non-brit-visitor

Hello,
Can anyone tell me where kids finish secondary school if they attend P-9 colleges in Point Cook?

Or where kids from Seabrook Primary go to secondary?

I have noticed the secondary schools on this side of Melbourne score rather poorly Why is that? And what are parents doing?

Our family is moving to Point Cook area in November but I am concerned about the secondary school situation, and trying to decide whether to settle in Seabrook where they have an excellent Primary school, but no high school. Or to go for Point Cook where my kids will at least have an eduction to grade 9...

Any feedback from parents in this area would be very much appreciated!

ajw

Aside from Geelong Grammar, Geelong College and a few others all the decent schools are on the Eastern side of Melbourne.

Point Cook is a relatively new housing estate suburb of Melbourne, experiencing high growth and supply of infrastructure such as schools etc hasn't kept up with demand.

sr71

Our son is at Seabrook, if we are still there when he reaches secondary age, then we will send him to Westbourne Grammar school.

itigo

The secondaries sr71 mentioned are all private and Grammar and the College cost $$$$. I will add Kardinia College to the mix in Geelong as it is private but much less than the other two. It outperforms both too and is near the ring road.

Public secondary options in Geelong are not great either. If you are Catholic, there are some great private options that are very cheap....not sure about Point Cook.....

non-brit-visitor

Thanks for the info. I have had a look at the Catholic school and they are much more reasonably priced. I will have a good at those.

Does anyone know anything about Carranballac College? It LOOKS like a nice school... Is one campus better than the other? And how many kids are in a class? Any feedback about Seabrook Primary?

lynetteh

I live in Point Cook and am watching the schooling situation closely as I have a three year old. Out of the state schools in the area Seabrook is by far the best performing with an excellent reputation. It has also won various awards for its teaching methods and I believe they follow a more academic programme than the other schools. Like all the schools in Point Cook it is zoned so you need to live in Seabrook to get your kids in there. Point Cook P-9 has an fairly ok reputation. Carranballac has a terrible reputation and I would not send my kids there at gunpoint. Many parents I know are very unhappy with the situation there. Also I know there is a conflictual relationship with the school authorities and many parents, and so the school actively discourages parental involvement in the school. Not a great situation. I have heard parents described the school's approach as "Glorified Babysitting". The school has a "no homework" policy with is proving very unpopular. Also in point cook are two catholic primaries and a catholic high school. They have good results and my friends with children there are very happy. There are a lot of catholics in the area, and as catholic church going kids get preference you would not get your kids into the catholic schools unless they are catholic. Westbourne Grammer has a super reputation to go with it's super high fees. If money were not an issue I would send my kids there. It is also oversubscribed so getting in can be tricky. There is also Heathdale Christian College in Werribee which is more affordable and has a very good reputation. Lastly a new state school P-9 is being built in the Alamanda Estate this year, due to open in 2013. I'm hoping that turns out ok as it is two blocks from my house, but if not I am leaning towards Seabrook, if we move there, or Heathdale. Feel free to PM me if I can help with anything else in Point Cook. Where are you now?

Markelly

Hi,

We have moved to point cook and love it. We heard about the school reputations here but after a lot of research and visiting the schools we chose Carranballac college for our youngest son......yes....Carranballac! We had also heard about its "no homework policy etc etc" but have discovered its a load of cobblers! Our son goes to Carranballac Jamieson Way Campus and loves it...and yes....he does get daily homework. As far as we can tell, this school is just as good if not better than his previous school in NZ. We have no issues with it at all and the parents we have spoken to in point cook are all very happy with it too.

Our kids went to catholic schools with good reputations in NZ and we really didn't want all their good work previously to go in vain. We have been really pleased then that both our boys are being pushed with their schooling here.

Our older son is at point cook senior secondary. The only other choice for boys in point cook is the catholic college. We chose the state school as the subjects were better for him. He wants to be a policeman and at 15yrs of age he is already studying psychology and law! Those subjects were unavailable at the catholic college.

My best advice is to not listen to rumors and idle gossip and to take the time to visit the schools as we did and decide for yourself. The schools are zoned anyway so unless you live in their zone you won't get in.

Regardless I can recommend Carranballac Jamieson campus and the secondary school thoroughly.

non-brit-visitor

Thanks Markelly, I really appreciate feedback from parents whose kids attend these schools. I know the schools are zoned, and this is really a part of the dilemma. We are going to arrange a rental before we leave, so I need as much info as possible about the schools to make the right decision for my kids. Once we are zoned, there's no changing our minds lol.

It looks like the kids are all happy at Carranballac. Could you tell me what the parent involvement in the school is like? And how easily you are able to be in contact with your child's teacher?Thanks again for the info about the school.

I didn't realise that kids already need to attend schools that offer career specific subjects at senior secondary level. Do all schools not offer a general variety from which you would choose the most suitable for getting into a university of choice for example?

lynetteh

The latest Naplan results are now out. This is where the government attempts to compare schools using standardised testing. The exercise is controversial and certainly has its detractors but if anything the info about school size, approach etc may be interesting. You can see the results at www.myschool.edu.au

BenandPam

We have been in Point Cook for nearly 7 years now and our daughter is in her second year at Seabrook Primary. We are very happy with the school, and our daughter has come on leaps and bounds. It is also worth noting that Seabrook Primary it is now fully accredited as an International Baccalaureate school. Before the current principle was in place friends took their son out of Seabrook, but as previously mentioned it has been doing very well over the last few years.
The only thing letting it down is the sports fields, particularly the one on Point Cook Road next to the Seabrook shops. Other than that it is very good.

adeandpaula

I would avoid Carranballac at all costs, we found it terrible and the kids are well behind with their learning when it is time to move to secondary level.
We moved our daughter to Seabrook and they were excellent.
We also managed to get her into Emanuel College (Catholic) after Seabrook and can highly recommend it, she is very happy there and the education is very good, fees are very reasonable too. Also you do not have to be catholic to enrol

Markelly

I have heard the other Carranballac is pretty bad but the Jamieson Way one has been great. We have had parent teacher interviews within a week of starting, have been given the teachers email address and you can communicate with her via their homework book if its not urgent.

Haven't had to bring anything up yet as Logan has been well behaved and not experienced any problems. They have identified that he has already done a lot of the work this year already (NZ starts at 5yrs old so has already completed yr6 in NZ and has to complete yr6 here now). So they have pushed his maths and english etc to a higher level to keep him interested. So no complaints there at all.

Also the Deputy Principal is very friendly and approachable, knows most of the kids by name and is always on duty after school at the entrance saying goodbye to the kids by name and speaking to the parents.

Cameron is at the state secondary school and chose it because of the subject choices this year available to him. Both schools offer a range of traditional subjects but the state one also had the advantage of trade subjects if your child is not as academic and they also had the additional subjects of law and psychology which Cameron wanted.

As someone pointed out to me, it all comes down to the will to succeed of the child not the parent! If your child is going to perform, they will perform well at any school and if they are going to slack off they will do that at any school. I know the state school is probably not as academically strong as the catholic school but my son went to a very good catholic school with strong results in NZ and had a year where he slacked off completely but got great results still. He is loving it at the secondary school here and is making a much better effort here than he did at home. He is also repeating some of the stuff he did last year but once again they have identified it and have given him extra work without us having to contact them so thats been great.

Just be aware though that with regard the rental situation, we had difficulty getting a rental from outside the state as you have to physically set foot on the property or have someone represent you and state that at the viewing or you won't get it. We were lucky to know someone who lived reasonably handy and visited on our behalf. If you need someone to view the properties for you or you need additional advice on the houses, feel free to contact me as I know how frustrating it was for us!

non-brit-visitor

Wow, thank you so much for your offers to help Markelly. It is great to know there are so many people about that are friendly and helpful.

Do you know whether you need to move your child to the zoned school if you move into a new area. We have considered renting in Seabrook, if we decide we would like our kids to go there. But when we buy a house, it will most likely be in Point Cook. Would the kids need to move to the school in that zone, or can they continue attending the school they were initially enrolled at?

Another example may be, once the new school opens in the Alamanda estate, a section that would have been zoned for the Jamieson Campus may now be zoned for the new school. Would those kids need to change school?

All these questions buzzing around in my head are making me crazy!

itigo

My daughter goes to the school we were in the zone for when we were renting our first place. We are now just out of zone (and they aren't accepting new children from here) but she is still there, and her brother will go there too. Usually it's fine to keep them where they start. They may not accept siblings later on but it depends on numbers.

We are going to be moving to the other side of town in the next 18 months and they will still be able to go to the same school. I know of several families that are now scattered across town that still attend their first school....