Sammy1

Hi, Your daughter will start year 1 in Perth next year (students must turn 6 before June 30th). It makes no difference that she has completed year 1 in New Zealand-remember they are different countries. The cut off date for entry is June 30th for all year levels. So unless your daughter turns 7 before June 30th, then she most definitely will be in year 1 and not year 2. What you have described above is what children typically do in pre-primary here, which is compulsory in WA. Children start pre-primary at age five (or four, if they turn five by June 30th).

The high schools in Rockingham do tend to have a dreadful reputation and academically scores are generally much lower compared to schools in more affluent areas. However, the teachers are still of a high quality and do their best in challenging situations. Crime is also an issue in many areas of Rockingham, official figures regularly show this. Teaching in Rockingham can be harder and far more more stressful because there are a larger number of behavioural issues. However, to say that parents and students are less engaged is too much of a generalisation. There are many students who do very well, and with strong support from their parents.

They will be the oldest in their co-hort, but that is fine. Pre-primary is the first year of compulsory schooling in WA and pre -primary classes are attached to the primary schools. This means they will they will be five and a half when they start school (pre-primary), not six and a half. Schools are very strict on the intake dates.

It is very understandable to be worried. However, don't be too quick to blame the school. Your son has already undergone significant change and disruption moving to the other side of the world. Imagine, if he is already behaving badly in class how much this will worsen if he changes yet again to another school. You need to at least give it until the end of the school year and to work with the school. First of all you and the teacher need to meet officially (not just a quick chat at the classroom door). This is when a plan can be drawn up and you can voice your concerns and the teacher hers.There is always a reason for a behaviour and once that has been identified it can be worked on.If he has not made any friends yet the teacher needs to start helping him to do so, there are many ways to do and he should not be just left alone if he is not thriving. Good luck.

The cut off date for age of entry into school in WA is June 30th. This means that children who turn four before June 30th in the year of entry (February) start their schooling career in pre-primary, this then applies to all successive years of intake. For your daughter, this means that in February 2017 at the age of 10, she will go into year 5. Year 6 is the last year of primary education now and so in year 7 she will start high school.

It is really important to point out that this is not the norm, though fantastic for your wife. There is always demand for maths and science teachers, but other areas, particularly primary teachers, struggle to find work.

Be very careful about doing that. The online register of teachers in WA is easy for anyone to access and a simple one minute check will show if an applicant is registered or not. Probably not a good idea to mislead on an application.

You could always do a unit at a time over a couple of years or so. Student loans are only available to citizens, PR's cannot obtain them either.

Approximately an hour and a half if you leave by 7am at the very latest. Traffic is horrendous any later than that, even then it is slow going.

They used to exist for Aussie teachers who were three years trained, however, those courses disappeared long ago.

You can just do a one year Masters or a one year grad certificate in any related subject which will also fulfill the four year requirement of tertiary education. To be honest, I am not sure why she has advised you that.

I would imagine the fact that you were applying outside of the country would have something to do with it. Government schools in WA are now nearly all independent, this means that the schools advertise their positions and inclusion in teaching pools on the jobswa site. It is extremely important that you address the selection criteria. Each government advert will state that you need to do this against the National Professional Teaching Standards. To be successful, you must familiarise yourself with the standards. I would also advise you to use the SAO format - Situation, Action, Outcome when addressing the standards. You will need to write aprox 4-5 pages to address these. Primary teaching positions are in extremely short supply, especially in Perth, however, if you are a high school teacher, then your prospects are much better, especially in the areas of maths, design and technology and science. Most schools advertise pools. Once your application is successful and you are placed in a pool, it is then really a matter of waiting and hoping that they fish you out of the pool for an actual position. You can also apply to the fixed term teacher pool through the jobswa site as well - this covers a lot of schools, but not many people get jobs that way. Of course, before you can even be considered, you must also be registered with the WA TRB - Teaching Registration Board. This can take a few weeks and they will require all of your academic transcripts, proof of at least 45 days supervised teaching as a student etc etc. Private schools advertise mainly through SEEK. Again, they will not even consider you unless you are registered with the TRB. Teaching anywhere in Australia requires at least four years of university education. Jobs are mainly advertised between July and October to start in January the following year.

That's really excellent news for you and your wife. Maths teachers are pretty safe and always in demand, she should be fine. I agree though,I know yet another family who are making their way back to the UK soon, not because they want to, but because their 457 has not led to PR. They have tried and tried, sad for them as the kids were little when they came and they are now well settled in school.They are devastated. Again, everybody on forums assumes a 457 will lead to PR, I have seen it too many times now where it has not, heartbreaking for those that cannot stay. Having said that I know somebody else who has just got a $184,000, not particularly skilled job, in the mines. It's a funny old world.

The real number of EA's (Education Assistants) facing redundancy is actually over 400. There was a meeting in the city last week for all redeployees who have not yet found new jobs within the department. They met with their caseworkers who will continue to try and find an opening for them at another school. The problem is that other schools are mostly independent now and are under no obligation to take them, they advertise for their own staff, if and when needed. The same applies to the redeployment of permanent teaching staff. The EA's were offered voluntary redundancy a few months ago, but now the game has changed once more and they are now facing forced redundancy. The redeployees have been in limbo for well over a year now as they officially lost their permanent positions at the end of 2013. However, the government continued to keep them at the same schools and pay wages. Most schools in WA are now independent, this means that the schools are responsible for their own finances and payment of salaries. Permanency means nothing now and everybody is at risk. At this point in time it relates more to EA's (Education Assistants), but primary teachers too will face this. **Secondary teachers are in a much better position because of the year 7's moving to high school at the beginning of this year for the first time. Maths, Design and Technology and Science are the key subjects in demand. English is not too bad either. Primary school teachers have been retraining in secondary areas under a government initiative. LOTE teachers are also at risk as WA is the only state to remove funding, despite the fact that it forms part of the new national curriculum. Education is at risk and the funding cuts were and are brutal. Fun times in WA.

Your 13 year old will only go into year 9 if she turns 14 years old before the cut off date of June 30th in the year of entry.School years starts late January. If she turns 14 after June 30th then she will go into year 8 instead. I would suggest contacting local TAFE's as an alternative to high school.