Kindergarten hours - Can someone explain?

I am pretty confused.... firstly getting my head around the fact that the whole system has changed since i was at school... the cut off is July 1, so my DS1 who is born only a few days after this, will be starting kindergarten next year, he will be 4.5.... and i assume one of the oldest in the class. I'm okay with this though as he definately wouldn't have been ready this year.

So we're going with a private school.... what confuses me is the variation in hours. Are there not set hours determined by the government of which they have to attend?

The school we are most likely choosing, said it will be 2 FULL days, and a half day... BUT instead of the half day, it will just be 2 FULL days and every second FULL friday. So a 2 day week then a 3 day week. This works fine for me because its a long commute.

But i've received a letter from another school we applied at.... it says "kindergarten will now be 3 full days per week"................. "in addition to the 3 standard days, we offer extra days which will be subject to increase in 2011"

$520 per term for 1 extra day per week
$1040 per term for 2 extra days per week

Are they saying he could optionally go up to 5 full days a week????? that sounds a lot for a 4.5 year old, and imagine those who are only 3.5 when they start? ie, born the end of June.

For reference, the above school is lower down on our preference but i just don't get how the days/hours system works. Could someone explain it? And does the private system differ from the public system in this regard. We're only looking at private schools.

Which state are you in - cos its different. is kindergarten pre school, or prep?

Pandora - she is in WA.

I dont know what the minimum hours for kindy are but our private school does 2 full days per week and most private schools I know do the same. I think that the maximum minimum is 2.5 days per week (if that makes sense).

As for the additional days, our school also offered those this year for the first time. In laymans terms what they are offering at an additional cost to you is daycare - it is by no means compulsory and apparently if your child does not attend the additional days they are not going to "miss out" on any learning or fall behind.

What has happened is that most private primary schools are now finishing in Yr 6 and what used to be Yr 7 has now moved to highschools - but this is only in the Catholic/private sector. So private highschools now start in Yr 7. Public primary schools continue to yr 7 and public highschools start in yr 8 still.

So because the private primary schools are missing out on the additional revenue generated by yr 7 they are now offering extra days in kindy and some are even offering 3 year old kindy. In part they are doing this to make more money/revenue and also because they are realising that there are a lot of parents out there who are utilising daycare facitilities who would prefer for their children to perhaps have continuity and stay at the one place each week.

Yep i'm in WA, i didn't know if it differs from state to state?

Thanks Ang, that makes sense... and i was wondering about the kids going the extra days learning more, seems weird.

Another thing, there are 3 schools at the top of our list (2 he probably won't get in to because we didn't put his name down at birth, very long lists). But all of them are actually K-12 at the one school. So go from kindergarten to year 12. This is alien to me as i went to public schools, so nothing like this. Is this something new or a private school thing?

Also does it go: Kindergarten, Pre-primary, Year 1? Across all schools?

And another thing, we are going to an interview with one of the schools on Saturday.... is there anything we should particularly be looking for in this school, and questions to be asked?

We've already met the principal and he's very personable and friendly, he says he is contactable at any time for any reason. And seems very passionate about numeracy and literacy.

In regards to "discipline policies", we've looked at theirs and they actually have a certain number of times a child is sent outside the class before expulsion, and the same for incidents outside the classroom. It seemed very organised and concise. Myself coming from the public system where (in my experience) fights, drugs and poverty were an every day thing, and nothing done about it... this is something i really liked.

Are there any other policies i should be asking about?

Sorry for all the questions, its all new to me :)

M - in Vic, very few schools incorporate kinder, even private ones. Some do and they start at ELC - daycare, kinder, prep (pre-primary) then grade 1

But most kinder is either private or council run and seperate from school.
In our council area, you enrol for the year before you go in to prep - cut off is April 30 so kids ar 3.5-4.5 but you cant actually start until you turn 4 so some kids are enrolled and go from day 1, and others go from the day they turn 4.

Yes it goes Kindy, PP and Yr 1-6 across ALL schools regardless of whether they are public, private, catholic or independant. Public primary schools go to Yr 7 and then move on to a separate school for highschool. Catholic primary schools generally only go to Yr 6 and then separate school for highschool. Some independant, catholic or private schools go K-Yr 12 eg off the top of my head : Iona Presentation College for girls (catholic), All Saints Co-ed college (Anglican I think?), St Hildas Anglican School for girls. Truthfully there arent alot of schools that do K-Yr12. I think it is a personal preference and also a financial choice as they tend to be a lot more expensive.

At our interview we asked questions that were specific to the needs of our child as truthfully that was what was most important to us eg DD is very musically inclined so we wanted to know of any specialist classes etc that would be available to her. Also were there any provisions for future facilities or upgrades etc...eg updating computers, additional sporting equipment. We also asked what was expected of us as parents - some schools will openly say that they expect to see you at church every weekend at their parish whilst others wont mention it at all. We were also asking in relation to things such as P & F, parent help, fundraising etc.

As for discipline policies - that didnt even come into it with us - perhaps because we were only looking at primary school which "traditionally" isnt as disruptive as highschool. Most schools have a anti-bullying policy in place which we have read and each child is required to sign it at beginning of school year.

Incidentally all 3 of our kids are also enrolled in a number of catholic/private highschools too but the interviews for those wont happen till around Yr 5. They have been enrolled in those for the past couple of years - its ridiculous that you have to think so far ahead!

Thanks for that Ang, that really helps.

I'm not sure how the prices compare but the one we're aiming for is $2350 for kindergarten. That seems quite reasonable.

The 3 schools we're looking at are all k-12, i wonder if its because we live outside the metro area, almost rural. Maybe its easier. It'd be nice if they made friends who all stayed on the whole time.

I know what you mean about enrolling and waiting lists. One school said they have people put their names down from birth, and that we probably won't get him in until high school. But if thats the case i doubt we'd change him then if he can stay where he gets in to until year 12. The thing is we've lived in 3 different suburbs since he was born! we will always be in this area now, but how can you put your name down when you don't know where you're going to live.

Plus, just to apply at the 6 schools we applied to, the fee was around $50! so it cost nearly $300 just to put in these applications. A bit steep if you ask me but i guess thats how they make their money, and it is reflected in the facilities.

Kindy for us was around $800-900 for the year and that tends to be the going rate for most small catholic primary schools in Perth. To be honest Tanya, that sounds very steep for kindy only!

For that cost I would definitely be asking what are the $$$ paying for - ie is it for the "name" and reputation of the school, or do you get some fantastic extra programs or are they undertaking some new and addtional building that these $ are funding.

Yeah we had to pay those same enrollment fees. We are one of those parents that have enrolled all kids from birth:redface:just to cover our bases as we are not 100% sure where we will be in a few years time!

Oh really! See i am only comparing the schools that have sent price lists, i have nothing else to compare it too.

I don't know if we are allowed to name schools, but our top preference is one of the best schools down this way, very reputable and scores highly in all areas (using the school comparison website), indicating above average across the board. I don't have their price here but off the top of my head it was more than $2000, closer to $3k i think, and their highschool fees were scary, but by then it won't be a problem financially. The other two schools, one is also reputable, and had mostly above average scoring, and their price is $1800 for kindergarten. The one we'll most likely send him to is actually an offspring school of another highly reputable school (with a very long waiting list, so long that they decided to create this new school). So it is currently being built, i have no scoring to compare it on, but that it is having the vice principal of the reputable school as its principal, and is basing its policies and philosphies on the same things..... It will be ready by January next year. This is the one we've been to the open night and have the interview for....

There was another school we were thinking of initially as it is nearby, but there were a few things that put me off. One, speaking to a mother who had some issues there, lack of communication between teachers and parents etc. Religious education makes up more of it than i'm keen on, and finally when i looked at the scoring it was just average. I think their kindergarten fee was around $1400, so a bit cheaper. But its physically an older school and well, for the above reasons maybe not so good in reputation.

I don't know why these schools are more expensive, maybe because we're out of the metro area? strange reason i know but they're all similar in price.

So is it rude to question the fees? or ask something like what money is put back in to the school etc?

The WA education system is in the process of phasing in increased Kindy hours from 13 hours per week to 15 hours per week. Which equates to 2.5 days per week, which gets offered as 2 .5 days or as 2 days one week 3 the next. This year 5 education districts have rolled it in, 4 in the country and 1 Metro, which is Swan, so Tori is actually doing 2 days- 3 days. I work in the Canning District and I know that they are not phasing in the extra hours till 2012.

As for the extra days the Private system is offering, I am just not sure- don't know much about private education to be honest. I know the local Catholic school near us, is doing 3 days per week instead of 5 days a fortnight, just to make life easier. Half days, and an extra day a fortnight can be a real PIA especially to working parents as it means finding daycare for half a day or trying to find daycare for 1 day a fornight.

So in essence the increase for 2- 2.5 days per week has been set down by the government, in an attempt to increase literacy and numeracy rates in early childhood as we are really lacking in this respect.

well here, they can't start kindy until they are 4 years BEFORE the 1st January.

So my oldest, who's birthday is the 6th Feb, started when he was 5. He is in prep this year and is 6. My middle is in kindy and he is 5 in a fortnight. Jaidan was always one of the oldest in the class :)

They go for 3 full days here. Prep is normal school so 5 full days. I like the full days :)

The fact that the schools are slightly out of the metro area will have no bearing in price (I have a vague idea where you live)...if the schools are Anglican/Uniting or considered Independant then that will be why there is an increase in price...schools of that "genre" are more expensive then other private or catholic schools.

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or ask something like what money is put back in to the school etc?

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I think that that is a good question to ask - chances are their reply will be along the lines of paying teachers and resources but you never know you may even get a more specific answer then that.

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So in essence the increase for 2- 2.5 days per week has been set down by the government, in an attempt to increase literacy and numeracy rates in early childhood as we are really lacking in this respect.

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There we go that seems to answer both our questions as to what the mimimum hours required is - thanks Ali.:) Anything above that is additional and like I mentioned is more along the lines of a "daycare" facility for children, trying to keep it all in-house really.

If you want to pm me the name of the schools you are enrolling in - one of my good friends had her children enrolled in a K-12 school down your way with similar fees and recently removed all 3 of her children from the school as she wasnt happy with it.

May I ask what suburb you live in? As I seem to think I may be in the same suburb and thinking about the same schools as you. No need to mention the schools if you don't want to but I would be interested to know.

Thank you again for the advice, has been so helpful! Finally getting my head around all this :)

I think we've made a choice.... i love the philosophies of the school (very in line with our parenting). And most importantly the Principal, very easy to talk with, believes in open communication and extremely passionate.

Miss H, i will PM you :)