Podcast 17 – Schools in Australia

跟着罗布·麦科马克，一边学英语，一边了解澳大利亚的日常生活。

Learn English while learning about daily life in Australia with Rob McCormack.

第17期播客：澳大利亚的学校。

Podcast number 17, schools in Australia.

你好。

Hi.

作为家长，我知道学校对孩子的人生起步有多重要。

As a parent, I know how important schools are in giving your children a good start in life.

学校对我来说个人而言也很重要。

Schools have also been important for me personally.

我大学毕业后第一份工作就是当老师。

My first job after university was as a school teacher.

在决定转行做培训师，后来又做项目经理之前，我在西澳大利亚的学校教了十二年书。

I was a teacher for twelve years in schools in Western Australia before I decided to become a trainer and later a project manager.

不过那就是另一个故事了。

But that's another story.

澳大利亚的学校系统由各州或领地政府管理。

School systems in Australia are controlled by each state or territory government.

我住在维多利亚州，所以这里的学校由维多利亚州政府负责。

I live in the state of Victoria, so the schools here are controlled by the Victorian state government.

澳大利亚还有另外五个州和两个领地，每个地方的教育体系都有些不同。

There are five other states and two territories in Australia, and each of them has some differences in their school systems.

在这期播客里，我会重点讲讲维多利亚州的公立学校系统。

I will talk about the government school system in Victoria in this podcast.

不过，其他州和领地的学校体系也差不多。

However, the school systems in the other states and territories are very similar.

除了公立学校，还有很多私立学校。

As well as government schools, there are also many private schools.

它们的教学大纲基本一致，只是有些细节上的差别。

They mostly follow the same type of program but with some differences.

私立学校是要收学费的。

Private schools charge fees.

相比之下，公立学校是免费的。

Government schools, by contrast, are free.

我的播客里会做个简要总结，如果你想了解更详细的信息，可以去 www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au 查看。

I will provide a summary in my podcast, but if you want more detailed information, you should visit www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au.

Live in Victoria 是一个词，中间没有空格。

Live in Victoria is one word with no spaces.

维多利亚州的学校体系分为三个阶段，澳大利亚每个州和领地都是这样。

There are three levels in Victoria's school system, as there are in each state and territory in Australia.

第一阶段是幼儿园。

The first level is kindergarten.

面向三到五岁的孩子。

This is for children aged three to five years.

第二阶段是小学。

The second level is primary school.

面向五到十二岁的孩子。

This is for children aged five to 12 years.

第三阶段是中学。

The third level is secondary school.

这个阶段面向12到17岁的孩子。

This is for children aged 12 to 17 years.

在这期播客里，我会逐一介绍这三个阶段。

I will talk about each of these three levels in this podcast.

当然，之后还有一个第四阶段，我会在另一期播客里讲到。

There is, of course, a fourth level after this, which I will cover in another podcast.

第四阶段是高等教育。

The fourth level is the tertiary level.

这个阶段包括大学和职业技术学院。

This level includes universities and technical colleges.

我们教育体系的第一阶段是幼儿园。

Our first level of schooling is kindergarten.

有意思的是，这个词其实来自德语。

It's interesting that this is named using the German word.

日常生活中，人们常把这个名字简称为‘kinder’。

Often, this name is shortened to kinder in everyday speaking.

幼儿园也叫学龄前教育。

Kindergarten is also called preschool.

我五十年前上学的时候，根本没有幼儿园或学龄前教育这一阶段。

When I was a child in school about fifty years ago, there was no kindergarten or preschool level.

不过现在，尽早为孩子入学做准备很重要，好让他们提前培养出上小学所需的社交、认知和体能能力。

However, these days, it's important to start preparing for schooling early so that children can develop the social, mental, and physical skills needed for primary school.

虽然在维多利亚州，幼儿园不是强制性的，但几乎所有的孩子都会去上。

Whilst kindergarten is not compulsory in Victoria, nearly all children in Victoria do attend.

通常是一年的课程，孩子一般四岁就开始上。

It's usually a one year program, and children normally start when they are four years of age.

如果幼儿园老师觉得孩子还需要更多时间来发展上小学所需的技能，有些孩子可能会多读一年幼儿园。

Some children may need an extra year of kindergarten if their kindergarten teacher feels they need more time to develop the skills needed for primary school.

当然，这个决定总是和孩子的父母一起商量做出的。

Of course, this decision is always made together with the child's parents.

幼儿园不是全天制的，因为孩子才四岁，还很小。

Kindergarten is not a full time program as the children are still very young at four years of age.

孩子通常每周上十五个小时的课，分两到三次去。

Children usually attend kindergarten for fifteen hours a week in two or three sessions.

我和我妻子还记得早上送我们小儿子去幼儿园的情景。

My wife and I can still remember dropping our youngest child off at kindergarten in the morning.

刚开始他看到我们走很伤心，我们心里也不好受。

At first, he was sad to see us leave, and so were we.

但没过多久，他就开心地和朋友们一起玩游戏、玩得可高兴了。

But soon, he was happy to be with his friends, playing games, and having fun.

中小学教育的第二阶段是小学，这是强制性的，所有孩子都必须上学。

The second level of schooling is primary school, and this is compulsory, which means all children must attend.

小学从预备班开始。

Primary school starts with grade prep.

预备班是准备年级的简称，一直上到六年级。

Prep is short for preparatory year and finishes at grade six.

小学一共七年。

That's a total of seven years in primary school.

我当老师的时候，主要在小学教书。

When I was a teacher, I taught mostly in primary schools.

说实话，我特别喜欢这份工作。

I must say I loved it.

这个年龄段的孩子都喜欢上学，也很想学习。

Children at this age enjoy school and really want to learn.

在维多利亚州，孩子只要在入学年份的4月30日之前满五岁，就可以入读公立小学。

To attend a government primary school in Victoria, a child must be five years of age by the April 30 in the year they start school.

如果孩子的生日在4月30日之后，就得等到第二年才入学。

Those with a birthday after the April 30 will start school the following year.

小学课程包括英语、健康与体育（含运动）、其他语言如德语或中文、数学、科学、社会与环境、技术（含电脑使用），以及艺术。

The primary school program covers English, health and physical education, which includes sport, other languages, such as German or Chinese, mathematics, science, society, and the environment, technology, which includes using computers, and the arts.

刚来澳大利亚的孩子，通常还会额外上一些英语课，帮助他们更快掌握英语。

Children who have recently arrived in Australia may also have extra classes in English to help them more quickly learn how to speak English.

小孩子学语言真的很快，尤其是每天都在说的时候。

It's amazing how quickly young children can learn a language, especially when they speak it every day.

我要是能像他们那样学得这么快就好了。

I wish I could learn a language that quickly.

学年通常从每年一月底开始，到十二月中旬结束。

The school year starts at the end of January each year and finishes in the middle of December.

小学的上课时间是周一到周五，早上九点到下午三点。

Primary school hours are Monday to Friday from 9AM to 3PM.

一年有四个学期，假期加起来大约有十二周。

There are four terms during the year, leaving about 12 for holidays.

十二月和一月的暑假大概持续六周。

The long summer holiday in December and January lasts about six weeks.

我到现在还记得上学时的暑假时光。

I can still remember my summer holidays when I was at school.

我们大部分时间都泡在海边。

We spent most of our time at the beach.

那时候真好啊。

Those were the days.

公立小学是免费的，只是校服和部分课本要花点钱。

Government primary schools are free, although there are some minor costs for school uniforms and some books.

我们的两个儿子在墨尔本这边的公立小学上学，接受了非常好的教育。

Our two sons went to our local government primary school in our part of Melbourne, and they received a wonderful education.

老师都很优秀，我们对学校非常满意。

The teachers were excellent, and we were very happy with the school.

第三阶段是中学，也叫高中。

The third level of schooling is secondary school, also called high school.

中学从七年级开始，到十二年级结束。

Secondary school starts at year seven and finishes at year 12.

所有孩子都必须上到十年级才能离开学校。

All children must attend secondary school at least until they complete year 10.

他们十年级结束后可以退学，但前提是必须有全职工作。

They can leave at the end of year 10, but only if they have a full time job to go to.

否则，他们必须继续上学，直到年满17岁。

Otherwise, they must stay at school until they turn 17 years of age.

中学课程包括英语、人文、数学、科学、法语或日语等其他语言，以及艺术类课程。

The secondary school program includes English, humanities, mathematics, science, other languages such as French or Japanese, and the arts.

在中学的最后两年，大多数学生都会修读维多利亚州教育证书，也就是VCE。

For the last two years of secondary school, most students study the Victorian certificate of education called the VCE.

VCE的成绩将作为进入高等教育的依据，比如申请大学。

The VCE results are used to decide entry to the tertiary level, for example, to universities.

此外，还有另外两种课程，适合那些希望获得更多实践性和职业相关学习体验的学生。

There are two other study programmes as well for those students who want more practical work related experience and learning.

完成这些课程后，学生就从中学毕业了。

Following this, students graduate from secondary school.

维多利亚州的教育体系大致就是这样。

That's about it for schooling in Victoria.

希望你觉得这些内容有意思。

I hope you found it interesting.

在澳大利亚，政府对教育的投入一直是大家特别关注的话题，尤其是在选举期间。

Government spending on education is a topic of great interest here in Australia, especially at election time.

教育花销不小，但我认为这对国家来说是一笔值得的投资。

Education costs a lot, but I think it is a good investment for the nation.

如果你有任何问题或想法，欢迎在网站www.slowenglish.info的评论区留言。

If you have a question or a comment to make, please leave it in the comments box on my website at www.slowenglish.info.

你可以用英语或者任何其他语言留言，我会帮你翻译。

You can leave your comment in English or in any language, and I will translate it.

你也可以直接发邮件给我，地址是rob@SlowEnglish.info。

Or you can send me an email at rob@SlowEnglish.info.

我非常期待收到你的消息。

I would love to hear from you.

告诉我你住在哪儿，简单介绍一下你自己，还有你对我的Slow English播客有什么看法。

Tell me where you live, a little bit about yourself, and what you think of my Slow English podcast.

也许你可以为我未来的播客推荐一个话题。

Perhaps you could suggest a topic for a future podcast.

再见。

Goodbye.

我们下次再聊。

Until next time.

罗布。

Rob.