Simon & Emily
9th December 2005, 10:23 AM
Hi there,
Can anyone advise me when my daughter can start primary school in NZ? I know the official age is as soon as she turns 5, but what does this mean in reality?
She will be 4 next week, and would be due to start here in the UK in September - she is already desperate to go, having done a year at pre-school now. I assume that in NZ she would be starting primary school (equivalent to UK Reception) in the January after her 5th birthday at the start of the academic year, and therefore will be still at pre-school (or the equivalent) until December when she will be 5.
Is this correct? I don't want to give her duff info, as she will remember it and hold it against us :laugh :laugh :laugh I hope this is the case, as she will by then have had a good 6 months in pre-school (hopefully :nice1) then start at the beginning of the academic year as a true native. Can anyone give me the cut-off date for birthdays for the shcool year? (ie here in the UK any child born 1st September or after is the next year group)
I'm also trying to work out where abouts my son will 'fit into' the school year - he's born in late August, and so is the youngest in his year, and could have started reception at 4 years and 2 weeks! If we arrive in the first 6 months of next year, he would have been finishing year 1 in July, but I assume he would need to 're-do' the last 6 months of year 1? (I know this is an academic question as the schools curriculum will not be the same, but I'm just trying to make sure that we all have a vague idea what they should be doing)
Many thanks in advance,
Emily
PS - I'm not a paranoid parent who is pushing them into school; I know that the experience itself will be very interesting for them, it's just that we're trying to settle them quickly by having all the info.
Can anyone advise me when my daughter can start primary school in NZ? I know the official age is as soon as she turns 5, but what does this mean in reality?
She will be 4 next week, and would be due to start here in the UK in September - she is already desperate to go, having done a year at pre-school now. I assume that in NZ she would be starting primary school (equivalent to UK Reception) in the January after her 5th birthday at the start of the academic year, and therefore will be still at pre-school (or the equivalent) until December when she will be 5.
Is this correct? I don't want to give her duff info, as she will remember it and hold it against us :laugh :laugh :laugh I hope this is the case, as she will by then have had a good 6 months in pre-school (hopefully :nice1) then start at the beginning of the academic year as a true native. Can anyone give me the cut-off date for birthdays for the shcool year? (ie here in the UK any child born 1st September or after is the next year group)
I'm also trying to work out where abouts my son will 'fit into' the school year - he's born in late August, and so is the youngest in his year, and could have started reception at 4 years and 2 weeks! If we arrive in the first 6 months of next year, he would have been finishing year 1 in July, but I assume he would need to 're-do' the last 6 months of year 1? (I know this is an academic question as the schools curriculum will not be the same, but I'm just trying to make sure that we all have a vague idea what they should be doing)
Many thanks in advance,
Emily
PS - I'm not a paranoid parent who is pushing them into school; I know that the experience itself will be very interesting for them, it's just that we're trying to settle them quickly by having all the info.