MikeStanton

League tables? For the 'best of...' have a look at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5ETEXT,00.html

The ACER news page also provides some good summary points (find one you are interested in, then try and search for further detail using Google) at: http://www.acer.edu.au/scholarships/newsroom.html

Sandra

You have access to all the government school - your children just cannot do the selective entrance exams to certain schools, eg North Sydney Boys (as was our case).

I would also add Sunny Sam has very good points on looking for a school for the child, here in Sydney it can be vital, we got a place for our daughter at Pymble Ladies College (private - v expensive and one of the best) decided we would be putting her under too much pressure from the acaedmic side and also the keeping up with the Jones - we would have had enough money to pay the fees but possibly very very few of the extras, which of course count for the child to be able to particpate on a level field.

I do not regret our choice to send her to the local primary, two years on she is a very happy girl and that scores very high on my list of what a school achieves.

hevs

Here here!!! Sorry to but in, i'm not in Sydney, but what Sandra says means the world. My kids run to school every day. My 6 year old used to "be ill" every day in England, he HATED school.

MrsDagboy

Trust me, if you took those results at face value, here in Qld at least you could end up in a LOT of trouble! :lecture:

MikeStanton

To help the readers of this thread, please be specific

ABCDiamond

LOL, I like that.
I feel quite intimidated driving my daughter to school in our little Daewoo Nubira. We must be going to a good school

I must start looking at some 4x4's, !!

Ambrose

NO!!!!

You must resist the dark side !!!:lecture:

NickyC

There are books that you can buy at the Newsagents and online which list all the schools (state and private) in the Sydney area. They give you a rundown on the facilities, extra-curricular activities plus an indication of fees, if any. Most of the info is provided by the schools themselves so you have to read between the lines. There's also some useful info regarding the NSW school system in it.

Have a look here -
http://isubscribe.shopsafe.com.au/Ma..._Child_NSW.htm

It is a book (not a magazine) that comes out annually. I have a very old copy of one and found it useful at the time. They have other editions for other states.

The Sydney Morning Herald also publishes a similar book each year, which I've also seen at newsagents.

MrsDagboy

1 of the schools mentioned is a mainly indigenous school, in the middle of nowhere in North Qld. 1 is in one of the worst socio-economic areas in Qld (I notice they do mention the AVERAGE mark going from a D to a C, that is definitely an achievement in Woodridge). 1 is in an extremely small country town in western Qld.

I think the definition of "best" school is very very subjective.

Jimbo9

Thanks all for the useful info & threads posted on this topic - hearing individuals own personal experiences is very interesting. We are going to visit over Easter and check out the schools on our shortlist. Ideally I'd like my girls to go to school locally, and there is a nice looking selective school in Caringbah. I do worry a bit about the entrance test - Will it contain a lot of Australia specific questions? Also my elder daughter's birthday is July30th, which I understand is one day before the cutoff to be in the next year, so she will be the youngest in her class by some way!!

Thanks Jim

NickyC

If your daughter's birthday is 30th July, then private schools will not take her in that year. Most of them have a much earlier cutoff date (around April/May). You'll also find that most kids with June/July birthdays are held back till the next year - even when they go to public schools. Parents generally try to avoid having their children be the youngest in the class - supposedly to give their kids an edge. So you could find that your daughter is not only the youngest - but the rest of them could be up to 18 months older.

Also the selective high school exams are taken in June of the previous year - don't know if you'll be here at that time, but I doubt if you can take the exams at a later date. You get the results in August. I think the test is mainly multiple choice. The info I had (from 2000) states:

'The first test session includes a practice test, instructions, a forty-minute test of English language, a forty-minute test of mathematics and collection of papers. The second test session includes instructions, a forty-minute test of general ability and collection of papers'.

They allow for recent migrants (and non-english-speaking backgrounds) so there would not be any Australian-specific questions.

mike7

Nicky,

I am slightly confused, the term selective high school - is this a public school that due to good performance has introduced an entrance exam or does it refer to private schools ?.

Also, we have two daughters who will be 11 & 9 on the 2nd & 13th July respectively. We arrive in Sydney on the 18th April 2004. Can you advise what is the procedure for enrolment / assessment for class allocation....will they be assessed by the school before they start ?.

Sorry for the questions, but trying to gain information on schooling especially in Sydney has been very difficult.

Any help you can give would be appreciated.


Regards

Michael

NickyC

Michael, generally 'selective' schools are government-run state schools (although there is one selective private school I'm aware of - Sydney Grammar which is a private boys school). There are about 15? of these selective schools in the Sydney area and they'd be similar to the old UK grammar schools that you needed to pass your 11+ to get in to. As I said earlier, competition to get into them is extremely fierce as there aren't that many of them. The extrance exam is a general one for all selective schools - the schools do not run their own exams.

My kids have only ever been at (private) school here so I don't really know the procedure for enrolling new arrivals. I think you can probably insist that a state school takes your child in the official year for their age (even if they turn out to be the youngest by a few months). A private school would probably assess them before placing them in a particular year. I'm talking independent private schools - not systemic catholic schools as I'm not sure of their system.

Most children of the age of yours (ie 9 and 11 in July) would officially be in Years 4 and 6 now - but if they were at a private school they'd more likely be in Years 3 and 5. So, if your elder daughter went into Year 6 when you arrive, she'd have to take the selective school exam a couple of months after you arrive - whereas if she went into Year 5, she'd have an extra year.
The primary schools all have info on the selective exams.

Hope this helps!

Nicky

mike7

Nicky,

Thanks for the information which is very helpful.

With regard to private schools, what is the ball park yearly fees ?. under a 457 sponsered visa, we have to pay $4,500 AUD for each of our girls to attend NSW public schools so going private is a real option.

Any information you can give would be appreciated.


Regards

Michael

Sandra

Mike 7

where are you going to live?

ball park does not count.........PLC - can cost as little as $8000 pa but by the time they go into each extra year....count on $15k before xtras in year 10/11 etc

private does not mean better - pay the money for a house and live in catchment for Killara - but on the opposite side they say here in sydney - good school means better job! regardless of qualifications.

where are you planning to work.....then look around, do you mind the girls travelling to school, or is being in the local area important? Are you willing to live in an area for local catchment but then travel yourself?

If on a 457....the kids can go to local schools, but the selective grammer process is not an option - because they get scholorship - not available to 457 peopls in NSW.

sorry PM me if I am not making sense, my girl is 11, boy 13

cheers