Hi all!
We're going to Melbourne in October and November of this year, no relatives and friends are there, d'not know anything either, so asking for help to those who are already living in Australia
We have three children, so the issue of school choice is very important for us, really want to choose the best and d'not be mistaken.
Interested in free not privet schools.

http://www.bettereducation.com.au/sc...y_schools.aspx


I began research on this site, but number one on the list -
Beverly Hills primary School - study Chinese
Doncaster Gardens Primary School - study Chinese

that's great, but it is not for us .....

http://www.bettereducation.com.au/sc...y_schools.aspx


I began research on this site, but number one on the list -
Beverly Hills primary School - study Chinese
Doncaster Gardens Primary School - study Chinese

that's great, but it is not for us .....

http://www.bettereducation.com.au/sc...y_schools.aspx

I began research on this site, but number one on the list -
Beverly Hills primary School - study Chinese
Doncaster Gardens Primary School - study Chinese

that's great, but it is not for us .....

My advice, try to tie into secondary school too, as you may find you have a great primary but the secondary not so hot.
Do you have an area to work in, therefore determining where you can live?

Do not read too much into Naplan results. Incredibly, kids who are expected to fail Naplan have the option of not taking it if the school chooses, thereby skewing the results!

So ensure that the whole school community is taking the tests before believing the % pass rate.

BB

My husband plans to work in Melbourne univrsitete, but he does not mind at a distance of about an hour, from the work.

If you're looking at state primary schools, McKinnon is supposed to be very good but they're extremely strict on being in the area. Another website to check out is www.myschool.edu.au which rates the Naplan results, among other things, but as Buzzy says, they're not the be all and end all.

Personally I think with schools you just have to look around and go with your instincts. Our daughter is in her third (and hopefully last) primary school and it seems to be the best one we've found for her. Our son has started there this year too and is going well so far. They're both at Mt Waverley which doesn't feature on a lot of people's radar, but its a good family suburb and the school is really popular.

One thing I would say with Doncaster and surround areas is that I believe the suburb is nice enough, but there's no train service so you're stuck with buses on the Eastern Freeway if you need to commute into the city. Its doable, but would be a long and annoying commute compared with other areas.

Having two kids I agree schools are very important, but you also need to look at where you want to live - inner city, beach, mountains, etc. and take that into consideration as well. Melbourne is a huge city and depending on where you will be working there are numerous areas to look at.

General rule of thumb is that the school usually reflects the suburb and if you wouldn't want to live in a suburb then you wouldn't want your kid to go to school there. You won't find "the best" school in Melbourne - it's a huge city and no formal rankings of schools anyway. Your first priority will be to find a place you can live in 24/7, that has all the facilities you need, the access you require, a rent you can afford and availability. We could suggest you live in Carlton or Toorak but you might not be able to find/afford a place so first find your home and the school will fall into place. Government schools are obliged to find places for kids in their catchment areas.

What kind of suburb you want to live in?
Do you also want state school for secondary?

Why? I can't think of a better language to learn. My son's school study ridiculous languages like Italian, which I find utterly pointless and probably just a hangover from Melbourne's previous immigration.

it's probably best that you wait till you come over to go visit the schools as it's the gut feel which means the most. apart from it being a "good" school, you need to also think of how much rent you are prepared to pay weekly as this again will determine which suburbs are okay for you. Do also remember, the better schools are zoned and this will also be reflected in the rental prices quoted. Plus Melbourne Uni isn't the best place to commute to even on a good traffic day so if I were you I would be inclined to look in the Northern Suburbs & some of the suburbs off the Eastern Freeway. Good luck!

Agree... My son is learning Chinese..... If all predictions are correct, they will be soon ruling the world, so we figured Australia will need people that can communicate with and understand their cultures.

Agree with you

You obviously remember hours of Maoritanga?

Hi Oxana,

We got great advice on here while planning our move a few years back. We're looking at schools for the kids now, with the first due to start primary soon, so here's my two cents, based on our journey so far. We came here knowing nobody and never having visited.

To add to earlier comments, there's probably no such thing as a 'best' school... apart from being able to access housing nearby, and other lifestyle factors, there's also a need maybe for the 'best' school for your kids, which might not be the best for other peoples kids. So many variables... ability, learning style, relative wealth, culture, religion (if any), hopes, plans, and so on.

We've only lived in the inner city and east/ south-east suburbs so far.

We bought a house a few years back (for life!!) but just sold up and moved to a rental because we heard too much negative comment on schools in our former local area.

Totally agree with the person earlier who said it might be a good idea to wait until you're over here to decide.

For us, we are looking at schools in Mount Waverley, Oakleigh, Mentone... these areas and some areas nearby have highly-rated schools on the 'myschool' website, but that does not automatically mean the kids will be happy - if fact we have come to think that the wrong school (with good rating or not) might be worse than an average school with the right environment for our kids. We know a couple of teachers at decent schools here, that's what they say.

A one hour commute should be doable to the uni from here, I might be wrong though!

For us, nothing beats a tour of the school, preferably with the principal, and we have met a good few interesting ones so far and they all seem to have their own way of looking at education. We find that really positive and it also makes it impossible to suggest the name of a school!

Hope it works out for you.