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Schools in the Community
Children must go to school.
Some go to a big school with lots of kids.
Some schools are small.
Some schools have only boys or only girls.
Some kids live far away from any schools.
In Australia the first year of school is called Prep or Kindergarten, and then there are 12 more years of school after that. Primary school is Prep to Year 6 and high school is Year 7 to Year 12.
Many children go to pre-school before starting school, others go to a playgroup or day care.
Between the ages of five and fifteen, or in some states seventeen, children must go to school. It is the law. A law is a rule made by the government that must be obeyed.
Some schools are owned and run by the state government.
Some schools are not government schools and are owned and run by a church or a group of parents.
Some schools have only boys or only girls, but most schools have both girls and boys.
But all schools must follow the government rules about what children learn at school.
At some schools children must wear a uniform.
The uniform often has a tie and a jacket called a blazer.
At some schools there is a uniform and children choose whether or not to wear it.
At some schools there is no uniform and children can choose what to wear to school.
Some schools are big, and have lots of rooms and pupils and teachers.
Some schools are small and have just a few classes and pupils and teachers.
There are even some very tiny schools with only around 20 students who work in one classroom with one teacher, no matter what year they are in. Some schools have big playgrounds and some have small playgrounds.
Australia is a very big country and there are some communities that are not near any others. Children in those places do their school work at home. A teacher sends those children their schoolwork, and the children post it back to be corrected. They sometimes work on the internet. The teacher talks to the students on a radio or on the internet. When those children reach Year 6 they usually go to a school where they can live during the week and go home at weekends or end of term.
When students finish school some go to a university, which is like a school for grown ups. They can learn to be doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professions.
Some go to a college to learn things like art, design, making clothes, photography and things like that.
Some learn a trade such as plumbing or electrician or builder.
What is your school like?
You can go here to read a timeline of schools in Australia
If you use any part of this in your own work, list it in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham, S. & Thomas, R. Schools in the Community [online] kidcyber.com.au (2010)
Please contact kidcyber if you find broken links etc. that need repair.
updated October 2011 ©kidcyber
us@kidcyber.com.au