Ironside or Indooroopilly State School ?

**HenryJones** · 08-12-2011, 10:05 AM

Hi,

We are a (French) family landing in Brisbane in 2 weeks with a 175 visa.
Our 2 oldest children are being enrolled at Indooroopilly State High School but we need to find a primary school for our last son.

We heard about 2 primaty schools in Indooroopilly area : Ironside State School and Indooroopilly State School.

Does anybody have any advice for one of these 2 schools?

BTW, if a family is arriving in Brisbane for Christmas with a 175 visa, it could be nice to get in touch!

Thanks.

HenryJones

**fish.01** · 08-12-2011, 10:52 AM

I have no direct experience but when I was looking I heard that Ironside have a very international student base given their proximity to the university of qld and homes where visiting lecturers live. I heard lots of good noises about Ironside and would lean towards it...though note I did not look at Indooroopilly State School so that may be just as good.

I would imagine both would be good given the area...both schools are catchment controlled. Here is the catchment map for Ironside: http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/...ronside-ss.pdf

I guess Ironside being closer to ISHS would also be an advantage.

**HenryJones** · 08-12-2011, 01:38 PM

Hello Fish.01,

Thank you for your prompt response!
I am currently trying to contact both schools to get an appointment with the principal to make up my mind.
As school holiday is starting tomorrow in Queensland, I am not sure if I will get any reponse before January?

Anyway, the harder might be to find a rental (nice but cheap!) in Indooroopilly catchment area... Any tip for that?

Have a nice day!

Henry

PS: If you can read French, you can check our blog about our pre-migration "preparation and travel-around-the-world"
http://magicnomade.wordpress.com

**Tina2** · 14-12-2011, 04:57 AM

Hi Henry
An alternative if you cant get a rental in Indooroopilly is to cross the bridge to Chelmer, Graceville, Corinda, Sherwood. All those suburbs have fantastic primary schools and Corinda High is a top school. Also lovely area.

**Shaz36** · 14-12-2011, 06:29 AM

Hi Henry,
I know people at both primaries you mention who are both happy. I am over the bridge in Corinda and my daughter is at Corinda State School. Sherwood and Graceville have very strict catchment rules so you would have to be in the area for those. If you have any questions I can answer, just let me know. I couldnt get a response when emailing last year during the summer break but the principals I contacted replied when schools went back and I got appts to see them.

**fish.01** · 14-12-2011, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Tina2

Hi Henry
An alternative if you cant get a rental in Indooroopilly is to cross the bridge to Chelmer, Graceville, Corinda, Sherwood. All those suburbs have fantastic primary schools and Corinda High is a top school. Also lovely area.

I think the OP is after a high school that offers an IB programme so may be tied to Indooroopilly State High.

**HenryJones** · 14-12-2011, 01:44 PM

Hi Tina2, Shaz36,

Thank you for your comments!
Fish.01 is right: we have been targeting Indooroopilly State High School because of the IB diploma. We think that our kids might want to go back to Europe for the University, so an IB could be useful to them. Also, there must be more international students at ISHS, so the integration in the Aussie curriculum could be easier for 2 French kids.

I had a close look at ISHS catchment area: it looks like that there are also other primary schools, like Chelmer (other side of the bridge, thank you Tina2) but also Toowong SS. Any comments on Toowong?

Speaking about Corinda HS, the website looks attractive. Do you know if there are many international students or if there is a ESL (English as Secondary Language) department to make the integration easier for non English native speakers, like in ISHS?

Coming back to Ironside and Indooroopilly SS, I had an answer from them saying that it is the holiday period and that I should contact them again from January, 16th... So I have a few more weeks to get advice from you before taking the appointments!

Cheers.

Henry

**Tina2** · 14-12-2011, 07:01 PM

Morning Henry
Been a little while since i had involvement with Corinda High Shaz 36 will i am sure be able to give you more help, but i am sure a phone call to the school would answer many questions. All i can tell you is it is one of the loveliest parts of Brisbane, Older traditional homes and lovely big trees, a very sort after area especially with a 15 minuet train trip into the center of Brisbane. Great shops, coffee shop etc and the primary schools are superb both government and private.

**Shaz36** · 17-12-2011, 09:29 AM

Hi Henry,
Sorry, but my kids are too young for the HS right now, so not sure but from people around here have been told that Corinda SHS is a highly regarded school, and I must admit, looks very impressive. I am not sure about the ESL offering, but do know that they have international students attend when they ask families if they can have them as homestay pupils. They are mainly from Asia, I think. As Tina said, try emailing and the calling them when they are back. This is from the website:

Student Support
Our international Student Program has several officers to assist students and parents.
Guidance and Counselling
The School Guidance Officer plays an integral role in supporting International Students. This officer overseas the educational and personal welfare of the students. On arrival the Guidance Officer takes time to plan the curriculum program with the student and assist them in becoming acquainted with the school and Australian life.

English as a Second Language (ESL)
The ESL teacher is dedicated to working with international students along with subject teachers and support staff to help students with their English skills and their transition with study programs.

**pinkk8** · 17-12-2011, 09:41 AM

I don't know anything about Ironside but I know students and teachers and Indro HS and I would recommend it. It is one of the best schools I have come across in Brisbane - when I looked around I felt it had the most European feel to it, particularly because there is no uniform. It does run the IBDP but only a very small number of students take it there. Other schools close by that run the IBDP include John Pauls, St Peters and the Queensland Academies (QA are state schools, the others are private).

As a state school Indooroopilly will only have a small number of international students and the rest will be 'Australian' - but the 'Australian' students often have international backgrounds.

PM me if you want more information.