Guest CaptainCook Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hi Have been doing lots of research on public primary schools and was really impressed with the approach of the schools I looked at (in Northern Beaches, upper north shore), they all have great websites, load of information especially for parents of prospective kindergarten kids. And I was really pleased to see they put such emphasis on social skills and confidence building rather than just academic progress (unlike school we attend here who only seem to care that children have reading age 2 years ahead of their actual age, which is really not my top priority for a 4 year old) So for all those reasons finding a good school was one of the things I was least concerend about. But have just been reading an email from our friend who lives in Sydney who says that *most* people send their kids to private school as it's so much more affordable than in the UK and the standard is better. Is this the case, and is this something we should be considering? Or does in depend on the suburb you live in? Our eldest would be going into kindergarten in Jan 2010 and I think a less academic and more child orientated school like the ones I've been looking at would really suit him. Thanks in advance Emma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ericaw Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 hi there, ive looked at some schools in oz, really lucky as kids privately schooled in uk so using that as a basis for looking and comparing in oz, overall not quite the same as uk but defo cheaper, state in my bigoted opinon are a no go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shelleymarie Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hi, I live on lower north shore, our kids went to state primary school, it was perfectly fine. It all depends on the area, if you live in a good suburb the local state school will be good. People do have more issues with the high schools not always being that great, our kids now go to private high school, mostly because of lack of choice in our area, and the extra hoopla and attention you get is lovely but would have been a waste of money at primary level! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Toorak Trev Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 but would have been a waste of money at primary level! Current research proves that Prep to Grade 2 is the most important and influential years of education. Making private if you can afford it better spent in those years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shelleymarie Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I'm not saying that good education is not essential, just that I don't see any added benefit from a private primary school compared to a good state school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ericaw Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 you could argue the private versus state for eternity, all sides will have completely valid points of view. however until you have personally experienced both sides of education from pre prep to prep or primary to junior then its all just subjective discussion. Its absolutely worth it if you can afford it, if you cant then you just the best for your children that you can. end of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shelleymarie Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 This is a really interesting discussion that of course has no end but I do so totally disagree with you (!) and wanted to reassure the first writer not to worry too much if they can't easily afford private because in my opinion it's not always necessary! I live in Mosman, one of the best suburbs in Sydney, and have brought up my children here so have had a chance to see many of our friends from around the north shore go through either the private or public route - particularly for primary I honestly think there are very good state schools, usually in good areas, that have offered the kids equivalent opportunities to private. If you can easily afford private I suppose you can send them and not think anymore about it (although I could say, of the families I know whose kids have left high school, the 3 boys who dropped out or did badly went to some of the top schools on the north shore - but that would only inflame the discussion!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mremjay Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Where we live, which is out near the lower Blue Mountains the public school is better than the local Private Catholic School. I always thought my children would go Private but have certainly found that the Public system can be great. Check out the school carefully though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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