javi1979 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Hi all, This is my very first post, please excuse me if i'm totally clueless. My husband and I are looking to emmigrate to Brisbane next summer with a 1 year old and 3 year old. When looking at schools in the UK i've gone by the Key stage 2 results and the 11+ successes. Is there a similar system for assessing the acedemic success of schools in brisbane? Fortunately we are in a position to send our child to the best private schools so I would be very greatful if anyone can advice me of the best schools or how i would go about finding out. We haven't narrowed down any suburbs as yet but would be looking for a nice family friendly suburb between 3-6km from the CBD away from flood prone areas. Our budget would be around $1,000,000 for a four bed property. Any help and advice would be very much appreciated. Thanking you in advance, Javi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 People generally use the NAPLAN results available at http://www.myschool.edu.au/ to compare. The govt banned the publication of lists ranking schools by NAPLAN results so you will have to look up each school and intepret the results yourself. Not so easy. There are some old ranking lists about which a a couple of years out of date: eg http://bettereducation.com.au/school/Primary/qld/qld_top_primary_schools.aspx There is a debate about whether going by these rankings is a good idea. Some of top ranking primary schools are state schools so no need to pay for a private school if you live in the right catchment. Some schools that I know in the area that consistently rate very well seem to be: Rainworth State School in (Bardon) Bardon State School (Bardon) Chapel Hill State School (Chapel Hill) Ashgrove State School (Ashgrove) Mater Dei Catholic (Ashgrove) Ironside State School (St Lucia) Bardon and Ashgrove are in your criteria and very family friendly. (Declaration: I live in Ashgrove so bias warning) Personally I would choose Rainworth Primary and live in Bardon with your criteria. You could live in an evil villain house like this maybe advertised at $790,000 6km from the CBD http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-bardon-109711941 ok, so not so good for the young children This maybe: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-bardon-110040481 Or this: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-bardon-109503251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Look on the Acara website http://www.acara.edu.au/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 The best you can do is http://www.myschool.edu.au/ . If you can afford to pay for the best then you had better put your name down for several right now as the best places have waiting lists where the kids are put down at conception. Also try http://bettereducation.com.au/SchoolRanking.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javi1979 Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Thanks for all the links guys, very much appreciated!! My other question is can you put your name down for a school if you're not yet living in Oz? I appreciate for the state schools it's all about the catchment area and if you're in the right catchment area you should get a place. Do you know if you can register on the waiting list of an independent school from overseas? We'll be going across in October this year for a reccie do you think we'd be able to register then, although we won't be moving until aug 2013? Many thanks, Javi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Thanks for all the links guys, very much appreciated!! My other question is can you put your name down for a school if you're not yet living in Oz? I appreciate for the state schools it's all about the catchment area and if you're in the right catchment area you should get a place. Do you know if you can register on the waiting list of an independent school from overseas? We'll be going across in October this year for a reccie do you think we'd be able to register then, although we won't be moving until aug 2013? Many thanks, Javi x You can put your name down for private schools as long as you pay the registration fees, they dont much care where you live as long as you can pay them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jak2503 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 stand outside at home time and count how many have mullets or rats tails, if over 40% then it probably a crap school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 You can put your name down for private schools as long as you pay the registration fees, they dont much care where you live as long as you can pay them. That But you'll have to do plenty of research. There's more to what's the "right" school than just what people think is the "best" school, IYSWIM. And you can't apply for them all. So pick and choose, don't panic, and do the rounds when you get here. Your kids are still very young so plenty of time. IME in the UK waiting lists aren't set in stone, it's not a case of "first off the rank", if the school suits your child (like if it's sports, music, academically oriented) and they want your child, they'll make space even if you weren't strictly first in the queue. Obviously there are limits, I just don't think it's desperate to get them on the lists at all costs *right now*. This seems to apply in Aus and the UK, fwiw When we were in the UK we thought we had to flap about trying to get our 4 year old into the right private school (as that's what we were used to) from day one, because of the timing we missed the boat anyway to get him in for this year and then when we looked into it further most of them wouldn't have taken him anyway until 2013 regardless because he is young for his year (June baby) and the private schools in Sydney have different (earlier) cut off dates than the govvie schools, and most won't take kids born after April. Turns out his government primary school is excellent, we couldn't be happier with it and he is blossoming there and is visibly really happy, learning, developing in all respects as much as we could wish for. We sent him to an assessment for Sydney Grammar 2 weeks ago and whilst they'd be happy to take him, we've agreed with the school that it would probably be best to make the transition in Yr 3, ie 3 years time, as the age differences from their PoV will have ironed out a bit by then and he and we will have more time to form lasting friendships before yet more change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javi1979 Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Ok so I'm a little more clued up with NAPLAN testing. I did hear that apparently the state banned the ranking of schools based on NAPLAN testing. However the better education website shows schools ranked by the year 5 results from 2011. Am I correct in think by year 5 results they do mean year 5 NAPLAN results? Therefore should thie better education site be what I should go by if I'm currently researching schools by academic performance? I've seen the acual NAPLAN results school by school but it does seem quite a long winded process to establish how these schools actually rank against each other. Thanks again, Javi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Australia doesnt like league tables for its schools. The Education unions fought tooth and nail to prevent such implications from NAPLAN hence the obfuscation on the site and all attempts to avoid any possible easy ranking taking place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Relocate Northern Beaches Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 NAPLAN tests were never originally designed to be used in league tables or to rate schools . They were supposed to provide a snapshot in time to inform parents and teachers about a child's weaknesses and strengths.It was all about the assessment of the child which would then lead to better teaching of that child. As an ex teacher myself and a parent I found they really didn't tell me much that I didn't know! However they are now being used en mass to judge and rank a school....this inevitably leads to teaching to a test and a lot of anxiety of parents/teachers and kids. The newsagents round here are full of Naplan workbooks!! Add to this the fact that private schools are now asking for Naplan test results when considering a family's application so its being used as a selective tool also I would say look at the my school website as suggested but also get in there and get a real feel for the place...theres more to a school and its teachers than just the result of one test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 ..theres more to a school and its teachers than just the result of one test. 100%. You can't JUST go on results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Even some of the schools that score well in the NAPLAN rankings caution against putting too much emphasis on them. Of course from a distance it is one of the few tools you have to select a school but when on the ground you have locals opinion, feel of the school, meeting the principal etc For example here is the opinion about NAPLAN from the principal of Mater Dei in Ashgrove which scored in the top 10 in the state (primary schools). http://www.materdei.qld.edu.au/AGM%202011%20Principal's%20Report.pdf (search for the word NAPLAN) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javi1979 Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Thanks ever so much for your replies. I appreciate there's more to schooling than academic success.we're very much in the early stages of research and hope to get a feel for things when we go out in oct for a reccie. We hope to visit some schools then. It's lovely to know there are people out there who are willing to take time out to help others. Thank you all once again. Javi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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