Schooling - UK v Oz

[Guest I_FELLOWS]

Hi there,

 

Can anyone already in Adelaide give me a first hand appraisal of the pro's and con's of the ozzie schooling system ?

 

Still in the UK at the moment (seemingly endless wait ahead for visa). When we get to Adelaide I think we would be planning to use a state school if they're up to scratch. Are the state schools as good as UK ones (at least the decent ones) ? If we want a good education for our kids is sending them to state schools a realistic option or not ?

 

Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Guest steph&neil]

Hi there,

 

Can anyone already in Adelaide give me a first hand appraisal of the pro's and con's of the ozzie schooling system ?

 

Still in the UK at the moment (seemingly endless wait ahead for visa). When we get to Adelaide I think we would be planning to use a state school if they're up to scratch. Are the state schools as good as UK ones (at least the decent ones) ? If we want a good education for our kids is sending them to state schools a realistic option or not ?

 

Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

 

Hiya as always it comes down to personal experience & preference. So there is a new website to compare school - "www.myschool.edu.au" - I personally don't think this is a good reflection, it is is based on the naplan testing done by grades 3,5 & 7. So depending on the children on the day of the test will inevitably affect the rating a school gets!

I have 1 at state & 1 at private, and I don't think anyone can tell you what is best for your children!

My oldest is in 7 yr (State) & my youngest is yr 3 (Private) - they both attended a state school that has a good rating, but compared to uk (Scotland) education system I feel it falls a little short. Private on the other hand is half the cost of UK private and they are high achievers - ie they will push to get the fullest potential.

Private school's are around $4500 per year plus uniforms.

State school are around $275 per year - unless you get a school card & with that you get 40% off either state or private, we aren't entitled to this but lots of people dont realise you can use it for private schools. Also there are scholarships available in primary & secondary schools.

Most schools don't have dining facilities (just in my experience) therefore they eat in class for the first 10 minutes then take any food they still have outside - however most have a canteen for lunch orders which are delivered hot to the class at the start of lunch time.

The other thing to note is the cut off dates for years they will be put in - they don't start yr 1 until they are 6 yrs old (reception class starts after their 5th birthday & depending on when they start will decide how many terms of reception they do - normally 4 or 6).

my Daughter is in yr 7 and is 13 in August this year. She will start yr 8 at secondary school next January.

Private schools varies with some secondary schools taking them from yr 7 and if you are looking at catholic schools they do junior up to yr 5 , middle up to yr 7 & high school up to yr 13 - all at different locations where they all end up at a feeder school!

Lots of people I know have children at catholic school - you don't have to be catholic but preference is given to practising church goers! these are around the same price as private all the way through. However it is worth noting that private secondary can be anything from 17k (Immanuel) - 23k (Mercedes or Scotch colleges), plus 2 uniforms at around $1500 pa.

I hope this helps & is the info you are looking for, if I can help with anything else just give me a shout - but please remember the choice is yours & by visiting schools you will get a better idea!

Steph x

[Guest Bodie]

Hi. Can't advise on whether to send to state or private as it depends on where you will be living. I just wanted to say that Mercedes doesn't cost 23,000. Most of the private schools publish their fee schedules on their websites. There are often extra fees but it gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Tracey

 

PS Just thought - it may depend on whether you are paying international student fees due to the type of visa you have

[Diane]

My two both attended state primary school up to and including Year 7. I felt that they got a very good standard of education there, although they didn't get a lot of homework, but did get to try out lots of different things (sports, music etc) at a very reasonable cost. They were in Years 2 and 4 respectively when we arrived here, so we were in a good position to compare UK with Oz education.

 

The biggest thing I would say we noticed here was the emphasis on individual confidence - there's a lot of show and tell all the way through, standing up in front of the class making a presentation etc, project work, plus added responsibilities given to the kids in Year 7 - such as helping out on school reception desks etc. This is reflected when you speak to teenagers who have been through the school system here - the majority of them are articulate and confident, and happy and able to hold a conversation with a group of adults or an individual adult to a far greater extent than I had observed in the UK.

 

On the negative side, no specific area for eating lunch, no school lunches (a la Jamie Oliver!) - but hot and cold snack food available from a canteen which is eaten at their desks (as fast as possible, and only things that can be eaten with fingers, no knives and forks to speak of!)

 

Both sat independent scholarship exams at the start of Year 7, and on the basis of that, both were offered subsidised scholarships at the Private High School of our choice. I think a lot of their success was down to the teacher they had at primary in Year 6 and 7 - he really seemed to bring out the best in both of them (his family were Ten Pound Poms back in the 60s I think!) but as with all teachers, what suits one child may not suit another, we were just lucky with him I think.

 

We chose to send them to Private High School mainly because of the "networking" thing which is so rife in Adelaide - sounds poncy I guess, but still when I hear business people talking amongst themselves, the question I hear quite frequently asked of an "Adelaide born-and-bred" person is "which school did you go to?" and rightly or wrongly, judgements then seem to be made! Who knows if it will still be the same when they leave school, though.... This doesn't just apply to private schools though, there are a few state high schools that are excedingly well thought of too (Glenunga, Marryatville, Brighton, Golden Grove, Adelaide High all spring to mind immediately, I'm sure there are a lot more as well)

 

However, the gap between expectations of a child at a state primary and a private high school (particularly a fairly high achieving one) are pretty huge, and for my son, who has just started at High School, it is a very steep learning curve, which is traumatic for us all! All that is keeping us going at the moment is the fact that my daughter, now in Year 10, had similar adjustment issues and has now come through the other side and loves school, has a great circle of friends, and has had so many opportunities already.

 

Horses for courses as ever with kids and schools, but you can only do your best, and hope it turns out right - if it doesn't, it is not at all unusual for kids to change schools here, and in most areas, you will have a choice of several different schools (different sizes, styles, ethos - ethosses? - etc)

 

Purely personally, I feel the school my children are at now is of a far, far higher standard than they would have got into in the UK - even bearing in mind we used to live near some of the 'top' achieving high schools of Chelmsford and Colchester.

 

Dunno if any of that helps - there are very good state schools dotted all round, and a wide, wide range of choices in private schools - when I looked at High Schools there were some around the $4k a year mark, and just about every variation upwards from there!

 

I stress again that this is purely our personal experience, but certainly I don't think many children here suffer from going through the Australian system rather than the British one!

[Guest kangomik]

Hi

 

Our kids go to state primary school and we've been very pleased with how things have gone so far. They settled in extremely quickly and any learning issues we have had over the past couple of years, only minor things, have been identified by the teachers swiftly so we could put a plan into place to correct things.

 

I agree with Diane that there is a lot of emphasis, especially in Year 7, for the kids to take on more responsibility, use negotiating skills, etc. My kids also love the fact that pretty much every day they get some form of fitness (pe) lesson.

 

There does seem to be a good amount of children that do state primary and then go on to private high school. For us this isn't really an option at the moment so we'll be trying them at the local state school, which fortunately has good reports from people I speak to. At the end of the day I guess a lot comes down to whether you can afford it and whether you think your child will be suited to the school. There will be kids at state schools who exceed and kids at private who fail miserably and vice versa.

 

You can research state schools via DECS Locations

 

For non-government schools try Australian Schools which has links to the individual school websites.

 

Regards.

 

Louise (Mrs Kangomik)

[Anne B]

Hi

 

 

There will be kids at state schools who exceed and kids at private who fail miserably and vice versa.

 

QUOTE]

 

So true.

Some friends of ours busted their guts to send their only son to Immanuel to give him a good education. Their house doesn't look as if they've spent a cent on it in the last 20 years. The son is now 22, unemployed, still lives at home, was sporty but is now getting fat from drinking too much and seems to be up all night on Facebook (we noticed this when we were in the UK). A nice kid but he has no direction and no idea what he wants to do in life. So going to a good school is no guarantee of future success.

[coolerking]

All the previous have made good points, I think it does depend on the area and the school as in the UK. Good state schools are good but there are some with very bad reputations.

 

They main difference I have noticed here is that the UK system is based on pressure and here they get every chance to achieve in some way. Our eldest two go to a low fee indie and they love it.

 

Cooler

[Guest I_FELLOWS]

Thanks to everyone for posting a reply. Some great information here.

 

We will check out the links suggested to research locals schools. I'm sure like the UK though league tables and inspectors reports only tell half the story, so it's good to get some first hand advice as well. When (eventually) we arrive in Adelaide our choice of where to live will be strongly influenced by proximity of good schools for our children, as well as proximity for work and affordability. So I suppose research, research and more reseach will be the key to making the best overall choice.

 

If you don't mind clearing one thing up....... I don't understand the quote below....... are these prices typical of the best private secondary schools ? Earlier in the same thread a cost of $4500 per year is mentioned ? Is this just the range of possible costs ?

 

Lots of people I know have children at catholic school - you don't have to be catholic but preference is given to practising church goers! these are around the same price as private all the way through. However it is worth noting that private secondary can be anything from 17k (Immanuel) - 23k (Mercedes or Scotch colleges), plus 2 uniforms at around $1500 pa.

 

Thanks again everyone. I have found PIA very helpful for lots of information already, and this is thanks to everyone's willingness to share their experiences and views.

[Selah]

Thanks to everyone for posting a reply. Some great information here.

 

We will check out the links suggested to research locals schools. I'm sure like the UK though league tables and inspectors reports only tell half the story, so it's good to get some first hand advice as well. When (eventually) we arrive in Adelaide our choice of where to live will be strongly influenced by proximity of good schools for our children, as well as proximity for work and affordability. So I suppose research, research and more reseach will be the key to making the best overall choice.

 

If you don't mind clearing one thing up....... I don't understand the quote below....... are these prices typical of the best private secondary schools ? Earlier in the same thread a cost of $4500 per year is mentioned ? Is this just the range of possible costs ?

 

Lots of people I know have children at catholic school - you don't have to be catholic but preference is given to practising church goers! these are around the same price as private all the way through. However it is worth noting that private secondary can be anything from 17k (Immanuel) - 23k (Mercedes or Scotch colleges), plus 2 uniforms at around $1500 pa.

 

Thanks again everyone. I have found PIA very helpful for lots of information already, and this is thanks to everyone's willingness to share their experiences and views.

I have PM'd you.