andrew63

Seems to be a lot of private schooling in Australia.
Heading to Brisbane later this year and wonder if the difference between public and private was similar to UK.
Wouldn't dream of sending my kids to private school in UK but seems to be recommended, the norm and relatively inexpensive in Brisbane according to some local residents I have met.
Any opinions?

Andrew

MSB

hi,

we are moving to perth soon and went on a reccee in april. 50% of kids in perth apparantly go to private schools and the system is very different to here in the uk.

We were looking for a private school for my 12 year old son. First the schools are very full in perth so many told us not to even bother putting his name down on the waiting list. The only 2 schools we could get him into (obviously we didnt go round every one) were ones with the high fees. Both these schools have vacancies and charge $12000.00 per year, about 5k. Unfortunately both are boys only, single sex schools seem to be the norm for the more expensive schools.

I have read lots on the forum about people who feel that state education is not as good in aus as it is here, schools low on funds for resources, air con. etc, lack of arts focus in schools.

My kids are in private education here in the uk. The fees for each child are 11k a year so much cheaper in aus. As for the standard of education we were impressed with lots of schools in perth with fees about $3000.00 a year and would favourable compare them with our kids school here in the uk. However, their school is very small so very limited.
Hope this helps.
Laura

ABCDiamond

Hi Andrew
Like you, I would never have considered private schooling for my child in the UK, not because of the cost (even if i could have been able to afford it ), but because of the status thing that I had in my head about it. (rightly or wrongly).

However, here it is very different, and we do send our daughter to private school, and we feel it is worth the difference to us.

Nationwide the schooling split is:
State Schools 68%
Catholic Schools 20%
Independent 12%

Independent schools start at about $2,000 per year, I am not sure about Catholic school costs, and would appreciate some figures if anyone here can help ?

Some very good private schools in the bayside area of Brisbane charge about $5,000 per year.

What part of Brisbane are you looking at ?



Here are some web sites for: Non-Government Education Authorities:

The Australian Associations of Christian Schools
http://www.aacs.net.au

Christian Schools Australia Limited
http://www.christianschools.edu.au

National Catholic Education Commission
http://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au

Independent Schools Council of Australia
www.isca.edu.au

Lutheran Schools
http://www.lea.org.au

downunderpom

I went to both public and private schools in Oz (some time back ) and HATED the private school I went to. I found it full of pretentious little snobs, AND it was a Boys school, and I like having girls around.

However..... I was talking to a colleague a couple of days ago, and her long-term boyfriend is the third of three boys in the family, and a qualified architect. His two older brothers went to private schools, and he went to public school. The two older brothers are doing 'very well' in high paying jobs, and he (the public school boy) has been struggling for 8 years. It appears that the 'edge' that the older boys have is..... contacts, made through their attendance at private school.

I guess it just goes to prove that it's not what you know, but who you know....

Food for thought.

renth

The state system is very underfunded. My wife is on the P&C and they are desperately raising money for stuff like air conditioning.

They don't do sport or music in their (primary) school.

We are putting their names down for some private schools, and are going to have a look at Lake Joondalup Baptist College tomorrow.

I wouldn't have dreamed of sending them to private school in the UK. It's just the state system over here, in my experience is really struggling with underfunding.

Their state school in the UK was much better than the one they are at now.

Loopy

A lot depends on the individual schools, I've got two children, one at a State school one in Private. Neither have aircon by the way, although the State one has it in their demountable classrooms. My son is in Year 4 and at the State school. Quite pleased with it so far, daughter is at Private and compared to his school I have my doubts, she is in Year 8, but compared to other State High schools it compares favourably.

We found in our area of the Northern suburbs most of the State Primary schools seemed fine, it was only when looking at the High schools the problems arose. My son does plenty of sports, not sure he does music but they're all having dancing lessons at the moment, he's done cookery, learns Italian etc. A much more varied curriculum than he would have had in the UK

Loopy

renth

I'd definitely agree with that comment. Ocean Reef high school has got a lot of problems with drugs, apparently.

sembonor

I don't live in Perth nor have I visited before. But through my observation of the housing (from realestate.com.au or other website), Ocean Reef seems to be a place where the well to do families are living. And I though drugs problem or school with drugs problem are usually located in poor suburbs?

When you say a lot of problems with drugs, can you elaborate more? Like of what year the kids start to have drugs problem? And how widespread? Is it in isolation or you can say that every class 5%, 10% or 30% of the kids use drugs.

I remember someone mentioned here that in Netherlands, almost 50% of adult ever tries drugs during their schooldays. If that's true, I wonder how, recently, a politician in Darwin could suggest to legalize drugs.

NickyC

I can't speak for any other state other than NSW, but in some areas the percentage of kids attending private schools is far greater than 32%. I'm in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and in the whole, heavily-populated area there are only three state high schools but literally dozens of private high schools. I reckon that around here, the percentages are reversed and only about 30% would attend state High schools.

It's generally regarded that state Primary schools are OK but state High schools vary alarmingly. The quality of state high schools is very much determined by the demographic of the local residents. Educated, white-collar areas will tend to have good state High Schools - because parents are interested and the P&C will actively fund-raise for the extras that the schools need. Like anywhere, the poorer areas, particularly those with a high proportion of non-English-speaking migrants, tend to have the 'problem' high schools.

My kids have always been in private schools and I've had no qualms whatever about sending them there (other than the expense, of course). Their schools have all had excellent facilities, motivated teachers and active P&C's.

Tinkie

I spent 5 years at a Brisbane private school and have found that a lot of employers and people in general seem to judge you more on where you went to school than your actual academic results. Which is very unfair to the many intelligent public school students there are. The best way to judge a private school is word of mouth, many schools have "open days" to showcase their school (particularly private schools) ask the parents you meet there and ask the students as well for their honest opinion.

The school I went to had its own ways of making itself look good, for example they would "ask" a student to leave instead of expelling them, that way it didn't go on their expulsion figures as the student left "voluntarily". Those students were then allowed to return after 1 school year, no matter what they were asked to leave for: theft, drugs, bullying etc. And many students there were taking drugs and consuming large amounts of alcohol. Instead of having programmes to deal with it my schools response was "don't do it" and then refusing to admit it happened and turning a blind eye to the stoned students in class.



There are some absolutely great public schools and some great private schools, and there are some terrible ones of both.

tinaj

Most people around here worry more about their kids once they get to High School age, that seems to be when things start going more downhill.

People have said the same thing to me that it is all about connections and there is a lot of networking going on in my children's private school. I think there is also the same problem with University places when you apply from a state school, which is absolutely ridiculous, but that even happens in England.

The best thing for you to do is have a lot around state and private when you arrive and take it from there. You will probably be able to spot a good state school, or if the ones near you are a bit of a worry.

NickyC

Almost all University places in NSW are awarded based on the student's UAI (ranking within the state) alone. There are some courses that require an audition in addition to a UAI (ie music). The system that calculates the UAI is totally automated and where you went to school has no bearing on it whatever.

The only exception is that some schools can and do produce consistently higher results than others thereby getting more students into Uni.

flowerkris

How are the schools at Canberra?
I think, government schools may be dominant there.

NickyC

You'd be fairly safe with the state schools in Canberra. There are private and Catholic schools there but I know a few people in Canberra who sent their kids to the state schools and they were fine. Canberra schools follow a collegiate system where kids move from 'school' at age 16 and do their final two years at a 'college'.

Canberra has one of the most highly educated work-forces in the country, so parents are pretty keen on education. Also Canberra itself is highly subsidised and has very good facilities (museums/sports facilities/indoor pools etc). You won't find many under-funded schools there.

ABCDiamond

Talking about school funding, I checked into it the other day, as I was puzzled about the recent adverts about it on the TV.

I found that, on average, each child in a state school gets funded from governent funds (ie the Taxpayer) the amount of $9,004.

Each child in a Private school gets funded, on average, only $4,700. With the parents making up the difference of cost.

This actually averages out at $7,624 per child in school. Based on 2001/2002 costs.