Sunshine Coast Schools

[Threespires]

Hi all,

 

We're heading to the Sunshine Coast in Feb 2014 and wonder if anybody here has experience or knowledge of primary and high schools on the Sunshine Coast, particualrly around the Mooloolaba area. We have two boys ages 8 and 10 (11 in Jan). Obviously I can see lots of websites for the individual schools but no way of independently telling if they are actually any good or not! As state schools seem to be zoned picking a school and a house are very closely linked.

 

Any help very much appreciated

Steve

[Tina2]

Hi all,

 

We're heading to the Sunshine Coast in Feb 2014 and wonder if anybody here has experience or knowledge of primary and high schools on the Sunshine Coast, particualrly around the Mooloolaba area. We have two boys ages 8 and 10 (11 in Jan). Obviously I can see lots of websites for the individual schools but no way of independently telling if they are actually any good or not! As state schools seem to be zoned picking a school and a house are very closely linked.

 

Any help very much appreciated

Steve

Have you looked at the My School web site ? http://www.myschool.edu.au On the right hand side enter the suburb you want to find a school in and press search. it will come up with a page requiring you to enter some code and tick the agree box, press enter. Now you have the page up for the school many have the school web site as well. If you scroll right down to the bottom and look for a box that says results in numbers click on that. I find this the easiest to understand. Basically red results are bad, white results as average and green results are above average for each subject. Get a map of the area and look at schools in close proximity and look at there results as well. Hope that gives you a starting point.

[elscad]

You can choose either state or private schools. State primary schools are generally good. Mooloolaba state primary is good. There are plenty of choices for high school- state- Maroochydore is good for high fliers, Mountain Creek is also good. A popular reasonably priced private school is Immanuel or top end Matthew Flinders.

[Threespires]

Thanks both very much for your replies. The my school website seems very useful although many of the schools I've looked at seem to perfom to an average standard at best! Unsurprisingly the private schools have the better results it would seem. A very helpful resource, thanks. Mountain Creek does look the best bet for a state school at first glance.

Thanks again

[Tina2]

Have you looked at the My School web site ? http://www.myschool.edu.au On the right hand side enter the suburb you want to find a school in and press search. it will come up with a page requiring you to enter some code and tick the agree box, press enter. Now you have the page up for the school many have the school web site as well. If you scroll right down to the bottom and look for a box that says results in numbers click on that. I find this the easiest to understand. Basically red results are bad, white results as average and green results are above average for each subject. Get a map of the area and look at schools in close proximity and look at there results as well. Hope that gives you a starting point.

Yep Immanual is a top school and fees are very reasonable compared to many private schools, it also goes all the way from Prep to Year 12 so no changing schools for high school .

[Kimorjack]

We've recently moved here and heard lots of positive things said about Mountain Creek (and just 1 negative from a fellow student), also Buderim Mountain state school has been highly spoken of.

 

After looking at 3 private schools we chose Immanuel; reason being is that my husband and I felt it had a closer family/community feel to it, the children seemed to shine with happiness (this could've been due to finishing for christmas lol), it just felt smaller close knit than the other 2 (Matthew Flinders & Sunshine Grammar) and came across that they're all for the child's personal development and not just academic results. Don't get me wrong, we had our son in a good private school in the U.K. and we were all for the results, and to be perfectly honest; if you're looking at school websites from U.K. then you may not even consider Immanuel, as I had that down as my last choice of private schools just based on website. Plus it is the cheapest of the 3.

 

Our son starts 28th Jan, so just hope the school is everything we think it is.

[Tina2]

When you think about it happy children get better results and that is what i have always found about the Lutheran Schools they take care of the "whole" child, academic and emotional. also a great deal of importance is placed in the involvement of the parents in the childs education. Parents, children and teachers all working together to give your child the best possible over all experience in a learning environment.

[tqld2010]

By the way, not all state schools in the Sunshine Coast are are zoned (called "catchment" here). The schools that do are listed on this Education Queensland website: http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/catchment/ Each school has their own "enrollment management plan" and map showing the borders of the school's catchment (zone). If a school is not listed, then there is no restriction on where you live for your kids to attend. Those schools with a catchment may let your child attend, even if you don't live in the borders of their catchment. They can make exceptions. I think it depends on the number of kids in the class year your kid is applying for. Not sure, but it always is worth asking if there is a school you like and they have a catchment and you don't live in it. But it is easier to live in the catchment of the school you like. But if you need to change, or can't find a house there or want to live elsewhere, but like a particular school. When we came, we didn't live in the Mountain Creek catchment. I asked, and mentioned that my son had done well in school, and the principal said he would make an exception. Not sure what was the deciding factor, or if they just had space in my son's year. Same thing happened with my other son, but I'm interested in another school near my work, and they said they couldn't tell me until when the school year starts. Good luck. Sunshine Coast is a great place for kids.