Schooling in Australia compared to the USA

[Buckshot Bear]

Schooling in Australia compared to the USA

Can someone explain the schooling system in the USA? Its always interested Jenorado and myself and we here terms like sophomore, junior, freshman, senior etc etc

 

In Australia, schooling is compulsory from ages 5 to 16 and it typically involves 13 years of formal education: 7 years of primary school and 6 years of secondary school. Schooling is generally divided into primary, secondary, and senior secondary levels. 

Key Features of Schooling in Australia:

Secondary School: This includes Years 7 to 10. You can leave school in Year 10 (age 16) if you have a trade apprenticeship.

Senior Secondary School: This covers Years 11 and 12, also known as the senior secondary college. 

School Year: The school year typically runs from late January/early February to mid-December, with two semesters and two terms per semester. 

School Day: A typical school day in Australia runs from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, with five to eight lessons ranging from 40 minutes to an hour. 

School Types: Schools are categorized as government (public), Catholic, or independent (private) schools. 

Assessment: Students are assessed throughout the year, and the final year of secondary school (Year 12) leads to a certificate that is used for university admissions. 

Compulsory Education: Children must attend school from the age of 6 until the end of Year 10, or until they turn 17 in some states. 

Primary School: Generally, this spans from Kindergarten/Preparatory/Pre-primary (depending on the state) to Year 6 or 7. 

Transition to Tertiary Education: 

Students who complete Year 12 can pursue further education at universities or colleges. 

Universities in Australia don't typically require entrance exams; instead, they assess students based on their results in Year 12 (often an ATAR score

[Alpo]

Back when I was going to school, and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, there were three schools. Elementary School - first through 6th grade. Junior high School - 7, 8, and 9. And high school - 10, 11, and 12. In high school you were also known as a sophomore a Junior and a senior.

 

When my kids were in school, elementary schools stopped at 5th grade. And there was one school called a sixth grade center. All it taught was sixth grade. And all sixth graders from all over the county were sent to that school.

 

That lasted a few years. Then 6th grade became part of Junior high School. But it was still only 3 years - 6th, seven, and eight. And it was now called Middle School. 9th graders were now in high school, where they were referred to as freshman.

 

My relationship with school stopped around '95, so I have no idea how it works now. IF it works now.

[Rye Miles #13621]

When I was in school way back in the 50's and 60's, it was kindergarten, elementary, junior high and high school. High school was sophomore, junior and senior. My kids graduated in 86 and 88 and it was the same for them. 

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

When I started school it was Kindergarten, Elementary 1-6, Junior High 7-9, High School 10-12.  The year I moved to the 9th grade in 1970 that changed and Junior High became Middle School 6-8 and 9th moved to High School.  So I was the first 4 year class to graduate from my High School in 1973.  Freshman 9th, sophmore 10th, junior 11th and senior 12th.

[Pat Riot]

A lot depends on what state you are in regarding elementary, middle and high scool. 
In the state of Pennsylvania there was:

Kindergarten - prep for first grade (not mandatory)

Grades 1-4; Elementary school

Grade 5; could be elementary or middle school

Grade 6-8; Middle school

Grade 9-12; High school

[Sedalia Dave]

All schools in the states consist of a mandatory 12 years. Most schools also include Kindergarten which may or may not be mandatory. Kindergarten helps prepare kids for first grade.

 

Most schools start classes in mid to late August and end sometime in May.

There are two 1 week breaks; at Christmas time and again around Easter.

 

There are some schools that go year round with extended breaks 3 or 4 times a year.  

[Doug E Turtle]

Here in CA, a year in pre-school is almost necessary to even get into Kindergarten because a child would be behind if they don't already know their numbers and alphabet by then.

[Alpo]

59 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

There are two 1 week breaks; at Christmas time and again around Easter

Been a while since you been around school, isn't it?

 

Christmas is 2 weeks. Always has been - back to when I started school in 1960.

 

Thanksgiving, which used to be "get out at 1:00 Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday off", is now the entire week.

 

Easter, which used to be "get out at 1:00 on Good Friday" is now spring break, and I believe it's 2 weeks.

 

But since you are required by law to go to school 181 days, all these extra weeks of vacation, along with "teacher work days" (which seem to come up one Wednesday a month), are the reasons that the "3-month summer vacation" is now about a month and a half.

[Rip Snorter]

IMHO, children who are brought up properly already read and know their numbers.  Kindergarten is mostly learning how to operate in a school environment with masses of other kids.

[Sedalia Dave]

3 hours ago, Alpo said:

Been a while since you been around school, isn't it?

 

 

About 45 years.

[Sixgun Seamus]

8 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

When I was in school way back in the 50's and 60's, it was kindergarten, elementary, junior high and high school. High school was sophomore, junior and senior. My kids graduated in 86 and 88 and it was the same for them. 

But when you were in school, it was much easier.....you only had to memorize 13 presidents.

[DeaconKC]

My Niece in Law is a teacher. Primary school is 1st through 6th, Junior High is 7-8th and then High School from 9-12,  Freshman, Sophomore, Junior Senior. Most kids are 18 when they graduate High School, but some actually can start some College courses while still in High School.

[Painted Mohawk SASS 77785]

Not completely sure but pretty sure Aussie kids get 2 weeks off in April, July & Sept ..then 5-6 weeks around Xmas. Start in Jan end in late Nov early Dec. To much emphasis nowadays on going to the end of school then Uni / College etc, then ending up with certificates but no experience.Trades people and the general worker are also very important. I know plenty that are not qualified but so much better than the so called qualified !!

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

In Polk County, the largest city is Bolivar (about 10,000) and the largest school district.

 

Early Childhood Learning Center/Pre-Kindergarten

 

Primary School: Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2.

 

Intermediate School: Grades 3, 4, 5.

 

Middle School: Grades 6, 7, 8.

 

High School: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

 

You could literally sub every day in this district in one of five schools.

 

Home | Bolivar Schools

[Blackwater 53393]

School in our county is 180 days a year.  There is a one week break at about nine weeks into the school year which begins the middle of August. The get out on Wednesday at lunch before Thanksgiving, (the fourth Thursday in November) for a long weekend and at some predetermined point before Christmas they have a vacation that varies in length until after NewYear’s Day, again with an arbitrary return date.

 

School resumes and there are several single holidays, usually on a Monday, another one week break about the middle of the semester, a day off at Easter and usually a day or two of teacher inservices during the year. School lets out about the middle of May. 
 

Much of this can vary, depending on whether they close schools for weather or health emergencies. There are a limited number of “snow days” built into the schedule.

 

There is an in school “day care” offered and kindergarten through fifth grade are the “grammar school” grades.  6, 7, 8 are “middle school” and then 9-12 are high school with 9th being freshman, 10th sophomore, 11th junior, and 12th senior classes.

 

Students can, if they have the ability, move up a grade as they attain higher levels of proficiency and academic achievement. Students can also be “held back” for failure to meet minimum standards for the grade they attend.

 

Our schools offer some “advanced placement” classes for students who excel.

 

Schoolmarm taught for thirty years in the county school system here and another five in other systems. She retired at the end of the 2016 school year.

[Dapper Dave]

I also was the first class at my school to do 9th grade at the high school, which had been 10-12. So wee didn't have to be the Underclassmen, we brought them with us, the ones who had to wait four more years to be top dog somewhere. 

So, having said that, back when Og the Cavemen was my PE teacher, we had kindergarten, grades 1,2, Elementary school, which was grades 3-6, Junior High School, 7-8, then high school 9-12. 

As mentioned above, 

Freshman, (frosh), grade 9

Sophomore, grade 10

Junior, grade 11

Senior, grade 12

After that for me was the military, then community college, ( waste of tax dollars), then the Academy much later to put me where I am today...

[Last Call Saul]

 

My son is a high school teacher, and my daughter graduated from high school this year, so I guess I have some fresh info.

How the grades are divided depends on the state, sometimes on the county, and sometimes even on a municipality/school district.

In my area, kindergarten and grades 1-5 are elementary schools, 6-8 are middle schools, and 9-12 are high schools. high schools and colleges name them freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior (year 1-4)  

 

There are public schools that are financed from the property taxes/state funds and are tuition-free; they have to follow an approved curriculum and procedures from the State's department of education, managed by School Districts/boards.  There are Charter schools that are also tuition-free, have more flexible curriculum, and often affiliated with some organization or community - they are still funded publicly.  Private schools charge tuition, and sometimes they are also partially funded by a religious institution or an organization with which they are affiliated.

 

Each school district decides on dates, but they are based on 180 days in most of the states, usually starting in the second half of August and ending in late May. Spring break is 1 week long, late March-early April, winter break is a week to 10 days around Christmas and New Year's, and summer break is about 8-10 weeks. If there is a bad weather day without school, a day is usually added to the end of the school year.

[Buckshot Bear]

Are boys and girls called 'Freshmen'?

 

 

[Last Call Saul]

20 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Are boys and girls called 'Freshmen'?

 

 

Yes

[Buckshot Bear]

1 hour ago, Last Call Saul said:

Yes

 

That's good that's still OK and hasn't been woked out like 'manhole' which has been replaced with 'maintenance hole' in some places.

[Dapper Dave]

No, I've never heard a manhole called a "maintenance hole", but AZ is pretty much non-"woke". Boys and girls were called freshmen when i was in school, but mind you, I graduated in the mid 80s!

[Buckshot Bear]

Should have also added that uniforms are mandatory in Aussie schools. 

[Blackwater 53393]

I started school in Florida in the late ‘50s. We wore shorts and T-shirts.  When we moved to New Jersey in 1960 , we had to wear dark colored slacks and a white shirt at that school. Girls were required to wear blouses and skirts or dresses.
 

We moved to another township and it was much the same with the exception of the shirt being any light color. There, when you reached 4th grade, the boys were required to wear a tie.

 

We moved again in the middle of 6th grade and the new school only required that boys wear long pants and shirts that buttoned. Girls could not wear pants or shorts, but could wear split skirts.

 

We moved back to Tennessee where I entered school as a seventh grader. The school combined “junior high” and high schools in the same large building.  I was amazed! Students were required to wear clothes!! Almost ANY clothes! They didn’t allow halter tops or bare midriff outfits for girls and boys weren’t allowed “Wallace Beerys” or the “wife beater” undershirt unless it was used as underwear, covered by another shirt.

 

We wore jeans, mostly, and often wore team jerseys of the high school football team or the local youth baseball teams. Basketball players could wear their jerseys, but only over a T-shirt. Otherwise, a T-shirt was the usual fashion.

 

I mostly wore jeans and a T-shirt. I often wore jeans, cowboy boots, and a long sleeve shirt and vest on cooler days. When it was cold, I wore a thigh length leather coat.  I was not a slave to fashion. I’d also wear plaid flannel shirts with the sleeves rolled up, long before it was “cool”!

 

Strangely enough, the “dress code” was more to do with hair length and facial hair for the guys. A couple of my friends were expelled from school for collar and shoulder length hair and beards. They had formed a rock band and grown their hair out during the summer following their junior year and gotten a recording contract with a major label.

 

One of the guys’ parents sued the school board, but the local court dismissed the case and it eventually went to SCOTUS, but was dismissed again as moot because the school board had since dropped the policy.

 

I look around at what some of today’s students wear and I laugh at how we had it when I was their age.

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

In the city, grade school, a very long time ago, it was basically business attire.  When my parents relocated to a pleasant suburb, it was definitely not.  Jeans, sneakers any kind of shirt.  Took about a week to convince my Mom.  Fortunately the city neighborhood was a tough one.

[Alpo]

When I was in elementary school you could wear anything basically. But the family that lived behind us - their kids were older and went to Junior high School. Where they had to wear slacks and white shirts and neckties. I was not looking forward to Junior high.

 

But here I started junior high they had changed the dress code. Now you could basically wear anything. Although Friday was dress up day, which required slacks, a white shirt, and a necktie.

[Last Call Saul]

3 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Should have also added that uniforms are mandatory in Aussie schools. 

Uniforms are usually not required in public schools.

Charter and private schools typically have a uniform or dress code.

 

Exception in public schools - in bad areas where gangs are active, they do require a uniform in high school, so kids don't wear gang-affiliated attire and cause trouble - my son worked in such an area for a year.  Now he has a job in one of the top 50 public schools in the US and no uniform there

[Buckshot Bear]

My school was a military school from Year 7 to Year 12.
You could be in either the Army, Navy, Air Force or the Military Band.
Sure wasn't a lot of fun wearing a kilt to and from school in public transport!

 

 

 

 

 

[watab kid]

you have to understand that we here have both public and private schools that are somewhat at odds - financially mostly , but im going to align with Alpo on his outline of the system in general ,  different districts divide a bit different depending on their accommodations , 

 

my own education was K - in public school in a two room clapboard school , i then was moved by my parents to the catholic school in our area [a minority there[ for one thru eight years , i then went back to public school at the new junior high in our area for ninth grade , the next year i went to our public high school for the remainder - i started college at one of our state universities [teacher oriented curriculum] and finished at another [engineering and agriculture related ] in architecture , there was a third university that focused on medical and law - never went there , 

 

my kids grew up differently - while my religion was a minority in the area i grew up its a majority here - 

my children started in public grade school K-5 , went on to middle school-6-8 , then to catholic high school 9-12 , 

my daughter then went to local state university on a scholarship for a BS in statistics , to another state university for a Masters in sports med paid by the olymips , then back to the original university for a second Masters in business paid by her job , my son went to one of our other state universities for business , he went on to an apprentiiship in the trades and into management , this was 25 years ago as my kids graduated in 2000 and 2002 , 

 

in my experience the divisions of grades in each portion of our school life had a lot to do with the physical  facilities an area had available , we actually have a number of K-3 schools here , a few middle schools of 4-6 and two jr high schools of 7-8 or 9 depending on square footage available , we have three high schools in the immediate area of either 9-12 or 10-12 , this area is predominantly catholic and lutheran so a lot of religious schools in all of these areas except the high school , that one is catholic , 

 

i forgot to mention we have a growing community of home schooled kids - they were always here but because im involved in high school trap ive had the pleasure to experience the home school trap team at our range ---thats how i know a lot of kids in that 6th grade to 12th grade range these days - they are my grandkids age , ao i get to know a lot of teachers/coaches these days as well as their parents , 

 

this community of a combination of three counties all meeting at the mississippi river is essentially the same place , and the school systems comprise six towns/cities , i cant even tell you how many of the lower grade schools there are , 

 

i  didnt even touch on pre-school as we never experienced that , but it also exists here ,