Hi, just talking to a friend of a friend today who loves Australia and has visited a few times with a view to move there, Perth area.

Anyway she said that the best schools are the private ones and the state schools are really not that good at all, she said that most of the schools are private anyway and the fees are around $3,000 per annum, not to bad but if you have more than one it could work out quite expensive. :o

Can anyone shed any light, as we were not really thinking of sending our two to a private school.

Hippychic ;)

Well, whilst I would be the first to admit I know nothing, here's what I've been told.

By Greg, Melbourne friend of Paul's..if you can afford to go private, the education and later, people's perception of your education, is better. Mind you, he's from Melbourne and all grown up!

That said, my best friend Clair, who has been in Melbourne for six months, reckons that both the state schools her children attend are fantastic. The school have already noticed that her 12-year old would benefit from an investigation into his learning process -if that makes sense-and the school is paying for it. When a similar concern was voiced in the UK, Clair ended up paying four or five hundred pounds :sign68: for the professional profile recommended, which was basically ignored by the school anyway!

I'm assuming that it will be much the same as here, many good schools, some great schools and a few possibly not suitable for everyone!

We are hoping that the state schools will be good and I'm really looking forward to more replies to your post! :)

Caroline

Hi,

Very difficult decision, Jack is due to start school next year, term 2. We have looked at state & private. However with only one income we have realsied that it would be incredibly tight for us to send him.

I have found the bigger state schools better, as they seemed to be well funded, with lots of extra activities and a good support programme for kids that need extra help & the high achievers.

the catholic schools seem to be more reasonably priced, however we are not particularly relegious so ruled those out. Your looking at about $2000 per year for some catholic schools however some go up to about $3500 per year.

I was also talking to a teacher in the park yesterday who works at pembroke school in Norwood (private) and their fees are alot more $6000 per year!!!! He teachers year 2 and explained that some state schools here are incredibly underfunded. He said just go with you gut feeling, ensure they have a good support programme and just turn up at the school to look around.

I think we will probably send jack & harry to a private high school, As the state one in our catchment at the moment does not really have a good reputation. Hopefully I will be working then and we will be in a better position to pay for it!!

Anyway good luck
Daihla

Hi ,

I considered private senior schools for our daughter , BUT the fees are very high (much more than primary) , cheapest I could find was $6000 (but then had lots of extras on top of this ,so more like $8000) and then upwards ....actually looked at some asking for more than $12000+ per year (iam looking at years 11/12 ,not sure about lower years .
Iam assured that this is cheaper than the UK for comparable schools however MUCH more than we could afford . :sigh:

JulieWxx

No problem with our twos state school, none whatsoever. But think about this, for those unfortunate or fortunate to be able to get a school card, you'd be suprised which schools their kids go to.

Stevo

Hi all,

Our son is at the local state primary and we have been very happy with it so far. I have talked to many parents there and have yet to find anyone who is dissatsified with their kid's education. There are also 4 other schools within a 10 minute drive of us that also have a good reputation. I think it very much depends on the area you are in though.

We only pay $260 a year for our state primary, I know several people who send their kids to church schools - that's about $1500-2000 a year. The local private school (which is middle of the range) is about $3500 for primary (plus unifrom which you can only get from them and expensive school trips so add a bit more to that!) and rises to $7000 for year 12. I did put something in the FAQ section a while ago quoting private school fees for 12 schools in adelaide if you want to check that out.

We have decided to send both our kids to the state primary but will look into state and private for high school. Also, as they are quite different I would not be surprised if they went to different high schools - I figure that by the time they start high school (age 13 here) they can catch a bus for up to half an hour so that means quite a lot of choice.

Good luck,

Claire

Also, a lot of the private schools do offer scholarships of various forms - might be worth considering if your kids are particularly bright.

Although I did hear of one private school in Melbourne where, because a lad was quite bright and consistently finished his work before his peers, their way of dealing with things was to 'send him out for a walk round the grounds' while the others finished!

I think the SA schools all have LAN (Literacy and Numeracy) tests this week - ours certainly does - I'm not sure if they publish their results in a sort of league table - will let you know more as and when I find it out!

Diane
xx

Hi Claire,
I'm very interested in that post you mentioned with the school fees in FAQ.
I've gone through FAQ again and again to try and find it and can't. Can you remember where you put it?
Thanks,
Freya

Thankyou for all your replys, looks like I will go with my gut instinct when we get there.
The schools sound better in Austrailia than here anyway.
At least they are tested to see how they are doing which I think is a great idea.

Hippychic :D :sign61:

Ok so my views. Both my children go to private catholic schools and fees are around $3500 each per year plus uniforms which as mentioned previously are expensive around $600 each for the winter uniform and around $400 for the summer one.

They have an extremely well rounded education with a good catholic input and have both excelled in everyway since starting nearly 3 months ago. The schools here seem to place more emphasis upon children being children and they have plenty of time to explore role-play etc.

I asked my children last week if they would like to change schools and go to the local school where there would be kids from the area we live (their schools are in the city) but they said no way they are very happy in the schools they ar in and far much more than in the UK.

Cannot compare to state schools as we've not looked into it but one of the main reasons we came to Oz was to give our children a better aducation which we were willing to pay for. We know its not gonna be easy as fees and costs increase as they move up the school but thats our decision and we'll have to manage.

As for status!! when people ask which schools our children go to they are always full of praises for the schools saying we have chosen good well thought of and highly regarded schools. We decided that if we can afford to send the kids private to give them a better start then thats what we will do and its worked out FAB for us and them.

Good luck with whatever you decide and remember its personal choice and circumstances and whatever you choose will be right for you
C
XXX

hi candice.

I dont want to start a war here, I'm just interested in your thoughts.
My Kids have always gone to state schools and Ive never had a problem with their level of education. (so far)
The schools here seem much better than in the uk as like you said (they let kids be kids) and im sure they have advanced more here then they would have in the same time in the uk (my view)smaller classes and the teachers seem to have more time for the students.
what do you think the advantages are in going private?
do you think the teachers are better educated??
are they smaller classes??
are there more subject choices?
maybe the difference is due to the fact that the public school system is state run and the schools will always have funding regardless of whether the children are educated to a high standard or not.
and the private schools know that parents won't keep paying their tuitions fees if their children don't get a good education.

Candice you know me so you know im not trying to start an arguement :D im way too fluffy for that :P

This is a good thread so lets keep it friendly :cool shake:

Shannon goes to a state school and is in Reception, I think we paid around $290 (can't remember now! :huh: ) for the year.
Shannon has been at the school for nearly two months now we are very pleased with it and Shannon has come on so well since being at this school, much more than in the 8 months at school in the UK.


Kelly.

Ok Vinnie you asked for it!!!!!!!

no seriously the schools are smaller than the ones back home eg kennadies school has roughly 200 pupils that is from R-12 and keirens has 150 but the senior campus has 200+ I think and class sizes are smaller I think ther are about 20 in each of my childs class. They do seem to have far more choice of learning styles and are not taught to learn in a specific way eg if one child finds learning easier pictorially then they will assist to help them learn in that way. One of the reasons we chose private was because we wanted to continue their catholic education and here all the catholic schools are private.

The teachers are far more reciprocal to the children and their needs eg if for instance a child is tired and a bit under the weather they are allowed to go to the rest room for a nap or if they want to discuss something which is not particularly on the adgenda then they are allowed to do this.

Cldren grow at many different levels and paces and for us the schooling system in the Uk adhered to one set of rues and if you didn't abide or fit in with these rues then you kind of fell behind and there were inadequate resources to assist those who really needed it (this was not our case though) being able to play a bigger role and make more decisions in the education of our children was very important and the schools our kids go to enables us to do this. I mean where in the UK would you get to go to the Zo for a sleepover which includes a ight tour barbeque anima feeding dawn walk and hand feeding of meerkats? my children have excelled far beyond our expectations and I no longer have a quiet shy little girl who depended upon her brother I have a very strong willed very funny and confident little girl.

These are my opinions once again and the way that I feel so please do not think I am degrading state school as I am not as it was good enough for us in the Uk as we basically couldn't afford private there.

Hope that answers some of your questions
C
XXX

my 2c....

I think private schools are fine..........if your child is middle of the road (and it's quite a wide middle!)

where they often fall down badly is either side of that...so if your child has any learning problems, or is particularly gifted, there generally isn't the structure to cope like the state schools have.

I know of kids in the private system who have got to their teens with undiagnosed severe learning difficulties.

Wasn't there a big outcry at the last election about Private Schools actually getting more government funding here than State Schools get?

Can't remember the exact details now, but I do remember it was one of the issues...

I still think two of the most important things any school can teach these days are first aid, and keyboard skills!!! My 8 year-old was teaching me how to do a Powerpoint presentation the other day.... I'm getting off the point though (for a change!)

On looking around various schools and chatting with various teachers, heads etc.., my daughter was asked to sit an exam to attain the year, the exam result....she got a scholorship :D
My daughter also went to the Zoosnooze.
Our son opted to repeat the year as he did not want to miss important course work for exams, he is mixed with younger and older students, loves school.

Oh and they both opted for state schools, and are very happy.
(Previous school had been private.)
I can see that state V private is a personnal issue but I fail to see how private schools can influence results, its the work your kids put in that make the difference.

Di

You bet they are cheaper than UK fees!

We pay 1200 pounds per month for our daughter to attend private school in the uk, that's 2'820 dollars per mth or 33'840 per annum. She will be commencing her final year in Sept (thank god) and her college and then university fees will not exceed $6k per year and I cant wait.

V

God where are you sending her? I wasnt aware any schools in the UK charged that much.

Actually I suppose when you add it up, it's £14,400 pa...and that does sound about right.

St Georges, Weybridge, but we call it St Mortgages.

V

I went to a school in Horsham called Farlington, and the old girls are affectionately known as Old Farts. Charming! :D I doubt we will send Charlie private as a) we cant really afford to and b) the schools out there seem fantastic.

Nice one thanks for taking it the right way Candice :yeehah: I could see how this could have turned into a touchy subject :D

A pat on the back to everyone for keeping it fluffy and in general discussion ;)

:D vince

No problem V but I know it does get up some peoples noses though but hey who is anyone to criticise anyone for their choice of schools? we all do it for a reason whether its right or wromg and it doesnt matter what others thin just what you feel is right for you and yours.
see you sat?
C
XXX