kids will graduate grade 12 the year they're 18 while others graduate the year they're 17.
Unfortunately though, like guccibabe is finding out, if you don't take your child to prep, there's not many other places to take them as kindy's don't cater for those kids.

**PumpkinZulu** · June 25th, 2010, 01:18 PM

Ahhhh. Geez that IS really stupid! Hope you find somewhere for your ds!

**Floweryfields** · June 25th, 2010, 05:42 PM

The only thought I have is a montisorri school - I know of ones from kindy age to early primary - they are different to 'regular' school, but not sure how many of them there are for you. Childcare centres are allowed to have prep aged children attending, however that doesn't solve your issue with wanting to start him later for prep. Perhaps talk to his kindy teacher, they may be able to assist you with having him delay his prep start - you can do it if you have a supported reason as far as I know.

**Floweryfields** · June 25th, 2010, 05:45 PM

I have just copied this from another forum - it is a few years old though....but worth asking your C&K teacher about....

You can actually apply for an exemption so that your child can start the following year. You will need in writing a statement from your child's Kindy teacher as to why a later start will be of benefit to your child and any other back up information such as Speech Pathologists reports, OT reports etc.

Does your child go to a C&K kindy at all? I am a teacher at a C&K kindy and we successfully applied for three children to start prep next year when this year was their starting year - they were "young", immature and just needed that extra year of part time to cope with Prep the following year

**Lulu** · June 25th, 2010, 05:51 PM

I hope that still holds ausgirl (and it was lovely of you to go to the trouble of finding out more info), there are quite a few studies indicating children shouldn't start too early and this sort of rule flies in the face of that, and against parents own desires.

**jaspen** · June 25th, 2010, 06:09 PM

I'm pretty sure ausgirls information still holds true as I know a little girl, who went through a similar process and was then able to be held back a year and started this year so unless they have changed it over the last twelve months...

**guccibabe** · June 25th, 2010, 09:38 PM

thank you so much for your caring efforts and words ladies

xx the dilemma for me is.. my c & k teacher says that although DS would perhaps benefit emotionally from being held back, he really needs a 5 day week to improve his language?? Well im fairly sure thats what she was trying to tell me... i tried for an hour to say 'well what if i did extra work with him and a therapist etc'.. but she seems to think it wont be enough. and too be honest although his speech is a little hard to sometimes understand .. its more the fact that he cant quite really explain exactly what he wants to say sometimes.. i dont think its a a huge problem..
she thinks that he will get more help being in somewhere like a state system where they have the resources to aid with speech and development.and then repeat prep in a private school if he gets a place (he is on wait list so just a waiting game atm). however im worried he will just get lost in the public system, especially if he has an inexperienced teacher that just labels him naughty rather then immature etc..
sorry about the ramble! ho hummmm

**AliBaby** · June 25th, 2010, 10:11 PM

I dont really understand the Qld system but in NSW a child must be enrolled at primary school by the age of 6. Although we have kindergarten at school then years 1-6. A child can be minimum age of 4.5yrs up to a max age of just turned 6 to start kindy.

From what you have said, it is more his expressive language he has difficulties with (talking/speech) than his receptive language skills (listening and understanding). While the teacher has said that he will have access to resources to aid with speech in the public system, this is very hard to get (well it is in NSW). The wait lists are LONG and you have to be right at the bottom of the barrell to get this help. System sucks hey! Speak to the school you were thinking about enrolling him at. See if they have orienation/play days where the kindy teachers observe the kids with other prospective children and will let you know their opinion on whether they are ready to start. We do this at our school The children come half a day a week for 4 weeks in September and then we chat to the parents if we are concerned about their child starting.

Sorry you are in this position

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