The School - and making friends

We always knew it was important to get Olivia into school.  Before leaving Edmonton she had just finished a wonderful preschool program.  She flourished in it and had created a great bond with her teachers.

A couple a key points about schooling in Western Australia:

- The school year begins in February and ends in December.

- Kindergarten or "Kindy" as it is referred is for kids who are age 3 on or before June 30 the year before.  

- The years go Kindy (age 4), Pre Primary (age 5), Year 1(age 6) and so on....

- Schools in WA are not flexible on dates / ages.  The rules are the rules.

- Private schools are everywhere (I personally can't name one back in Edmonton)...and range in price from semi reasonable to absolutely obscene.

And so with that said after arriving in June of 2012 and Olivia turning 4 in August we would need to wait until the following February to get her back into school.

What I didn't realize was how critical the school would be for the entire family.

Olivia would end up joining Wesley College in South Perth(an enigma in itself which deserves it's own post) in Feb of 2013.  She quickly made friends...as 4 year old kids do...which in turn meant Angela and I quickly made friends.  Lots of friends....good friends.

Olivia's schooling was a real turning point in the enjoyment of our new life as expats.  Dropping her off always lead to socialization with other parents.  The school encouraged parent involvement and family events were common.  This all lead to new, interesting and good friends.

As we look to our next expat experience our number one goal becomes "Get Olivia and now Owen into school as fast as possible!"

Have you had similar experiences?

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