Shakmaty

Got a freebie mag through today about Private schools in Melbourne today. It isn't exhaustive, but includes the following schools:

Caulfield Grammar
Firbank Grammar
Haileybury
Huntingtower
Kilvington
Lauriston
Loreto Mandeville
Melbourne Girls Grammar
Melbourne Grammar
Mentone Girlls' Grammar
Mentone Grammar
Methodist Ladies College
Shelford Girls Grammar
St Catherine's
St Kevin's College
St Leonard's College
St Michael's Grammar
Wesley College

There is info about the schools, fees, curriculum etc, so if anyone is interested in any school in particular, then post here and I'll put some stuff up. Otherwise, I'll slowly put the info up a bit at a time when I've got time BTW, I teach at a couple of these schools so can give a general feeling of the schools as well

bezzanbob

Dear Shakmaty,

I for one would be really interested in this information.

Having only ever taught in independent schools this would be the type of schools I would look to gain a position at: is there an online version of the magazine or is it possible to send a request to somewhere/someone?

Which schools do you work at? I have visited Haileybury and Killington whilst doing some research, and also Trinity Grammar.

Guess these are mainly what I might recognise as GPS schools having worked there in the past.

Bezza

stevensfamily

Thank you so much for offering your help. This is obviously one of the biggest worries for parents emigrating, "what school, private or Government". Our children have been through British forces schooling abroad most of their lives and I believe have had the advantages and disadvantages of this. Our eldest will be starting secondary school in Australia and giving her a settled education is of the upmost importance (she is 11 had 7 schools so far due to military moves and our son is 8 and on his 3rd school). The main concern is Private or Government?. We hope to live in Mount Eliza and have looked at Frankston High, Mount Eliza Secondary and The Peninsular school. Now obviously The Peninsular school fees are around $14,000 per year + other expenses. This is affordable but as both my husband and I went through state schooling we need to be assured that this offers advantages to our children. They are both bright children (although my daughter tends to be a little lazy) and are doing very well through their current state funded schooling (top 10%). I also like the fact that they are well rounded individuals. In Australia does having a private school on your CV open doors like in the UK? i.e if you have two people exactly the same applying for a job instinctively employers tend to favour the Private School CV (I now this is not talked about but it does happen). If Australia is like this then the fees are a small sacrifice for this "leg up". Do you get places in University easier if you went to Private School?

I am sorry this is a rather strange reply to your post but with you working in the Australian schooling system I would appreciate your insight on this. My children currently do well at school and therefore I hate to say it but it is the status aspect that will partly influence are discission. Please do not take this the wrong way as primarily we want them to be happy at school and the general feel of the school and its ethos will be primarily the most important part of our choices however if both schools feel happy and have a good feel about them is there an advantage to our child's future by having been to a Private school?

I would really appreciate your advice on how you see the schooling system in Australia compared to UK.

Cheryl

bezzanbob

Cheryl,

This might be interest: visited Frankston on last visit to Aus.

Head has just retired - very innovative and raised the profile of school: one of the few state schools to have been at the forefront of laptop schemes.

We would hope to be able to go down the private schools out there for our daufghters given our expereinces as teachers and the fact that there are reduced fees for staff.

Bezza

stevensfamily

Thanks Bezza,

My Aunt lives in Victoria (Drouin near Warragul 1 1/2 hours out of Melbourne in Gippsland), her three girls go to Private schools and she mentioned Frankston High to us as having a great reputation. We aim to have a look at Frankston, Mount Eliza secondary and The Peninsular school and hope that when we walk around we will just know which one fits our children best. Thanks for your help and good luck on finding a teaching post will look out for you letting us all know you have got a job.

Thanks again,

Cheryl

Kapri

Can't afford private school for my kids much as I'd like to.
They'll just have to take their chances at the local Bogan school

stevensfamily

Frankston High and Mount Eliza are both Government State schools it is only The Peninsular school that is private. We plan to look at all three and see which one fits best. The frustrating thing is enroling the children, when can you?. We will not have a home address until we rent but we would hope to have the kids on a school list before we come over for good so that they can start straight away? How have others overcome this problem?

Cheryl

Shakmaty

I'm an extracurricula teacher, and have worked at Trinity, Shelford, Firbank, Wesley, Glamorgan Geelong Grammar, Brighton Grammar, Westbourne Grammar, amongst others.

I haven't found a website for the magazine so I'll keep it and post some of the more interesting things from it. Maybe I'll even start something in that wiki

Shakmaty

Hi Cheryl, this is only my opinion....private schools do tend to have better results for university entry than state schools (this is a huge generalisation), which may be attributed to a number of factors such as smaller class sizes and an ethos of achievement in academic studies.

However, bright kids usually succeed whatever the school (except for perhaps some kids who slip through the net), and a lot of state schools offer services to cater for bright kids. There is also the possibility of transferring from a state school to a private through scholarship at virtually any time up to year 9. Private schools success rates can also be looked at with this in mind. They offer free/cut-price places to exceptional kids making their own success rate better.

Normal day-to-day school life is the same in all of the schools here. Bullying, typical adolescent problems, failure through overpressuring and boredom through underencouragement, competitiveness in all spheres of school life, etc. No matter whether it is state or private, these things happen. My big advice would be to visit the schools themselves before sending your kids there....even with the kids if possible, and choose a school on feelings rather than results. If your kid is happy they are more likely to flourish.

Good luck

Shakmaty

Plenty of really good state schools...and don't forget the scholarship route, if you'd really like to send them to private...

stevensfamily

Thank you for your fantastic advice. I have involved my daughter and shown her the websites for the schools we are looking at and yes we will take both my son and daughter to schools so we all get a "feel" for them. Thank you for your help. I suppose my biggest worry is bullying and having dragged my children to Oz that is something I would hate for them to experience

Cheryl

Willij

An Australian we spoke to recently (Melbourne born and schooled) gave us his opinion - private schooling if you want your children to "get on and be able to network effectively".

stevensfamily

Looks like its the same as UK then. I was educated in State schools but went to Oxford Brookes (all other students had been Privately Educated except me) I had top results but I hate to say it didnt have the "old school" networking skills/ public speaking/ confidence that is built in as part of private education (and yes that is a chip on my shoulder!!!). Anyway I have worked hard all my life and am proud of my achievements and I dont think my having to work that bit harder has been a bad thing BUT do I want my kids to do it to prove a point NO do I want to give them the extra advantages having a good secondary school on CV YES i hate to say it but yes. My OH is apposed to this opinion however we have agreed to go and look at the schools and make our choice.

Thanks for the info

Cheryl

Ozzidoc

Yes - this is an old (as in longtime establishment) Melbourne approach....."which school did you go to?".

The old Sydney approach is "where do you live/did you grow up?".

uk+kiwi

UK university entrance requirements are generally 3 grades higher for those applying from private, as opposed to state schools. The belief is that those pupils had a better chance of successful exam results and thus the offers are modified accordingly. And the top universities allocate a percentage of places to the state sector, where pupils do not have to achieve anywhere near the same standards as those applying from private schools.

Re: UK private schools opening doors, I'm sure this is most prevalent at the incredibly expensive, old-school establishments such as Eton, Wycombe High, Charterhouse etc, not an average private school where most of those educated privately would go. Also, I really don't think many HR consultants would know whether a school was private or state when written on a CV and recruiting for jobs. What do they care how rich one applicants parents vs another's are?

There are numerous advantages to the private sector, but they are usually along the lines of more favourable class size, individual attention, broader curriculum and improved exam results. But yes, life is often about who and not what you know, although how could one see which school would offer this best when choosing one for their child when the peer group are all children themselves? A lot of luck involved me thinks.

Sadly I know many lawyers, accountants & doctors from my school days when what I actually need are kitchen fitters, blind makers, an architect, builder & vet.