steve`o

coombabah albany or benowa thats the question

Ive been looking at an area to live based on schools
as i consider my child's education as a high priority
so Ive found three seemingly good schools one in each of the above areas and wanted some local knowledge regarding these different areas

are they considered good places to bring up kids
are they safe
are there plenty of local amenities

thanks in advance

Steve

Jonahs_mummy

Steve

hi there - if you have a look at my website www.goldcoastsmile.com/suburbs.htm there is a great suburb guide on there that I hope will help!

Claire
x

steve`o

already done that claire but thanks for the post

anyone else??

best regards steve

moneypenny20

Have been here about six weeks now but have spent about two years trying to work out best schools - I have one of high school age and one going to primary. Why have you singled out those particular schools? From what I have found, the majority of state schools on CG have very good reports. I have only found two or three that I wouldn't be happy for my girls to go to (not the ones you mention )

Obviously it depends on your child and what their requirements are, but to be honest, I would wait until you get here and find an area you would want to live in before making the decision.

We were fairly certain which schools we wanted and so pinned down an area. When we actually got here, found we preferred a totally different area of GC and in fact the girls preferred the schools we hadn't even considered.

Rambling now, sorry, tired. shout if you want any other info.

Rooksie

Hi Pen - how did you go about actually researching the schools? i have looked at websites etc but have you found a government website that actually publishes schools inspection reports and results etc? that would be fab!! id love to have a gander at something like that

cheers mate

j x

moneypenny20

Bugger, just typed a long answer and lost my connection - I HATE dial up

Try again:

They don't do league tables or things like that yet. Planning on bringing it in either later this year or next I think.

Mainly went on gut instinct. Checked out ALL web sites for both High and Primary (ignored private or religious) If the web site was rubbish, the school went to the bottom of the list (figured if they couldn't be bothered with the internet, what was the rest of the school like!)

Rang or e-mailed them all. If they responded, they got a bonus point. If they didn't, one got taken away. If they sent information, bonus point and so on. Asked lots of questions, both of the schools and on here.

When we got here we drove around ALL the High Schools (decided they were the more important). If the outside was not nice, points taken away. Went into all the Admin offices and talked. They got points for good or bad service. The girls obviously gave their imput.

Got it pinned down to about three Highs. Found this house and the list went down to two - one being higher on our list than then other so went with it.

Tiddler's was a bit easier. Had to feed into the High school and we basically looked at the two or three nearest then asked about. Settled on hers. They start on Monday week so we shall see but when we have been out and about and the subject comes up (which it does a lot) with locals, they have all said positive stuff about both schools.

After choosing them, we then found out that the girls get free bus passes and the bus passes the house so even more bonus points

Rooksie

WOW!!!! well done you !!!

well so far i have emailed all the catholic primary schools on GC and SC and NOT ONE of them has replied to me!!! that was about 8 weeks ago humph!!

back to the drawing board for me then!!

moneypenny20

They have been shut for most of that so hopefully if they are any good you should get responses in the next few weeks. I don't know if they have longer holidays than the state schools or not. But shout if you want me to do anything. Probably easier from this end - you never know I might get converted Possibly not

Rooksie

a donation usually helps (did i just say that )

thanks mate

steve`o

i like the idea of the bonus point system
"reminder to self to apply the same"

thanks for your replies so far

regards steve

steve`o

help please

moneypenny20

It really depends on what you want. Personally I wouldn't want to live at Benowa but only because it is too close to Bundall and Surfers. Coombabah is nice but growing fast. Opposite of Benowa - It is a little out of the way for my preference but again, I don't know what you want.

Where is Albany? Never heard of it.

steve`o

albany creek in pine rivers shire

moneypenny20

Oh sorry. Assumed you were looking at Gold Coast. You need a Brisbanite for that one.