karlphillips

Have a job offer to start in Sydney 1st September so planning to move out with family mid August. (Not the cheapest time to travel but no real choice.)
I have a 12 year old daughter who currently goes to a grammar school and want to get her into a roughly equivalent (academic) school in Sydney.

What are the steps to go through?

When should I start the process? (or have I already missed the boat?)

Who should I be talking to and when?

Does anyone have any recommendations for schools to contact/look at? (or schools to avoid and why?)

Are there any shortcuts/quick tips that people can offer?

Is it worth contacting one of those executive relocation bureaus to see if they can help? or are they a waste of moeny?

Any and all advice welcomed as this is my big worry at the moment.

Karl

feline

Hi Karl

My husband and I are moving out to Sydney in September too. My husband is Australian, and I did live there with him for three year back in 1996.

We are in the same position as you with our older son who is 8. School term starts on 31st Jan unlike ours 3rd September.

They do not seem to have an OFSTED or ISSIS so its quite difficult to know which school is the best, on the upside, there is less stress and pressure on children with exams because of that.

I do know of a good grammar school in Dee Why, which is two beaches north of Manly. Some of the private junior schools feed into there so it cant be bad.

I recommend you stay up at midnight and call them to see what year your child slots into and if they have any places available. I am about to do that tonight with a prep school that looked rather good on the internet.

I do know that Sydney Grammar School is supposed to be the highest performing school, however, it is based in the City so I doubt it will have much in the way of sports facilities.

You will need a reference from the Headmaster of your daughters school and innoculation certificates (they are very anal about vaccinations)

Where do you want to live in Sydney?

realestate.com.au will guide you for properties to rent if you know what suburb you would like to live in.
Good Luck

feline

Sorry I just read you other questions, the internet along with a map of sydney will prove far more helpful than a relocation company. If you are working in the City there is the North Shore train line that can take you to Hornsby in 40minutes and they have a good Grammar School there.

Going south it gets more densely populated, more concrete, less trees and greenery and is very much inner city living. You have Rose Bay, Double Bay and Vaucluse, these inlets next to the City which are elegant, but I do prefer the beaches North Shore from Manly stretching up to Palm Beach. From Manly it takes 15mins to get to the City.

Look up on the internet Grammar Schools in NSW, and then find them on the map. I doubt very much you will live further north than Palm Beach or inland which would be Asquith. Going West is where all the crime is so avoid that, particularly Penrith.

I would definitely start looking at schools soon because often it will be the school that dictates where you live and not the job. Bear in mind when phoning schools are on holiday between 27 June to 22nd July.... YIKES!

quoll

In Aus, Grammar schools are private schools so Sydney Grammar for example is going to cost you about $15k pa but there are selective High Schools - see here and, yes, the selection process is taking place about now. However if your child has passed the 11+ you could write to one of the selective schools (the link to the list of them all on that site didnt seem to be working) and check to see if they would consider that.

Private schools - you will need to approach individually to check and see if they have places. Year 7 is a general intake year and kids will make the move from state to private at that stage. Fees will vary - if you go for one of the "name" schools then it is going to be around the $15K mark or probably even more given that you are talking Sydney rates. Catholic schools are cheaper.

For anything else, basically you just rock up with an address (preferably in the priority enrolment area), a visa which shows you are entitled to a free education and your vaccination certificates and they will enrol based on birth date.

NickyC

All good advice.

Would add that Sydney Grammar is a boys school - so not much good for academic daughters - but it does have extensive sporting facilities despite being inner city. That's one of the advantages of existing for well over a hundred years - they bought their sports fields when Rushcutters Bay was an outer suburb.

Definitely check out the selective schools. They're very academic (and entry is extremely competitive) but if you can manage to get a spot your school problems are over. There are a multitude of private coaching colleges that exist purely to get primary kids to do well in the selective school entrance exam. Don't underestimate how hard these kids work to get a place, the standard is very high.

OzSheila

If they have come from a good primary school in the UK they shouldn't have too much problem getting in. DD is in Victoria's only select girls school and passed the exam despite being up to 18 months younger than her peers and without any additional coaching. Indeed we were told that the ones who needed coaching to get in, invariably are the ones that struggle once they are in.

HTH

Rosscarbery

I presume you realise that that's mid-term? T3 starts in NSW on 12st July and runs until 26th September.

Killara High is supposed to be the highest achieving public school in Sydney. As it's a public school they would have to take your daughter if you live in the catchment area (you will see rentals being advertised as "Killara High catchment"). Out of area not a hope and Killara is expensive, but once she's in she's in so if you move later she wouldn't lose her place.

There are endless private options including a lot of single sex high schools if that's what you're after. If you are on a 457 visa you will have to pay $4,500 pa for public schools anyway, so it might be worth while going private. Some of the private schools will charge you "international fees" on that visa, others won't so you need to ask. I'm guessing you're looking for a Y8 space? That will be much easier than if you were looking for Y7. Lots of people here send their kids to public primary schools then pay for High school so Y7 is generally the most difficult year to get a space in. I got a space for my son last year in term 4 of Y8 with no problem.

My top tip would be take your time and choose the right school, and it is highly unlikely that you will know what that is until you are actually here and can look around. We put our son into the local high school when we arrived as we wanted him to start as quickly as possible. We took him out after 7 weeks and sent him private which was unsettling for him and we ended up buying 2 lots of uniform within a term!

NickyC

It might be a slightly different scenario in NSW.

In NSW, the coaching colleges are almost entirely filled with asian children who study for long periods to ensure that they are the top achievers in the exam results - and the top achievers get all the coveted places.

They do the coaching to get the edge over everyone else in the exams - not because they'd struggle otherwise. These are all very bright kids who would do well at the school - but only if they can get a place. In recent years it's turned into a real vicious circle - once a few kids have coaching, everyone who wants to compete with them on an even footing has to have coaching too.

Getting these places is not easy in NSW. It really is a horrible, competitive system.

MartinH

We went through this last year with our 16 year old daughter and 12 year old son. Most of the good points have already been made - however IMHO if you visit the private schools on the North Shore then it will be difficult for you to contemplate sending your daughter anywhere else - the facilities and general standards are very high. However, you are looking at close to $20k per annum (but she's worth it!) once you factor in uniforms etc.

We came on a reccie last October (before moving in Janaury) and did the schoool visits then (we prearranged them in advance) although one school accepted us for a visit but then told us they didn't have a place when we went along (!) which was really annoying.

Our daughter is now in Ravenswood and is doing extremely well both from a study point of view and from a social persepctive so I think it has been a good choice.

Katherined0

If you were interested in the private school system there is a list of schools here:
http://www.studentnet.edu.au/DeskTop....aspx?tabid=98

NickyC

It's OK, my kids (thankfully!) have finished with school.

We went through the private system (both primary and high) in Sydney. Have to admit that one of the happiest days of my life was when we paid the final school fees bill .

Forest tim

One of the best schools in the Northern Beaches area for girls is Mackellar. There is alink to it here:

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/school...cord&code=8831

This is a state school (girls only) and no fees are payable. But it has a very good reputation and my daughter will be going there next year for year 7.

My wife works in Sydney Church of England Grammar (SCEGS) and this is a true private school. It has also has a very good reputation and is located in Cremorne.

I think the first choice you have to make is where to live and then take it from there......

Good luck

Gibbo

James Ruse, selective high school, Carlingford, north west Sydney, consistently out performes any other high school, public and private, in the HSC. You could try to get your daughter in. Good luck!

vickys

We're hopefully moving in September to Dapto, can anyone offer me any advice regarding the school situation around the area at all? I have contacted both Dapto Primary and St johns (Catholic) schools and they tell me that i will have to pop into reception for information as they can't send it to me when i'm still in the UK without a definate date for moving. No matter how hard i try or where i look i cannot find any info regarding any private schools near by or anything about the reputation of any of the schools. Please help

karlphillips

Thanks to all for the messages.

Have now contacted a few schools. As we are probably going in August we are trying to get our daughter into school for the 4th term of year 7 but not having any luck with state selective schools. Don't want to put her in a school for one term and then change schools again so are now looking at private schools. Ravenswood and Pymble have both got places at the right time but the costs!!!!!!

Has anyone got personal experiences of these two schools for their girls that they can pass on that might help us in our choices?

Also where are good affordable places to live where we can get my daughter to these schools and I can still get to the CBD with a reasonable commute time (under an hour)

Thanks again for the help.

Karl