smita

We are looking at these three schools for our son he has just started year 10 under the UK system in September and will move to Adelaide in January.
Based on your experiences - will he enter year 10 or year 11 as I have heard that school years are slightly different (he was born in 94)
We like all three schools, but have not had a chance to visit them yet. Welcome your thoughts on your personal preference, we have found that a half day visit does not really give a true picture of the school. Many thanks

mr mover

You might be better off asking this question on this forum.
http://www.adelaide-brits.com/forum/...4472ef79d62fa3
I cant think of any one in here {Adelaide based} who is financialy advantaged enough to be able send there children , any one of these fine schools...................mm

mohogony

St Peters is the best, The school grounds, buildings and facilities are really great. l think they also have alot of top quality teachers imported from the Uk , but they don't just let anyone in l think even if you have the money the kids grades from their past school need to be good.

mr mover

Smita , disregard this post , as the 3 schools offer the same facilitys across the board...............mmmm

sam8145

OK

I know these schools very well and would make these comments:

St Peters is the most pretigious boys school in Adelaide, marginally ahead of PAC. It has incredible grounds, building and standards of education...I wouldn't hesitate in saying it has the best sporting grounds/facilities of any school in Adelaide. Sure Westminster and Scotch have amazing grounds, but Saints is on another level.

Saints would suit someone who needs a little more discipline in my opinion. Whereas Scotch and Westminster may be a little less old school.

For boys and girls schools i would also highly recommend Pembroke in Kensington which is in my opinion the best coed school in Adelaide, although Scotch is also very good. Again Pembroke is a little more liberal than Saints. Pembroke generally has a large waiting list and never advertises so it may be too late to enrol, but worth checking.

If your son is obsessed with sports I'd recommend Saints...the social aspect for parents is also very good. However Pembroke in my opinion is worth considering ahead of Westminster and Scotch and for a coed education.

Just my thoughts.

mohogony

Read sam8145 post mr mover l'm right st Peters has the best grounds, building and facilities, It would match the top most expensive UK schools,.But if your kid does'nt have a good academic and behaviour record from past school they might not let him in.

smita

Thank you all for your insights - I very much appreciate your comments. My son comes from a school where there is very little discipline problems and has not really seen or experienced the old school force. Sam (+others), can you say a little more about Saints' discipline style. My son works better under positive encouragement.
His strength is the sciences/technical/geography - welcome your thoughts/experiences with schools' respective strenghts in these areas
I am very impressed by Saints academic record,especially since it is not a selective school.

mohogony

l went to Saints for a couple of years in the 80's, discipline was very strict, anyone that doesn't behave they just expel them from the school even for minior things, alot of kids got kicked out when l was there, its pity much one strike your out, no appeals no second chances.

sam8145

I think Saints will always have a higher level of discipline than Scotch or Pembroke due to the history of the school and the fact that it is a boys school...If your son is well behaved he will have no issues, but if he isn't I would think he'd be sorted out very quickly. The school is well known for upholding appearances and it is common to have the head boy go to the city and make sure students have their blazers on/socks pulled up! Uncommon in Oz teachers are called Sir and Miss etc. I really wouldn't let this put you off, it is an incredible school.


Yes, academically the school does very well, but no better than Scotch or Pembroke. When I was in Adelaide, Pembroke definately had the best academic results even with a large proportion of the high achieving students completing the International Baccalaureate.

Pembroke and Scotch, being newer schools have a newer approach to discipline.. I don't think they have many discipline issues, although like many wealthy schools drugs can be an issue.

It's also worth looking at where your going to live. Scotch is on the South side, Saints is basically the City (east side), Pembroke is East and Westminster is South West. West obviously has the beach, but the most prestigious leafy suburbs are inner North, Inner South (Springfield, Malvern, Unley) and East generally.

If I was you I'd look at Saints, Pembroke and Scotch. Maybe Westminster if your near the beach...

mohogony

Saint Peters is pity much like that school in the 'Film Dead Poets society', l guess some parents would like to send their kids to schools like that while others would hate to.

Mipik

I would second the comments about Pembroke being the most academically focused of all these schools. Plus being coeducational for us this was an obvious choice. Not easy to get in though.


And agree with sam's comments about the importance of where do you live. Not much fun in taking an hour to get to school. For us it was choose a school and than find somewhere close to live.

smita

Thank you all for your most useful comments. You have pointed out some of the issues that we had not considered. Yours thoughts/experiences have helped us a lot in narrowing down our options. Cheers

Irish Guinness

Both my Grandsons went to these colleges one attended St Peters the other Westminister !!!!
Have got to say my daughters could not fault either one, very happy with results from both their boys...

Fardell

My son attends St Peters and my comment would be that although it may have had an old-fashioned image that is probably no longer an entirely true reflection of the schools persona. The comments about it being less liberal than some of the other schools are fair I think, but this is largely a consequence of it being a boys only school, and I tend to favour the view that boys (generally) thrive best when given freedom within clear boiundaries. Obviously, however, much depends on your child's personality. Facilities are absolutely first rate and perhaps more importantly the school seems to have stable, high quality teaching staff.

From a practical perspective it is now late September and you may not have a real choice available to you - most of the schools have waiting lists and you need to contact them as soon as possible to determine whether places exist.