Canberra Schools

[Guest RobnLinda]

Dear Canberrans

 

We are seeking your advice as to the relative merits (or otherwise) of the following schools;

 

St Clares

Merici

Canberra Girls Grammar

 

Any input/knowledge re St Peters and St Pauls would also be great.

 

We have 2 girls -the eldest entering YR 8 the youngest YR 5 as of Feb 2012.

 

Our hope is to rent initially in the Inner South / Garran / Weston areas .

 

Obviously we have looked at league tables but any local knowledge would be invaluable and a lot more useful.

 

We are planning on a Jan 2012 move .

 

Thanks in advance

 

PS Quoll your advice would I am sure prove especially helpful.

[Quoll]

CCEGGS is the most expensive but has some fabulous facilities (swimming pool, rowing shed, tennis courts, overseas trips etc). There is a bit of movement out of both Grammars into ACT colleges at year 12 (usually Narrabundah) but CCEGS and Radford generally sit up at the top of the ACT year 12 rankings (with Narrabundah) - if you can find it somewhere here in the obfuscation which is the BSSS http://www.bsss.act.edu.au/publications/year_12_study_2010 (Boys Grammar - CGS - dont figure on this list because they do HSC)

 

Clares generally comes next in the relative rankings with Merici behind the other two. The two Catholic schools are quite a bit cheaper than CCEGS. I have a friend who sends her girls to St Clares and has been very happy with the school and what it has offered her girls.

 

I think you will have to go and eyeball the places to see if you think they "fit" your girls and also if they have places for them. The competition for places in non gov schools is hotting up as now around 50% of HS kids go to private schools and parents are voting with their feet. The benefit of CCEGS is that if they have places (that's always a big if) then you would have both girls at the same school (different campuses) but the downside is that you would be paying double big fees for quite a while.

 

We sent our boys to CGS and dont regret that it cost us a fortune - the facilities, opportunities and pastoral care were excellent and I would imagine the girls equivalent would be just as good but it did mean significant financial sacrifices on our part.

 

The bonus of sending your kids to private schools is that it doesnt matter where you live - kids go to all those schools from all over the place (not St P&P obviously) so you do have more choice about the sort of place you want to live in and its proximity to where you will be working