Schools - Advice Please

[Guest Aardvark]

I would be very grateful for some advice regarding schools.

 

We have three children 8, 7 and 4.

 

Could you please recommend schools, perhaps the top five public and top five private in the Adelaide area. We're thinking eastern suburbs/south or hills but will get a house based on the schools.

 

For preference we would prefer co-ed's and a school that runs from ELC/Kindy through to year 12 - after the upheaval of moving from their schools & friends in the UK it would be nice for the kids to have some stability, as well as all being at the same school.

 

If anyone has any indications of waiting times for the private schools I'd be grateful?

 

Kids are all quite bright and perform near the top of their current classes but if the schools don't have goods sports facilities or active teams, particularly soccer and rugby (union) then the boys will stop talking to me !

 

Thanks in advance.

[Diane]

You will probably have a bit of trouble finding a school that does rugby - most do AFL (what they call "football!" here) and some do soccer (what we'd call football!) but there are a few clubs that do rugby union - one of my husband's friends has rugby-playing sons - I think their club is at Modbury (North East) and they play for the state team too - rugby union in SA is really still in its infancy, but growing with some dedicated trainers and clubs. You may find the most competitive sports will be through clubs as opposed to schools - many kids do both!

 

As for schools, well I don't think there is any sort of league table which would give you the "top" schools - for private I guess you could look at fees and the most expensive are probably considered the "best" - I know Pembroke is very pricey and people put their kids names down from birth, and Scotch College is supposed to be good. What suits one child may not necessarily suit another though so it's hard to judge on price alone! The co-ed factor might help you to narrow things down - lots of private schools are single sex, but there are plenty that aren't too!! This might be somewhere to start: Adelaide Schools

 

In terms of state schools, the ones I've heard high praise for are Marryatville (Kensington - East) - great music and sports there from what I've seen - Norwood Morialta (East), Brighton (West) - think they have sports and music specialities, and Adelaide High School (Central) - language specialisms and some sport I think. There are plenty of others though and those I've mentioned are all High Schools, they don't go Reception-Year12. Bear in mind that sometimes it's a good thing for kids to change school between primary and high school - they do primary till Year 7 here (aged about 12/13) - it's kind of a rite of passage and many primaries actually have a graduation ceremony etc. By the time your kids get to that age I'm sure they will be well settled and not mind the change that comes with graduating from the (fairly low pressure) primary environment to the (relatively high pressured) high school years. I guess the more centrally you're living, the bigger choice of schools you'll have. It is extremely common here for kids to change schools several times, doesn't seem to adversely affect them too much!

 

P.S. Just had another thought - depending on your views on religion, St Ignatius might fit your needs - Junior and Senior Campus, co-ed, lots of sports, eastern suburbs - worth a look anyway!