High Schools around Hobart

Hello everyone

Well, after a serious case of real-life getting in the way of our emigration plans, I'm now right back on it! Just as well as we move in September...!:wideeyed:

We were thinking of moving to either the Cygnet area or Woodbridge area. We do love those places and we really fancy the whole idea of an acreage etc. But...the Woodbridge School sadly has quite poor NAPLAN results and as much as I want to ignore them, I can't. And we've decided that Cygnet is probably just a bit too far away from Hobart CBD (which we love). So basically we're looking at new areas now. Top of our list at the moment are Blackmans Bay, Sandy Bay and Bellerive. These areas seem to have very good primary schools. I haven't been able to find a high school (just looking at state schools, not private) that stands out though. The best I've found (from looking at the My School website mainly) seems to be Taroona High School, with Kingston High School and Clarence High School also looking good. I stand to be corrected though! Does anyone know which high schools are considered to be the best/most popular? We'd consider anywhere within approx 30 minutes of Hobart for a great school. Are the schools I have mentioned well regarded? It's hard not having any knowledge of the reputation of these schools, and I really, really want to get this move right. I'm just hoping that our preferred high school has one of our preferred primary schools as its feeder school! :twitcy:

Any info/opinions gratefully received, thank you!

Sorry, Tastastic...have only just seen your posts.

Yes, Taroona High has the best reputation. There are no selective high schools in Hobart, so none which could be called outstanding academically...they are all bound to take all comers. Basically schools reflect the socio economic community from which they draw their student cohort and Taroona's intake comes from the highest socio economic status areas in greater Hobart.

I'm not familiar with Clarence High in recent years, so don't know how that is performing.

Crispysince70 - a PIO member - has/had children at Kingston High so may be able to give you personal feedback on that school.

Although Naplan results can be helpful, its scope is very restricted and so may not reflect the overall educational experience at that school. It was introduced only a few years ago...and some schools now "train" to get higher Naplan scores. Not sure how productive that is in the overall scheme of things.

Although high schools have official feeder schools, I don't know that any, to date, have restricted their intake to only those schools. I certainly know of students going to high schools a long way out of their area. Of course it's impossible to know whether there will be an official policy change in the future.

Thanks again Skani! Much appreciated ?.

That's reassuring that I seem to have got to grips with the NAPLAN tables! I have spent soooo many hours trawling through the list of high schools! I'm pleased that I seem to have got the gist of things. I didn't know that Hobart didn't have any selective schools though, that's interesting.

Taroona High School does seem to have great results, and Kingston and Clarence too. To be honest I'm very relieved to have found these schools as I was very worried after looking into the results of Woodbridge High School (such a shame as my kids would love the links with the Marine Development Centre). Obviously results aren't the most important thing when choosing a school but I feel really reassured that there are schools with great results in the area. It's disconcerting not really knowing anything about an area you're planning to move your whole family too (to say the least!) and as it's hard to get any other information about a school or its reputation, NAPLAN will just have to do! Now we've narrowed our search down to a few schools, we'll be able to arrange visits etc and then hopefully it will all fall into place (house, container, primary school, high school...aarrghhh! ?).

Getting nervous now...is anyone else out there moving over soon?

Unless I'm mistaken (entirely possible!) Princess Mary of Denmark went to Taroona High School as well! And if you don't know who she is, you will pretty soon after living in Tassie!

The schools in Sandy Bay are of a pretty high standard too I hear (Sandy Bay is the next suburb along from Taroona towards the city). I've also heard pretty good things about Kingston high school.

Good luck - enjoy your nervousness! You'll look back on these days when you're settled in Tassie.

Of course I know who Princess Mary of Denmark is... ?? Well if the school's good enough for a member of a royal family then I guess it's good enough for my kids!

I think I need some Valium or something - I just can't sustain this level of excitement/nervousness for five more months! ?

I know exactly how you feel! Enjoy it!

My partner has been a secondary school teacher in Hobart for six years and she i always talking about the public v's private divide, all the high schools in the CBD are private schools. If you want to go private then all the private schools are of a high standard. if you want to go public then the best schools in her opinion are Taroona high school (South of the CBD), New Town High school (North of the CBD) and Rosney college on the eastern shore.

That's great information, Wheresdbeef, thank you. Would she say that those public high schools you mentioned were of a comparable standard to the private ones, do you think? To be honest I'm not sure that private schools would even be an option so maybe I shouldn't ask! ?

Thought I should mention that New Town High is boys only: not sure whether you have sons and/or daughters or whether you have a preference for single sex or coeducational schools?

Rosny College is years 11 and 12 only so you will still have to make some other choice to year 10.

To be honest, if I were a parent and finances weren't a problem, I would probably opt for the The Friends' School (originally founded by Quakers) as having the best academic results. It also offers the International Baccalaureate.

The other independent private schools - Hutchins for boys and St. Michael's Collegiate and Fahan for girls, also have good reputations. Of course there are also private Catholic schools.

I think the advantages of private schools are the continuity from Kindergarten to Year 12, more stable staffing (whereas state schools are subject to the staffing whims of the Education Department), better physical resources (two have their own swimming pools, for example) and the fact that they can get rid of troublemakers whereas state schools have to persevere with them. However, so much depends on the home background. Children with committed and engaged parents can achieve just as good outcomes from a school like Taroona High.

Thanks for that Skani. I'll have a look into those schools you mention. I think I should probably look at the fees first...!

Thanks for that Skani. I'll have a look into those schools you mention. I think I should probably look at the fees first...!

Australian private school fees are nothing like as high as a lot of UK ones - the government pays towards the education of all children. That's how a third of Australian children go to private schools.

Thanks for that Skani. I'll have a look into those schools you mention. I think I should probably look at the fees first...!

Yes, the fees can be a bit eye watering IMHO. I think Friends' is the most expensive and by years 11 and 12 is around the $20,000 per annum mark. Of course they do offer scholarships and bursaries...something worth considering.