... and I live in Halls Head and love it - close to the beach, far enough away from the estuary to be barely bothered by mossies and we have TWO roads in and out !!! Yay !

Personally you can't decide until you get here and get a feel for the places. Secret Harbour is a newer development which attracts some and not others and a lot of areas of Mandurah are more established with bigger plots which attract some and not others. Nowhere is everyones cup of tea

[QUOTE=ACE;7273174]

I have heard that Mandurah Baptist primary is quite good; I have heard that the high school isn't that great but it is too soon to make a conclusive judgement with the high school.

Mandurah Baptist is a very good school. You may have been told about Mandurah High School, which is terrible.

We live in Halls Head as well and can't agree with you more. Love it here, and my lad goes to South Halls Head primary school which is excellent.

[QUOTE=canifixit;7277314] Mandurah High is terrible but our son goes there and he's doing fine. Plus, we can't afford the fees of a private school. I think, sometimes it depends on the individual, but it's true and unfortunate that it does have an awful reputation, but that seems to be the case with most of the state schools here, I could however, be wrong.

Hi all,
So glad I have found this thread. We are coming to Perth for a reccie in a few months and will be looking at all the areas that have been discussed, so you are the people I need to become bestfriends with !!

We also like the thought of sending our son to Mandurah Baptist College but are alittle worried that there is a waiting list and we are not sure of the costs involved -it obviously doesn't let you in on the secret price on their website- probably incase you pass out at the shock.

Anyway thanks for the interesting thread. Please keep the posts coming.

XJo

I don't think the prices are too bad. My eldest goes to Frederick Irwins which is supposed to be more expensive and we pay $400 a month with books, stationary and uniform on top.

Like Ohippy says the fees are not too bad but the books & uniforms straight after Christmas is always a bit scary.How old is your son?The primary schools fees are not bad at all.The High school is more .There is a waiting list but most of the private schools are heavily oversubscribed,however dont let that put you off as people move in & out of the area all the time & places do come up fairly quickly.

Thanks for info, $400 per month sounds encouraging but I wonder if thats primary age? Our son is born May 98 so he's currently yr6 uk and will be starting secondary this Sept in uk. We have only just been granted our visa last week and the house isn't even on the market yet so I think it could be next year before we get to Perth for good.

Were all really excited about our reccie and have lots more questions to ask!

Cheers (you seem a friendly lot)

xJo

[QUOTE=Chelle66;7280206] Our son went to Mandurah High for one week (unfortunately too many children are allowed to spoil the education of the ones who want to learn) before we pulled him out and sent him to Mandurah Baptist College. The school next door, North Mandurah Primary, is a brilliant little school and my daughter went there until moving up to the Baptist College.

[QUOTE=canifixit;7286591] what year is your daughter in if you dont mind me asking?

No it's year 8, eldest has just started high school at Freddies and loves it. Only heard good stuff about the Baptist too.

[QUOTE=squeezzii;7288498] What year are both your kids in??mine are in 5 & 11.

I too am hearing only good things about Mandurah Baptist. Although Frederick Irwin retains its rank as "best" school in the Mandurah area, it seems that people are choosing the Baptist school as second preference.

The fees are similar for both schools, but as my kids go to Frederick Irwin, I only have those to hand, but it will give you an idea what to expect (and you don't need to sit down really, the fees are nothing like what you'd pay in the UK, don't forget private schools are subsidised here).

Kindergarten $1430
Pre-Primary $2366
Lower Secondary (8-10) $3884
Upper Secondary (11-12) $4262

There are extras added to these each year for excursions and camps. You can pay quarterly or monthly. With 3 kids there last year, it was costing us $750 per month in school fees, with books and uniforms purchased separately added to that figure, it would make a monthly cost of around $1000. There is a discount for siblings attending same school.

I went to have a look around some of the show homes in Lakelands at the weekend. I can't believe how big that place is getting - it won't be long at this rate before it gets as big as Halls Head, it's certainly fast becoming popular. Future developments include a new primary school, high school, shopping centre, recreation centre, train station, parks & reserves, and it's all lovely and new.

Don't forget also some time during 2009, the new freeway extension will be complete, making the journey from Lakelands/Meadow Springs to Perth much quicker and easier. When they build the train station, that will be a definite boon. I see there is a new bus route servicing this suburb, which makes it easy to get to and from school, shops, college, train station etc.

The housing figures out recently showed an 84% increase in house sales for WA; apparently the WA housing market is being propped up by first-time house buyers and many of these are buying in Lakelands.

They are slightly more expensive than Living Waters. I've got three kids: one in PP, one Yr3 and one Yr6 and with the discount for multiple kids and a 4% discount if you pay all year up front, it came to less than $ 7k.

Jules x