Allymac29

I have looked ant the school year starts at the end of January I have a 9 7 and 3 yr old. Any good advice on how different the Oz system is pls

quoll

They'll end up after Uni roughly equivalently educated. Fewer exams. 4 term years. Long holidays over Christmas. Fewer resources for special needs (in general). Less rigor (in general). But the kids will probably be quite happy, possibly more bullied. It'll cost you more with "voluntary contributions" and you will forever have your hand in your pocket for this or that. Each state is different and the cut off for school entry ranges from end April to end July depending on the state you go to.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Australia

WombatStew

Why more bullied?

Traveller1972

Hello, new on this forum (but 18 years in OZ from UK!)

I have 2 children ages 14 and 17. Both are in private school something we could never have afforded in the UK. The good thing with Australia is that there are affordable private schools, unlike in the UK where you have to be wealthy to pay fees. Private schools here range of course and you can pay top money for the best. But a private education is accessible for the more ' normal' of us.

I have heard that the public schools here do ask parents for money, as quoll says but can't say how much/often.

It's great having the long summer holiday over Christmas too.

I went to normal state schools in England and hated most of my time there, just happy I didn't have to put my children through the same!

quoll

A lot of people choose private because they don't like what the government system offers! In ACT for example, close to 50% of HS kids are in private schools - reasons usually given include structure, pastoral care, behaviour management. I doubt anyone would really want to fork out for private unless they felt they had to (we did, I admit, because I saw first hand the offerings of the local HS and no way was I going to toss my kids into such a bear pit! Scared the pants off me, lord knows what it would have done to a 12 yr old!)

scrubbedexpat020

I'll support the public school system in Aus. Daughter went to bog-standard public school in the eastern suburbs followed by Melbourne Uni, KPMG, and now in NY. Son went to a public school before transferring to select-entry Melbourne High, followed by Melbourne Uni. I think private schools in Aus are over-played; unless you go to one in the inner suburbs there's no difference in academic performance relative to public (gov.) schools.

As in UK it comes down to the area. In nice areas you get nice schools. Aus isn't like UK in that there are lots of horrible areas: there are very few. If parents want to send their kids to private school, good on them. But, please, the public system is pretty good.

rasen78

As with everything there is good and bad with both systems. It pays to do your research when you get here and visit the different choices. Listen to the locals and get their views on local schools, bearing in mind, everyone has different opinions and perspectives. We are quite happy with the local public primary school and DS will be going to the local public high school next year. All state schools will have some kind of fee, to cover the cost of materials, equipment and trips. These fee will vary from school to school, as will the cost of uniforms.

One thing to bear in mind with private schools, is that many of them will be affiliated with a religion. This is definitely the case in SA.

Check which year your LOs will be in. Ours are both May children and are the youngest in their year. We could have held them back a year, but felt that they wouldn't have been challenged enough.

Pollyana

Your two certainly seem to be doing well, and from what I know of them they thrive on being challenged and pushed a little. The school systen seems to be suiting them

Beoz

I agree. Academic performance is often due to the individual and not the school. That said I will still spend the money sending my son to a private school. He may not be an academic performer but he may be able to grab hold of the extra bits to nudge past that mark required for a a uni place ...... or he might have the opportunity to try his hand at music, excel in rugby, join the ski team, learn some outward bound, continue a set of contacts after he leaves the school and if we are lucky, the parents may develop another social circle out of the school.

Alfresco

I agree with this.

ozzieeagle

I think in essence this reflects the homognised nature of Aus society.... There are far far more people at the same sort of level in Aus.

My kids state primary school in the inner north came out top including over the private schools in lots of areas of the Naplan test... not that really means anything. I think what was more interesting about it was how the people from different backgrounds came and mixed at the same level. IE: The Age and ABC Journalist, medical background, Research scientist and teaching type parents, with the new migrants with zero predjudice. It's a bit like being taught your part of our society.

That was this school

Brunswick South Primary School

Beoz

Private schools is not about education. Its about life. Public school is solely about education.

Kim67

Private schooling (in my recent experience) is all about the image of the school rather than the well being of the students. Kids get preferential treatment based on their parents income and social status. For example the Head Boy from Churchie that was found to be dealing at school (dad was some well known barrister) and instead of being expelled like most other kids would have been under the same circumstances, he was allowed to leave the school with a clean record and transfer to Grammar so that his sports scholarship to the US wasn't affected the following year.

My kids have had both good and bad experiences in private and public schooling, but I'm quite happy with the life experience they're getting at their state school currently. In addition to a pretty good education, they are taught just as much about life as their private school peers. In fact, I reckon my eldest is a bit more chilled and knowledgeable about a lot of every day life situations (like how to behave when there are teenage boys around) than some of her girls only school buddies. You may be surprised at the types of things kids are doing while still at school these days. This little guy is in my youngest daughter's class and his been doing this since they were in about grade 4 I think (they're about to go into grade 8). Football. Play it Forward - Mac MillarMac Millar. He sends soccer balls to kids in third world countries. It started out with him organising Brisbane based soldiers to take a pile of balls to kids in Afghanistan and has snow balled over the years. He's always off overseas speaking at conferences and hanging out with the kids he sends the balls to. No greater lesson in life than that.

Beoz

Depends on what your definition of life is. It could be about send soccer balls to the worlds poor. It could be about dealing drugs. It could be about joining the cadets. It could be about after school trombone lessons. It could be about spending school holidays on a school organised ski trip to Aspen. It could be about securing a lucrative business deal through a contact in the old boys union.

The point is, if you can pay, you expect more and if you choose, you can get more.

Kim67

My point is, that's not necessarily the case with all state education. I've paid the big bucks to send the kids to private schools and they're currently in a state school that offers everything their private education did.