Debut post from Springfield Lakes

Scotty Dog · 29-04-2007, 11:04 AM

Hi everyone out there,

Finally taken the plunge and joined the forum! Very glad that I did.

I'm a teacher in one of the GPS private schools out here in Brisbane, so if you guys have any specific education questions I might be able to help! I've lived out here four years now with my Aussie wife, who is originally from Brisbane. I emigrated pretty much on a whim, but (the odd dark day aside) I have never really regretted my decision. Now that we have a little 2 year old daughter, the original decision to move has been put into even greater perspective.......I keep a very close eye on happenings in the Old Dart and it seems that the standard of living there has dropped even further. Tell me if I'm wrong, of course!

I live in Springfield Lakes, in the western suburbs of Brisbane (or East Ipswich, depending on your viewpoint)! The area has a lot to commend it, though the blocks of available housing are becoming more and more scarce. Most decent blocks, you are looking at 350,000 Aussie dollars plus now.

Anyway, that'll do for now. Hope to hear from some of my countrymen very soon.....fingers crossed!

Rachel&Stu · 29-04-2007, 11:43 AM

Hi Scotty Dog

A big warm welcome to Poms In Oz to you and yours!

Not headed for Qld ourselves, but lots on here are and am sure you'll be asked lots of questions!

Cheers,
Rachel

ali · 29-04-2007, 12:45 PM

Welcome to PIO

Davidgolf · 29-04-2007, 12:45 PM

Hi Scottydog, we are moving to Shaliar Park in sept, we have a 9 year old and we are in the middle of sorting her schooling out we have been on the internet and we have looked at JOHN PAUL COLLAGE it is just down the road from were my parents live,when we were out there last xmas we liked the look of it and was told that it had a good name, do you know anything about the school
sharon

Scotty Dog · 29-04-2007, 12:54 PM

Hi Davidgolf,

John Paul College is an up and coming Independent school in the Northern suburbs of Brisbane. From what I hear, they market themselves pretty well as an "all round package". Academically, I think they did fairly well in the recently published League Tables out here (no GCSE or A-Level, equivalent is worked out on an Overall Position score at the end of schooling in Year 12 for Uni entry). Have also heard, on professional grapevine, that the expectations of teachers at the school can cause "burn-out" so check teacher turnover.

Davidgolf · 29-04-2007, 01:12 PM

Thanks Scotty Dog will get my sister in law to check that out for us. Welcome to PIO beware it can take over [ha ha ]
sharon

kdal · 29-04-2007, 03:27 PM

Hi Scotty Dog, Welcome to Poms In Oz joined a short while ago myself and there is lots of read on here....

A question from me if that's ok? We was going to be moving to Australia (more poss Brisbane) next year, unfortunately due to my company I may not be able to leave now for another 2 years! My son is 13 and currently in year 8 here (goes to year 9 in September), if we were to delay the move would this effect his education in a bad way? As i'm not sure what school year he would fall into and if in Australia they would already be studying for their exams?
As our other option is for either my Oh or myself to go with my son next year and the other one stay here until the close of our business.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated
Thank you and regards

bruce 7 · 30-04-2007, 09:37 PM

great to hear from someone living in Brisbane and knowing about the schools. We are hoping to be out by Nov 2007, and have 2 kids 9 & 5. We are hoping to move to North Brisbane and have looked at Springfield lakes. Our main concern is knowing that the area you choose has the best schools for the kids, what are the primary schools like in this area? We also want to be near a hospital as my wife is a nurse. We'll probably have loads of questions as we get nearer to a visa!!!

Bruce

jennywright · 01-05-2007, 10:23 AM

Hi Scotty Dog,
Welcome to PIO. I thank you now in anticipation of all the questions we will be asking you over the coming months . It's nice to know that those of us still in purgatory here in Blighty are not forgotten by you guys who have already escaped .

We are heading for Brissie but not for a couple of years years yet. My son will have done A levels so will be looking for Uni places (wants to be a commercial pilot). Good to hear you have settled in well.

Jen x

Scotty Dog · 01-05-2007, 11:23 AM

Hi all,

Wow! Thanks for answering. Didn't think I'd get so many bites!

Quick rundown of the school system over here. Firstly, given the proportion between wages and school fees, private education is more affordable over here than it is in the UK. State schools, as you can imagine, will vary in both size and quality. My own experience out here has been in private schools, which I will give you a brief overview of now.

There are several groups of private schools in and around Metropolitan Brisbane. There are the AIC schools (Catholic), the TAS schools (essentially newer independents) and the GPS schools (Greater Public Schools). The last group are the oldest and (arguably) the most prestigious. They are, unsurprisingly, the most expensive too.

The best AIC schools, in my view, are St.Laurence's and Villanova (boys only). The best TAS is probably St.Peter's Lutheran (mixed). That said, all the TAS and AIC schools are of good quality as you would expect. Their locations range across Brisbane, so best to check out the one closest to your suburb if that is your bag.

The GPS schools are a group of 9 schools. They are Brisbane Boys' College (my school), Brisbane Grammar School (best boys school results in Queensland for the last couple of years), Gregory Terrace, Nudgee College, Anglican Church Grammar School (or "Churchie"). The three GPS schools based outside Brisbane are Toowoomba Grammar, Southport School (Gold Coast) and Ipswich Grammar. The ninth GPS school is Brisbane State High, a state school with special dispensation to award sports scholarships to kids outside thir South Brisbane catchment area. About 60% of their intake are accounted for this way, by all accounts. These are all boys' schools, by the way.

The girls' equivalent, in terms of quality, are the QSSSA schools. The best of these are Brisbane Girls' Grammar, Somerville House and St.Aidan's. St.Peter's Lutheran is also worth a shake, from what I hear. Again, these schools will all be of a good quality.

If anyone has any specific questions about schools, I will provide answers to the best of my ability.

As for public exams, they are not sat in private schools! Instead, school-based (and designed) exams are sat at the end of Year 12 (no Year 13 in Queensland.....yet). All coursework is then sent off to the board (QSA) for moderation before the final OP (Overall Position) for Year 12 school leavers is worked out. I can deal with OPs in a separate e-mail to this one, because there is alot of info to get through there. No national curriculum yet either, though it's on the way. They already have Year 3,5,7 Literacy and Numeracy testing (like the SATs in England) that is well established here. Year 9 will get added to this testing regime in 2008 for state schools, but whether the Federal Government introduces their own test instead and over-rides the Queensland Studies Authority (or QSA) is a matter of much debate at present.

Hope this all helps....for now.