Stevo

Thanks ever so much for this Tina. We were thinking of the Chapel Hill area but perhaps in the Indooroopilly catchment, need to go out there when its hot to get a better idea. Was 3 degrees today in Melbourne so craving better weather already. Will be good to have that choice of good state schools and private too, we have that here as well though the Peninsula fees are about 5k more than St Peters Lutheran. The idea at the moment is for the little one to start private but then its so expensive. Plenty of food for thought. Just out of curiosity how is the commute from Chapel Hill to the city, I read that there is a bus but the congestion is really bad at Moggill Road. I think I read about a bypass easing congestion here, did this happen? Can you drive to Indooroopilly and park at the station there? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again. Steve

Thanks Deryans. Interesting to hear an insider's point of view. Certainly would be worried about gaming exams. I had a more rounded education loosely based upon a curriculum and feel better for it. I see that Indooropilly have Cisco courses, Advanced Chinese. Frankston have Robotics, how things change. Certainly would like to see the little one have such a varied choice when they grow up. Will certainly bear the suburb in mind if we do move on. I think he would do well if we stay in Mt Eliza so in a good position. Thanks a lot for the replies, has certainly clarified the situation for me. Now the big decision Melbourne or Brisbane! Cheers, Steve

Thanks Quoli, Snifter, Good advice there. I realise that numbers only tell a part of the story and its good to get a feel of the school as well. We did a tour of Peninsula School and were struck how good it looked, even I was a bit gutted I hadn't gone there. Not stupid, they picked two smart kids to show us around and of course they were fantastic salespeople (even though this was inadvertent in their part). My wife toured Derinya school in Frankston and wasn't impressed for some reason yet their scores were good. Horses for courses I guess. We're probably overthinking things as well. I do love Mount Eliza but we've had a lot of bad luck since being here. We went up to Brisbane a couple of weeks and were very impressed with the place. It was hot so would imagine its sticky to say the least in Jan\Feb. We would prefer hot weather to cold weather though. Very impressed with some of the Brisbane schools after done some research and the private schools are a little cheaper. A lot rests with us as well so take your point. I think our little one would be happy to grow up here, just need to weigh up the pros and cons. Chapel Hill and Kenmore were lovely suburbs and it would be nice to have the sunshine and gold coasts within driving distance. That was one of the reasons we came here but career got in the way! Sydney was good for us, Melbourne not as much. Some big decisions to make. Thanks again for your advice.

Hi Everyone, I’ve been in Australia for 10 years now, 9 in Sydney and the last year in Melbourne at Mt Eliza. Had a question about the NAPLAN and myschool websites. We’ve been using myschool to try and determine where best to send the little one. Initially was thinking about the Peninsula school, facilities are great but reviews from some of our neighbours weren’t the best so re-evaluating options. We haven’t really settled that well in Melbourne as well, weather being a factor here. Mt Eliza is a great spot and amazing during summer but the long commutes during winter in miserable weather is weighing us down a bit. Anyway I digress, the question I have is around school ranking. Numbers for the likes of Mt Eliza Primary and Derinya are good, Peninsula better but don’t compare to my old suburb in Baulkham Hills (Crestwood) or some of the suburbs in Brisbane we’re looking at (Indooroopilly State and Chapel Hill). I checked some of the top Vic schools (e.g. Balwyn, McKinnon) and again these lag. My understanding was that Vic schools had the best education in oz. Are these NAPLAN scores a viable tool to use here since you can’t use ATAR to compare Mel and Brisbane schools? From my reckoning we would be better off moving to a house in one of the Brisbane high school zones here as their scores favorably compare to private schools. Weather would be nice too! We have a few years before the little one goes to school but keen to know all the facts before making a call. Interested to hear people’s opinions. Cheers, Steve