public vs private

Hi, we are still in the very early stages of applying to migrate. However we are fairly sure we want to go to Adelaide. We have 3 children 6, 3 (almost ) and 5 months. My 6 year old has just started Year 2 (which including reception means she is now in her 3rd year) but looking at the school calculator for Australia she would only have been due to start school in Jan!!! She is already reading and writing and we have had no end of trouble getting her to where she is because of concentration issues and possibly ADHD. I am torn as to whether it is good that she could settle in at an easy pace or she will sit back too much and get bored and therefore all the concentration issues will arise again. I have read that private schooling can be an option and that they may look more at the child's ability as opposed to their age but my concern is they all seem to be very religious. I am not religious and tbh if I were to swing towards any "belief" it is pagan and I want my children to chose what they wish to believe and not have it forced down their throats.

We are thinking we would look at the beach suburbs in Adeliade, an anyone recommend any private schools that are not religious? Or has anyone had any experience with a situation similar to mine? I have to ask permission from my ex to take my daughter abroad and one of my arguments will have to be education will be the same or better and she will not suffer so I want to be well prepared.

Thanks

If I answer the question in 2 sections...

firstly primary or private. I think it makes little difference in primary education. Your first concern is making sure she settles and has friends and to that end, most Aussie schools are good for that. Most of my friends have children in the public sector

I think all schools here look at ability rather than age. The criteria for moving up is based on the lines of if the child is consistently working at a higher ability level of other children in their class/ year group across the majority of the curriculum (ie more than one subject area), then they MAY be considered. Not all schools do though so it might be worth asking.

Once the kids get older, well some stay public and others go private. I think I would have considered it more. Adelaide is bizarre as one of the first questions you are asked, irrespective of age, is where did you go to school? However, REHS is a good public and Emily has been able to do a course on Animal Behaviour and Marine Biology which was not offered by any private schools.

It depends on what you are looking for...I suggest going round to get a feel for the school. However, learning support assistants are few and far between and access to their facilities is difficult.

Secondly, religious schools

Adelaide is called the City of Churches and therefore it is no surprise that there are a very large number of religious schools. It is a fact that each religious school has its own ethos. In the UK, you had the right to withdraw your child from religious education lessons although you then became responsible for what happened to the child during those lessons as the school would not provide an alternative curriculum.

Here if you pay for a religious school, you are agreeing to uphold the ethos. If that is within a Catholic school, it means you are expected to support religious eucation lessons, not write notes to get your children out of attending masses/ services/ etc. You may want your child to be able to make their own decisions, but the school will push their own vision, and that will be in the way they talk about things. A southern school I know of their interpretation of Christinaity in the classroom but this is very different from how alot of other Christians understand the story.

There are few private schools here with no religious ethos and I don't think that there are any private ones - someone will correct me if I am wrong. Pembroke is a high school in the city and is to the best of my knowledge the only private non religious school in Adelaide

I am a secondary school teacher, and therefore my perspective is a little different. Plus my children are older than yours and your priorities as parents shift as your children grow.

If I answer the question in 2 sections...

 

firstly primary or private. I think it makes little difference in primary education. Your first concern is making sure she settles and has friends and to that end, most Aussie schools are good for that. Most of my friends have children in the public sector

 

I think all schools here look at ability rather than age. The criteria for moving up is based on the lines of if the child is consistently working at a higher ability level of other children in their class/ year group across the majority of the curriculum (ie more than one subject area), then they MAY be considered. Not all schools do though so it might be worth asking.

 

Once the kids get older, well some stay public and others go private. I think I would have considered it more. Adelaide is bizarre as one of the first questions you are asked, irrespective of age, is where did you go to school? However, REHS is a good public and Emily has been able to do a course on Animal Behaviour and Marine Biology which was not offered by any private schools.

 

It depends on what you are looking for...I suggest going round to get a feel for the school. However, learning support assistants are few and far between and access to their facilities is difficult.

 

Secondly, religious schools

 

Adelaide is called the City of Churches and therefore it is no surprise that there are a very large number of religious schools. It is a fact that each religious school has its own ethos. In the UK, you had the right to withdraw your child from religious education lessons although you then became responsible for what happened to the child during those lessons as the school would not provide an alternative curriculum.

 

Here if you pay for a religious school, you are agreeing to uphold the ethos. If that is within a Catholic school, it means you are expected to support religious eucation lessons, not write notes to get your children out of attending masses/ services/ etc. You may want your child to be able to make their own decisions, but the school will push their own vision, and that will be in the way they talk about things. A southern school I know of their interpretation of Christinaity in the classroom but this is very different from how alot of other Christians understand the story.

 

There are few private schools here with no religious ethos and I don't think that there are any private ones - someone will correct me if I am wrong. Pembroke is a high school in the city and is to the best of my knowledge the only private non religious school in Adelaide

 

I am a secondary school teacher, and therefore my perspective is a little different. Plus my children are older than yours and your priorities as parents shift as your children grow.

Thanks very much that is very helpful. The 2 schools I have found that are private and of no religion (as far as I can say) are The Hills Montessori, and Pembroke but wasn't sure if that was a primary as it says early years to 12. I did find one other but can't seem to remember the name now. I am very concerned about what you say about religion because I couldn't support that, I don't opt to take my daughter out of religious activities here but I do not wish to have one thing taught to her and I make sure she is aware of all religions and beliefs.

Do the state schools focus quite as much on religion? Maybe like you say public to start and then private later on. I guess when we get closer to actually going through with this I will have to speak to some as you said.

Thanks for your message

What Libby says is spot on !!

I have an 8 yr old daughter and a 6 year old son. Both went to a catholic private shool .Not because are a religeous family but it was what we felt at the time the closest thing we could find to the schooling system we left behind in the uk. By this i mean discipline, uniform and secure gates around the school boundarys for security.

At this early age i don't see a problem in the basic religeon inc manners, morals and gods creatures.

Unfortunately this school in my daughters year has a bad group of children and my daughter was very unhappy. We were dissapointed in how the school handled certain issues ( due to their religeous ethos !!!) So my daughter now goes to the local state school. This was not an easy decision to make but the bad group had made her life hell for the past 2 years and would obviously stay with her in each of her school years there !!!

My son on the other hand is still in this private school and is doing really well. i really want to move him to but for my own convenience of dropping off and picking up again !!! But for him for now while he is still learning well and enjoying school there's no need to fix it if its not broken !!

My daughter was almost 5 when we arrived and was also reading , writing and counting very well ( must get it from her teacher mum ) School have let her move up years to her ability level over her aged level although the age of all her classmates will worry me in years to come.

Sorry for rambling. Good luck with your decisions.

Not sure which school calc you used cos kids in SA start school at 5. It is possible that were you to arrive before Jan your 6 yr old would go int yr 2 here, depending on when the birthday is. My daughters went to a state primary, they now go to a private uniting girls school for high school. My son went to an anglican private coed school. I'd say at my daughter's school they received about as much religious ed as I did in primary school in the UK. It's usually called RAVE (religious and values education) and from about yr 10 up this becomes an annual seminar. They have chapel (whole school assembly type thing plus some rock n roll type hymns, a prayer or two etc)Outside of this there is no religion pushed at them. Of course some schools have a more religious ethos, generally Lutheren, Catholic and generic Christian schools have more, but it depends on the school and its community. Religious ed is mostly aimed at teaching about religion in general, as in different faiths to expand their knowlege. I'd say look at the schools first and then decide. The private schools have to take a percentage of none school's own religion students due to the government funding they receive. Some do this by expecting students to be active within their own particulat faith, but the big establishment schools except some Catholic ones don't push this too much and less so in Senior school.

Religion is not taught in state schools at all in a formal way. Projects may be done as part of social studies on particular religions, but the day to day lessons assemblies contain no religious content.

In the UK, the RE legislation said religious education should reflect the cultural diversity of the local community but remain broadly Christian in nature. Most LEAs translated broadly Christian in nature to mean that if you taught 2 religious perspectives on a matter, one was always Christianity eg Rites of Passage, Pilgrimage and Discrimination - teach Hindu and Islam for RofP, Christianity and Judaism for Pilg, and Christianity for Disc.

Here, there is no legislation regarding how or if RE should be taught. Most private schools are funded by a religion so therefore they are going to talk about RE. How and if they mention other religions is uncertain. Within the Catholic system, I know that one of the requirements is that you teach other religions too, but it does not specify to what extent.

Some schools teach RAVE - religious and values education I think it stands for. Alot of schools teach moral behaviour but I am not sure how; I have no experience of this.

Early years generally means R-12 and these schools are increasingly popular. There was a large funding package released to schools if they converted to this system.

Pembroke expects alot from its teachers but equally expects standards from its students. It is very central to the city so if you are planning to put your children into the school, it might be worthwhile to make sure you live nearby so that your children make friends. You might be willing to drive half an hour down the road so that your child can play with her friends from school, but don't expect others to as that may not be the case here. many will not think it is worth the effort although there may be some who do.

For myself I have always been keen to support my children's right to choose. I teach within Catholic ed because I want to. I support the ethos of the school but recognise that children today want to make their own decisions regarding their spirituality. My own daughter would like to be a Jewish Buddhist with occasional Christian elements thrown in. How you can even create such a thing is amazing in my mind but she is very specific and has been since she was 13 regarding this matter.

At the end of the day, you can contact the schools you are interested in from the UK or read through their mission statements on the Internet. Most religious schools have a section under Curriculum relating to RE. One of the schools in Adelaide which is closest to a UK style curriculum is Pulteney, and I think Woodcroft have a similar structure. Maybe because they are Anglican/ CofE schools which is the Christian viewpoint taught in almost all schools in the UK. You can contact the schools now; you don't need to give them a starting date, just say you are curious about their ethos particularly regarding RE - you don't have to say why.

I am in my mid twenties and attended a public primary school for all but the last year, after which I moved to a Lutheran school in the Western suburbs. I was there for 3 years after which I went back to a public high school. A sibling went to a public school all the way up until the last two years of school where she attended a "senior college" which is for the last two years only (the most important to gain the South Australian Certificate of Education).

One of my parents has taught in both public secondary schools, one of the most "elite" private schools in Adelaide, and a Lutheran private school. Very close family friends have spent their whole career in the public secondary sector teaching.

This is my take on it:

• Private schools will try and sell the line that they are able to look after student's on a closer level than public schools. This is a sales pitch and definitely not always the case. Disregard it.
  
• Catholic schools make up the majority of private schools in Adelaide, and are probably the "most religious". They're also the cheapest private schools.
  
• Basically all private schools bar some senior colleges (which cater to year 11 and 12 students only) are "religious schools", so from experience I think you will find it difficult to find a private school for your young children where religion is not shoved down their throats. This is just bad luck.
  
• The Western suburbs are relatively well off so most public and private schools will be better than those in the suburbs further north and south of the city, as that is where children from lower socio-economic backgrounds will be (to be blunt: this makes the learning environment worse for all students).
  
• I am not 100% sure about this but with public schools there are some rules about where the students can be depending on where they live. Ie. You can't live at Semaphore and send your children to a school at Seacliff (these are two Western suburbs about 15KM apart in case you aren't aware). With the private system you can send the students wherever you want.
  
• Public schools are very secular. There is no specific "religious education" (which would just be some form of Christianity anyway) anywhere as far as I know.
  

One ridiculous thing about Australia is the following (however this may change slowly if the current Government stays in power): on a per student basis private schools actually get more tax payer money than public schools. How? Because State Governments are responsible for public schools, and the previous Federal Government preferred to hand out money directly to private schools rather than pass it on through the State level government. It's become completely distorted and has made a mockery of the whole system, but that's the way it is. That's what happens when Australians vote in a centre-right leaning government at the Federal level and centre-left leaning government at State level...

Hope that helps!

Thanks thats great. I sum up from that that there are pros and cons to both. So I guess the best thing is to see what is on offer where we end up and make our decisin on what we feel is best

Thanks again