Without going into the politics of Education QLD (which I am quite passionate about :), In short, If a child turns 5 by June 30, they can attend Prep (first year of school) that year. If their birthday is after June 30, they wait until the following year to start school (which would make the child 5 turning 6 in the first year of school).
If you happen to have a 4 year old turning 5 before June 30, and for reasons other than developmental delays, you think it would be beneficial to send your child to school when they are a little bit older, 5 turning 6, In the public system your child would have to MISS the prep year and go straight into year 1 (crazy! I know).
In contrast, in NSW, if your child turns 5 by July 31, IF they are ready for school you can send them to kindergarten - which is the equivalent of Prep. If as a parent however you feel they are not quite ready for school for ANY reason, you can opt to send them to school the following year - when they are 5 turning 6. As long as they start school by their 6th birthday.
OK this is getting too wordy :)
My point for this little glimpse into the difference between State Education in Australia?
Last year our family was living in NSW. This year we are in QLD and Jasmin, my bright happy 4 year old is directly affected by these 'discrepancies of rules'.
As a parent, after months of thinking/praying/worrying about what the right thing for my girl was, It felt right to wait and send her to school in 2014. When she was 5 turning 6 (do 4 year olds really need to go to school 6 hours a day, 5 days a week?). Have you seen what the kids are learning based on the National Curriculum in Prep now? It is no longer a year of socialisation or a play based curriculum to ease the kids into year 1. It is a foundational year of learning and it is full on (don't ask me how in the world Education QLD think that children can now miss this 'optional' prep year of school?)
It was not easy finding a school that felt right or that would support my decision to 'delay' Jasmin's entry into school (the word 'delay' seems absurd in this sentence, don't you think?), but I managed to find the most amazing school that was happy for me as the parent to decide what was right for my child. Sadly in the public system, this is not an option.
As a result of this, I am now watching this girl of mine thrive in the beautiful Pre-school that she attends a couple of days a week. And I couldn't be more happy that I didn't cave into the pressure I felt to "Just send her to school. She'll be fine. She's ready. You're holding her back".
Sometimes we have to fight for what we think is right for our children. Even if others don't agree with our decisions. Sometimes we have to trust our instinct, and recognise that despite what 'everyone else is doing', we are in fact the experts for our children and know better than anyone else, exactly what they need.
What a gift mother intuition is!
ps) While I don't dispute that some 4 year old children are ready for school and thrive in that environment, I absolutely believe it should be the decision of the parents, based on the individual child and what their needs/capabilities are, NOT by a governing body that oddly seem so out of touch with the fact that NOT all 4 years are ready for school.
.jpg)
4 comments:
Amen, Mom! Thank heavens you were in a situation where the school let you decide! You are absolutely right -- not all four year olds are ready for all day school. Heck -- some five or six year olds are not ready for all day school. Case in point, Our third child missed the deadline for kindergarten by a few days, which then caused her to have to wait to enter school for a full year. She was very upset by this -- until -- she ended up having trouble reading in first grade due to a learning disability that could only be "outgrown". Had she not had to wait that year, she would have had a whole year to think she was stupid because she was having difficulty with reading. As it was, because her entry to begin school was delayed, once she began to have difficulty with her reading, we were able to diagnose it quickly, and she only had a few months to wait for her mind's natural development to catch up so that disability could be mitigated, rather than over a year.
Well said, sadly my daughter did go to prep when she made the cut-off by just a week (I thought she was ready and she was keen to go even though she was the youngest in the class). From grade 1 she was always behind her peers when it came to school work and we have now found out she has a learning disability. I now wonder if delaying her for a year would have made a difference for her.
Ive been debating holding Eliza a year. I know the feeling.
And .... I adore that uniform! I might reconsider just for a darling uniform :)
Crazy! Do all the public schools follow that rule? :( She looks cute in her uniform.
Post a Comment