Must be the time of year for looking around schools :D. I'm looking for any info on St Johns, particularly for High School age.

Cheers guys

Louise

A friend of mine teaches there and as far as i know he thinks it is a great school.

I know 3 families whos kids go here, they are all Ozzies, one has removed her 2 , one is thinking about it, the other is keeping hers there.

They say it is a fantastic school, but the fees are too expensive for the first 2, the last one doesnt care about the price as her in laws pay!!! :lol:
sarah

I know someone who teaches there as well. Lovely guy. It's supposed to be a good school. I think some subjects are significantly stronger than others. English is good there, as is Art. I might send my kids there if I lived next door to it and I had money to burn. I do think, and this is my opinion only, that if the purpose is only to send a kid to private school because you don't want them in a state school (for whatever reason), that there are better options in the same price range. I don't personally think it is any better academically, for instance, than several of the state schools in a 5km radius. There are kids there who only go there because their parents think they are better than others and don't want their kids to mix with the "rabble". Others like the more conservative approach or the fact that they have chapel and scripture readings every morning etc. I applied for a job there as a lab technician last year and they have one lab technician for all three sciences :unsure: .. Not exactly a sign of excellence, IMHO.... but the people I have dealt with at the school are all very friendly.

I know of people whose kids go there and they seem to be pleased...

Tell you what though.... :sign53: useless at Netball!!

My daughter goes to Reynella East Primary school and they have a year 6/7 netball team. They play every saturday morning in a tournament, where the majority of the schools are private colleges, such as Westminster, St Johns, Cabra etc...

I do laugh as all these private schools turn up in their lovely plush expensive netball kits...with matching tracksuits as well...our girls turn in up in their school uniform...and whatever fleece/top they decided to put on in the morning..yes that's their netball kit.....and so far half way through the season, we have beat the lot!...second half about to start with the return matches against all the schools....

I have to say i am very suprised by the standard....when we saw the schedule, we thought we were going to be slaughtered every week!.....I expected the standard of the teams to be alot higher from private colleges than they are...

so if it is sporting excellence you are after....might be worth thinking again.. :lol2:


lorraine
x

Thanks for your replies guys. I should perhaps have said that I'm asking for a friend of mine whose son will start High School in 2 years time. He has some difficulties and she feels that the local State High School might not deal with them well. I think she liked the more conservative approach there as her son reacts well to that kind of atmosphere (he's a definate 'nerd' - her words not mine :doh:). He's also not into netball so that shouldn't be an issue :lol:.

They don't have money to burn but are prepared to find the money if it's a good place for her son. She really liked the school for her son but our principle didn't have a good word to say about the place.

Louise

Friend of mine sends her two children there - primary school age. They are VERY pleased with the school. Her son has some slight learning difficulties and they were picked up very quickly and dealt with sympathetically.
Mandy

Hi Louise

My son goes there - he's in year 11 though so if you asked him if he likes it there he'd probably reply as a typical 16 year old that its "OK"? The fees are considered to be mid range, between $8k to $9.5k a school year depending on which year the child is in, but its payable quarterly so makes it more manageable.

The school itself is lovely, beautiful setting and nice grounds. The beauty of it for me when we first moved here was the size - it only has around 600 students across all the years so that was what drew me to the school (not like the UK Comprehensives with 30+ kids to each class). The teachers and the staff are very approachable and the school does not push religion particularly hard either which was a bonus for us. Their focus is more "community spirit" which I think is great.

When we got here my son was 15 and as an only child I thought he would be able to integrate batter with a smaller school community.

Sorry can't give any comment as to whether they are any good handling learning difficulties though - perhaps your friend should pay them a visit to discuss - I think they are quite accommodating for interested parents.

Lorraine