CJes

Hi All, my first post on this website, we're planning a move to Belrose/ Frenchs Forest (northern suburbs of Sydney) or surrounding areas early next year, just wondered if anyone has any recommendations regarding primary and secondary schools (for the future) in that area - our son is 9 and our daughter 7. To add to our decision making our son shows "gifted" traits - so we'd love a good state primary and then follow on to secondary that cater well for gifted kids. We've been in New Zealand for two years and have managed some research on the internet - but I guess there's nothing like face to face research once your feet hit the ground! - any relevant info would be great! Cheers!

Rudi

Not sure about those specific areas, but there are a few people who should be able to help you.

Which year will your son go into next year? If he is entering year 4, then during the year he will have the chance to sit an exam for entry to the "opportunity class" for the following year. Basically these classes are for brighter kids. They are in designated schools (you don't have to go to that school though to get a place in the OC class). Entry is by exam only......so if he is entering grade 5 next year then he won't get a place.

HOWEVER there is issues to look at. My eldest daughter just got a place in an OC class and we have turned it down. It's pretty unheard of to turn them down from what I understand. Our reason is purely social. She was the only Caucasian girl in the class and we and she felt it would be very hard to fit in with the other girls. They were all Chinese origin and several (there were only around 8 girls out of the 30 kids) were talking in Chinese to each other. Many of the Asian parents have their kids coached outside school to get them into these classes, so the classes tend to be made up of predominantly Asian children. The atmosphere is very competitive and bright kids can suddenly find they are bottom of the class and it can really screw with their confidence. There is no way I would send my daughter for coaching outside of school so she would be constantly battling to keep up with kids who are having up to 30 hours (I kid you not) of extra tuition.

Just before people start jumping down my throat and calling me racist.....please understand that my youngest daughter is Asian. My comments are made from a social perspective, not a racial one.

Then we move onto high school. There are selective high schools in NSW. These are similar to the OC classes but on a greater scale....ie whole schools of brainy kids! They are also exam entry only. The best school, including public, private, selective etc in NSW is James Ruse Agricultural High school - it is 100% selective. The selective schools have the same social issues as the OC classes.

If you go to the Board of Studies website then you should be able to do a search for OC and selective schools and read more about them.

When you get here, have a look in the meet ups section. There is a group of us who meet on the first Tuesday of each month and you would be welcome to join us.

Take care

Rudi

utopia

Hi,

Have a look at this site:

http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dredno...oolsinnsw.html

I thought it was excellent just scroll down and have a look!

Good luck

CJes

Thanks for all the info (as it was such a specialist question I wasn't sure whether I'd get any replies!!). I have heard about the OC classes and the selective schools, however we'll initially be coming to Oz on a temporary (457) visa on which our son's not eligible for the OC classes (hopefully permanent residence visa will follow asap). Also he's not a lover of tests so don't see us going down that route just yet. I'd ideally like to see him at a normal state school (to give him the exposure to a good balanced social circle) and hopefully one that's open-minded and positive towards those kids that are used to thinking outside the normal square. Have been given details of a lady at dept of educ dealing with gifted and talented for that area which sounds helpful.

Will definitely be looking out for meet-ups nearer our move (hopefully early next year), having moved from Surrey to New Zealand 2 years ago I know how hard (... and exciting) starting out somewhere new can be - just wish I'd known of this website then!

Thanks again!