toon williams

Hae read alot of threads on here about school and looked at various websites.

Just wondered on a general basis do most people go for state education or go for private (as I understand fees much cheaper etc)??

Sandra

Depends on which private school you choose as to whether fees are cheaper and obviously it depends on what you are earning, schools fees as percentage of income are a better comparison than pounds to dollars.

I choose state for my children as that is my personal preference, but I will follow that up that I moved to a fairly expensive area so I was in the catchment for the school as it is well rated for results. So I possibly spent more on a house to live in the area.

A lot will depend on the area you are looking to live, I hear good things about the choice and cost of private schools in Brisbane from ABC on this site. Don't know Perth but from my expereince on the North Shore of Sydney apart from the Catholic schools most private are around the 12k mark here a year stretching to 17 by the time you reach year 12. Depending on the number of kids you have after tax some people have the second income just to pay for the school.

ABCDiamond

I have some friends that live on Sydney Lower North shore, and they went from a 5 bed house to a 2 bed unit so that they could put their daughter through a Private School there.

I think their school is better than ours, (the kids are the same age, for easy comparison), but not enough to change your lifestyle for, in my opinion.

debilloyd

ABC, what schools are good around the Lower North Shore/Northern Beaches area as we plan to come at the beginning of January and realise the children will be on summer hols so we need to get something organised before December. So far I've only looked at North Sydney Girls School (selective) and Killara High. Both seem to have decent websites but I don't have any personal recommendations of them. Do you have any specific high school recommendations that I could follow up?

ABCDiamond

If the question related to the schools on my area now, i could probably help, but I think that for Sydney, you need someone with local knowledge

You also need to check on waiting lists for the private schools, this may be very important.

Sandra

You need to read the websites carefully, North Sydney Girls is a state selective Grammar - meaning you need to pass exams to get in (and they are VERY selective - parents send their children for coaching for the exams).

Killara is a state co-ed, and out of all the NSW state schools achieves top results. Area is important for getting your child into Killara.

St Ives is 2nd in the state co-ed for results, not so select for some!

You need to think about what is best for your child, what ages are they and will they be needing six years high school, or are you only thinking about 2, 3,4 payment and what do they like....

If your children are work orientated you might choose a different school here than some sport minded people. And of course the big question for Sydney....where are you working and how far will you send the kids on public transport.

anyway...pm me if I can help further.

Best of luck

Sandra

Sandra

Sorry I forgot to ask - what visa are you coming on?

on a temp 457 selective State Grammars in Sydney are not available. But you should check out if you are thinking about state schools the availability of GAT (streamed classes) for the bright children, primary and high.

Some private also ask the children to sit entrance exams .... but distinguish between true entrance exams and the school sifting for talent.

Can some other North Shore people help with their experience of the schools? I am interested too.

debilloyd

Hi Sandra

One of my children is already in a UK selective school (grammar) for which she had to pass an exam for. The youngest has just left a state co-ed primary and will go to high school in September. I need to work out what kind of school would be best for her in Sydney. As we are planning to come to the lower north shore/northern beaches, I was trying to work out what schools have good results and then I can work out which suburbs to look for housing in. Any advice is much appreciated.

Oh forgot to add, we will be coming on a PR Visa.

Debs

Sandra

Ok sorry if I am giving you information you already have

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learni...ective8_12.php

to check out the entry for selective. If these are not available to you after contacting the schools you can check out other schools which may have streams on acedemic results or GAT (gifted and Talented Classes).

Schools are going to be personal choice to a large degree - I had advice on schools results gleaned from people I was going to work with and the internet. I also wanted state rather than private. The top two state schools (for HSC results) in NSW are Killara and then St Ives. Both schools have buses linking them to the main train line so as long as the school supports the area you do live in it is not so important to live in the burbs themselves.

The HSC results are not readily avaiable and I get my annually when publish by the Sunday Papers and the SMH (sydney Morning Herald) you need to register and trawl around the sites but there are good links and information.

http://reg.smh.com.au/

As for the private - I hear good things about Pymble Ladies College (year 12 now about 17K per annum), Barker College and one other I can't remember the name but these are expensive and the on costs after fees send the cost up again. If you are considering a Catholic school the fees re lower but again personal choice and some have long waiting lists for non catholic familys. Brigidene is up the road from me and my neighbour teaches there pretty good school I hear.

There are other religious schools like Masada with excellent records so without getting nosy you may have an affliation that could offer other opportunities.

http://www.sydneypinkpages.com.au/

Is one place to search around for individual schools websites.

After all this you also need to be aware that some schools have waiting lists that will mean there isn't an opportunity available at some of the privates. So best to contact them direct. More chance with older entry than year 7.

I am very happy with my choice of St Ives High and I live in the area so the children do not have to travel much to and from schools. But this is personal choice and may not suit other children.

PM me if there is something specific I could answer for you.

Cheers Sandra