Confused by all the different terms and school ages?

In Queensland, the school age is determined as at 31 Jul (www.education.qld.gov.au). If a child is 5 years old at 31 Jul, they are required to start school (preparatory year) at the start of that calendar year. The term 4 year old means (in the school age context) that in this calendar year the child will be 4 years old at 31 Jul.

3 y.o. Kindergarten (3 years old) - This is above and beyond the government Kindergarten programme and is part of our Head Start programme. The education programming for our 3 y.o. kindergarten is developed by early childhood teachers.

Kindergarten (4 years old) - This is the year before school. It has also been known as kindy, kinder, pre-school, pre-primary and pre-prep. Kindergarten must be taught by early childhood teachers in accordance with the state government Kindergarten Curriculum.

Preparatory Year (5 years old) - This is the first year of school. Not to confuse the issue, but under the national Curriculum being developed, it is proposed to standardise the first year of school to be known “foundation year” nationwide.

Grade 1 (6 years old) - This is the second year of school. Some incorrectly refer to this as Year 1 which adds further confusion when discussing school and school ages.

…and so on up to grade 12.