moneypenny20

Somerset is private.

sammyg

Varsity is the most likely if we move down that end...any good recomendations?? Whats Mudgeeraba school like? Not heard anything about it?

Thanks Sam

moneypenny20

There's two small primarys, nothing more. Varsity or Robina are the closest for High. In my opinion all the primary schools on the coast are excellent. Not heard of a bad one yet.

http://www.mudgeerass.eq.edu.au/
http://mudgcreess.eq.edu.au/wcmss/

sammyg

Thanks for that moneypen

There are so many ways to work it...daughter could go to the last year of primary (yr7) and then on to middle/secondary.. or start yr 7 at Varsity/other secondary!!

It may be a good way to get to know the local kids by going to the local primary for a year...but on the other hand, it could be simpler to start at the secondary she will remain at.....aaarrrggghhhh!!! decisions, decisions!

Scrawni 2

It's hard one eh? Especially if you have never been to check them out. I have a few schools that are on my short list to take a look at but I won't make the final decision until we have take a look.

mooncat

Yes, I have two kids in Varsity (9 and 10) and they are very fussy about catchment areas. We had to have a full rental contract, visa documents, passports, birth certificates and past reports before we got an interview with the head. However, once in, you can move anywhere out of the catchment area. I cannot speak too highly of the school. I think it is excellent and nothing has been too much trouble. Both the kids had buddies for the first few days and nothing has been too much trouble as far as the staff are concerned. My eldest never really enjoyed school in the Uk and has come on leaps and bounds over here, for whatever reason, they're happy, we're happy. It's all good.

sammyg

Exactly, we are still in the UK but we are trying to narrow down a selection of areas! We know the places that are no -goes, due to cost/family friendly (percentage of families/couples)/work availability etc

A lot of places we wont be able to decide on until we get there, but we have a little wish list from a property/area and are trying to do a bit of research from here so we're not on a mission for months on end trying to find the right place!

We were arriving in Jan, but it looks like we might have to move it back a bit now
We will be staying in augustine heights for the first few weeks, so should be a good base to explore the Gold Coast ...nervous, but excited!!!

sam

sammyg

mmmm, that's good to know

We are looking at somewhere slighlty out of varsity catchment to buy (a bit more land and greenery)however, we can rent a property in the the catchment area first (varsity lakes) and then buy, out of catchment.

I haven't heard a bad word said about Varsity school, and the surrounding areas look amazing, with properties with everything we want!


Thanks, Sam

steve`o

thats just what we did
lived in varsity cathment area for 8 months ( 6 month minimum to stay at the school ) and moved out to acreage at worongary which is only about 8k out of robina but a completely different world

http://varsitycollege.eq.edu.au/wcms...o_i_enrol.html


regards steve


ps we also would highly recommend varsity college

Carbery

From Broadbeach its only a few minutes walk - its quite a big school (1300 plus) but we have found it very good for our daughter. http://merrimacshs.eq.edu.au/wcmss/. When we first moved to the GC we looked at Merrimac and one other high school but the interview (actually asked questions and wanted to see previous reports), school ethos and just seeing other pupils steered us toward Merrimac as the other school just wanted to know when we wanted her to start.

peanut21

God I have seen some bull written on this website over the years but that statement from Moneypenny takes the biscuit. Schooling over here is not as good as the UK and my kids go private.

moneypenny20

Would you like to expand on this? Tell me of the bad primary schools because as I said I've not heard of any. Who mentioned the UK? For what it's worth it totally depends on what you experienced in the UK as regards schooling and comparing it to what you're experiencing now. My girls had great education in the UK and the schools they are in now are totally on a par with those.

I still don't understand your statement though. It would be useful for those still in the UK to hear your take on the subject.

sammyg

A bit of a sweeping statement there!!!





There are those of us who want our children's happiness to be at the forefront of their education (a happy child will be a intuitive, independent learner).

The UK education system is in no means better than education in Aus, it's just different.

In Australia there is a big emphasis on creating 'rounded', confident children/young adults, whereas in the UK the system is more concerned about league tables - numeracy, literacy, numeracy, literacy.......don't get me wrong, of course they are important, just not the be all and end all of a childs life. In the UK we often see children who are lacking this confidence which results in them switching off.

The UK system is SLOWLY realising this and starting to do something about it and guess who they've been observing and researching.... the Australians!!

I'm sure there are schools in Qld that you wouldn't want your child to attend, but hey ho...there are a fair share in the UK too!

I'm looking forward to an education system that puts pride in holistic development for children and i'm looking forward to working in it too!

sammyg

It's seems a smart decision then, do you think?

Sam

steve`o

most definitely