scratchey

hi
no doubt there is a thread on here somewhere to answer my questions but i just cant find it, so here goes with some questions.
does oz have an equivalent to uk grammar schools? are they government funded? if fees are required, how much on average? and what age do they start from? any info at all on this would be great.

cheers
scratchey

quoll

Some states have selective High Schools and they are government funded but the competition to get into them is fierce. The Asian community in particular are very keen to get their kids in and there are crammer courses, especially in Sydney which are very well patronized! Dont know how much the crammers cost though.

In NSW they have OC classes in some primary schools for gifted and talented primary age kids - I think they have them in some HS too especially in areas where there are no selective HS. I dont know about the other states but ACT is not well provided for for G & T and individual schools do their own thing but we are terribly egalitarian here and there is a sneaking anti-tall poppy syndrome for the most part (which may account for why 50% of the HS population go to private schools!!!)

Grammar schools here are usually high fee private schools, usually Anglican (say farewell to about $15k pa per child). These private schools generally start at Preschool (fees lower for primary age kids) and it is a matter of putting the kids' names down at conception and paying the fees.

CarlaA

Hi. Here's a link with info for NSW on public selective schools:
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotosc...iveschools.php
These schools are public schools (in the Australian sense), so no fees as such, just requests for contributions towards particular items. Some of these schools (generally the longer established ones) are more in demand than others, bearing in mind that you don't have to apply to one in your area and (in Sydney) many children travel a long way.
There are also private schools that call themselves 'grammar' schools - with whatever connotations that brings, but you would have to judge these on their individual merits.
The situation is different in each state.