HELP! Educating 13yo Grammar School daughter and 9yo Grammar wannabe son in Sydney!

[Guest orianagirl]

Hi All,

 

We are in a big quandry; husband has been offered a job with great prospects in Sydney. As we lived and worked throughout Europe for 5 years in the latter 90's (pre-kids) only returning to UK on an absolutely need to basis, we are probably better prepared than most to take the plunge. Other half could go out to Sydney as early as January with me and the children following on after 3 month probation period expired/passed.

 

But we have only one big reservation, educating our kids in Australia; our daughter secured a place and is in her 2nd yr at King Edwards Grammar School in Birmingham and she is really flying there; if we stay in the UK we are going to have our lad tutored as he shows an aptitude and an interest to get into the KE Boys Grammar, although competition is massively fierce for boys.

 

We have absolutely no idea about the Australian education system, but have found elsewhere on this forum stories about bright or gifted kids (they all are!) not being able to fulfill their potential when they have moved to into the Oz system which has really made us think twice about the move - having had to scrape ice off the car this morning, this is not good!

 

Obviously you can find negativity about anything on the internet however wonderful it is to the majority, but we would really appreciate anyone who can share their experiences with us, particularly those who have forfeited their children's hard-fought Grammar School places to move to Oz.

 

Unfortunately, whilst the job on offer is good, it is not at the level we can pay AU$20,000 per annum per child for private education; at a stretch we could do $5,000 per annum as long as the LAFH allowance stays!

 

We have identified French Forest / St Ives as potential suburbs to live in if anyone can comment on the schools in these areas.

 

Many thanks in advance for any guidance / reassurance!

 

:hug:

[Alaska]

Not sure about Sydney but a lot of the private schools around Brisbane are about $3000 a year so maybe you could afford it.

[Quoll]

Sydney has some selective High Schools but whether they do mid course entry is another thing. You will find places at those HS hugely competitive and very highly Asianized - Asian parents really push their kids into being selected and the kids work very hard. James Ruse is the one that seems to top the HSC tables

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/types/selectiveschools.php

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/7-12assessments/selective8_12.php (you are too late for a 2012 application)

You might be best to head for one of the schools which has OC classes and hope that your daughter is picked up for one of them http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_selective_high_schools_in_New_South_Wales

 

At least you are heading for NSW which has one of the better reputations for acknowledging giftedness. In some places there is a tendency to chop off tall poppies at the knees!

 

However, is there a chance you could leave her to board at her current school just in case you decide you want to move back to UK and so that she doesnt lose her place?

[RockDr]

another thing to consider, is that if you do stay out in Australia until the kids finish school, your kids will have to pay international fees if they choose to go to university back in the UK. They have to have been UK residents for the three years before uni in order to pay local rates.

 

Also bear in mind that some states charge temporary residents state school fees that are actually greater than those of some of the private schools. Can't remember if NSW ia one of these.

[Quoll]

another thing to consider, is that if you do stay out in Australia until the kids finish school, your kids will have to pay international fees if they choose to go to university back in the UK. They have to have been UK residents for the three years before uni in order to pay local rates.

 

Also bear in mind that some states charge temporary residents state school fees that are actually greater than those of some of the private schools. Can't remember if NSW ia one of these.

 

You are correct - 457 visa holders are charged $4.5k per child pa. Some private schools (Catholic systemic) are only going to cost around $3k pa

 

Good point about the international student fees as well, so often people get caught by that one.

[MARYROSE02]

http://www.privateschoolsdirectory.com.au

 

I guess these will be the fee-paying ones, just had a quick look at one school near St Ives - Belrose - can't remember the name already! Christian Covenant maybe - fees for one child get up to $10,000 pa by year 12. I'm pretty sure that the creme de la creme are up in the $30,000 pa per child region????

[pintpot]

I'm pretty sure on a 457 visa you're not eligible for selective government high schools in any case, nor Opportunity Classes (although as lots of those are organised by the schools they often turn more of a blind eye to visa status whereas the NSW government doesn't)

 

With private and selective schools closed to you, I would tread very warily, but there are still plenty of decent high schools around; St Ives is supposed to be a good one, and it's a nice area. Use the my school website to investigate results etc:

http://www.myschool.edu.au

[Guest shusselmann]

Hi,

It's also my understanding that temporary residents (e.g. visa 457) in NSW can't apply to selective schools or opportunity classes, this document confirms: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/languagesupport/selective_oc/shs_oc_facts/english.pdf

Frenchs Forest and St Ives are popular family suburbs, and I believe that's because the state public schools are good. I'd suggest speaking to the local state public and Catholic schools (The Forest High School? Davidson High?) in the first instance and explaining your situation, they might have some interesting suggestions.

Good luck with your plans.

[Quoll]

Hi,

It's also my understanding that temporary residents (e.g. visa 457) in NSW can't apply to selective schools or opportunity classes, this document confirms: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/languagesupport/selective_oc/shs_oc_facts/english.pdf

Frenchs Forest and St Ives are popular family suburbs, and I believe that's because the state public schools are good. I'd suggest speaking to the local state public and Catholic schools (The Forest High School? Davidson High?) in the first instance and explaining your situation, they might have some interesting suggestions.

Good luck with your plans.

 

 

Good point! That temporary residence thing can be a real disincentive! I wonder what they do with IM and IO/IS classes (just as an aside - I dont think I have seen protocols for enrolling temporary residents in those classes)

 

Any chance of leaving the kids to board where they are? If there is a chance that you will not be staying in Aus for the long term then the prospects of returning with a child, having lost their grammar school place, during the GCSE process could be a real problem

[supa]

I could have written this post except we have a permanent residency visa and are Melbourne-bound. We too have a grammar place for eldest and whilst our youngest is only 7 year old, he's apparently also showing real grammar school potential. We don't know much about the Oz state system either, and I've heard mixed reports about it; people seem to be very happy or unhappy with it. We can't afford a massively expensive private school, which many of them there seem to be.

 

One thing that does come across is the number of people who say that the Oz system provides a more "holistic" approach to education and not just the "sausage factory" exam-passing attitude here, so that is something we will have to consider too.

 

We don't want to make the decision on the move "just" because of education, but it is a major factor. It's a nightmare isn't it?

 

Hi All,

 

We are in a big quandry; husband has been offered a job with great prospects in Sydney. As we lived and worked throughout Europe for 5 years in the latter 90's (pre-kids) only returning to UK on an absolutely need to basis, we are probably better prepared than most to take the plunge. Other half could go out to Sydney as early as January with me and the children following on after 3 month probation period expired/passed.

 

But we have only one big reservation, educating our kids in Australia; our daughter secured a place and is in her 2nd yr at King Edwards Grammar School in Birmingham and she is really flying there; if we stay in the UK we are going to have our lad tutored as he shows an aptitude and an interest to get into the KE Boys Grammar, although competition is massively fierce for boys.

 

We have absolutely no idea about the Australian education system, but have found elsewhere on this forum stories about bright or gifted kids (they all are!) not being able to fulfill their potential when they have moved to into the Oz system which has really made us think twice about the move - having had to scrape ice off the car this morning, this is not good!

 

Obviously you can find negativity about anything on the internet however wonderful it is to the majority, but we would really appreciate anyone who can share their experiences with us, particularly those who have forfeited their children's hard-fought Grammar School places to move to Oz.

 

Unfortunately, whilst the job on offer is good, it is not at the level we can pay AU$20,000 per annum per child for private education; at a stretch we could do $5,000 per annum as long as the LAFH allowance stays!

 

We have identified French Forest / St Ives as potential suburbs to live in if anyone can comment on the schools in these areas.

 

Many thanks in advance for any guidance / reassurance!

 

:hug: