Catholic Primary Schools

[Guest wijaya]

Hi everybody

 

As we are waiting for our 475 visa, we now have to think about our children schools when, hopefully, we move to Adelaide about Easter next year.

 

Can anybody share informations about catholic primary schools like Stella Maris in Seacombe Gardens, St Teresa's in Brighton, St Martin de Porris in Sheidow Park.

 

I have got an answer from Stella Maris, saying that they have a space for my daugther next year. She is in year 3 now in a Catholic school in London. I have been to the school sites but still struggling to differentiate one school to another.

 

Anybody has children in these schools and probably could share which's the best, and which is to be avoided if any.

 

 

Kind regards

Wijaya

[Rachiegarlo]

if you only have three in mind then you can have a look at all 3 when you get here. then you will be able to feel first hand whether any of the schools you have listed are right for you and your children. Just in case you don't know catholic schools are not free they charge fees, most are low in the primary school sector but bump up a lot if you wish to continue to a catholic private high school.

[Guest DianeJ]

Hi,

I have friends whose 4 children go to St Teresa's and they like it. My 3 go to St Martins and they are happy there, though they have only been there since end Feb. Sorry don't know anything about Stella Maris.

St Martins said they were full when asked from the UK, but on arrival said they had room. Maybe they get so many enquiries from abroad that they only tell you when you are here!

 

Diane

[Guest norah battie]

Stella Maris ok....goes to year 7...my boys at St Martins....very good and have heard good reports re St Teresas

[Guest wijaya]

Thanks for you all for very informative answers. It is good to hear your positive assesment about the schools.

 

Rachel: yes we know about the fee for catholic schools. We are still considering whether we can afford to send both our children to Catholic schools or not. My oldest, a boy, is in Year 7 in Sutton Grammar School here in London. Very good school. I have checked that the fee for secondary school is about 3-4 k a year. i love to send them both to Catholic schools but it probably depends whether we will have a good income in Oz.

 

if not, probably we will send one of them to state school. So can anybody pinpoint me to state schools (primary and secondary) in the area that I should look at?

 

We plan to settle in areas like St Marys, Mitchell Park, Panorama, and nearby.

 

Regards

 

Wijaya

[Rachiegarlo]

Blackwood High has a very wide load of options, they do exchanges to Japan, loads ofother options. It's in the hills behind Panorama, St Marys etc but probably a better bet than Hamilton Secondary the high for Mitch Pk area or Pasadena the High for Panorama area considering the type of school your son is at already. Laura (the4hopes) lives in this area and got her kids into Blackwood High, perhaps PM her for her thoughts on Blackwood.

 

Oh and primary schools in those area, well Eden Hills, Blackwood, Belair, Coromandel Valley and Hawthornedene are all good and only 10 - 15 mins from the areas you mentioned. The schools actually in those areas are very mixed and in a state of change as the areas are changing, but you will have to check em out yourself really. In this chunk of the city there is Cabra - coed from gr 6, Sacred Heart Boys yrs 6-9, MaryMount girls yrs 6-9 Sacred Heart Senior coed yr10-12. The catholic primaries in this part of the city finish at gr 5, when the kids transfer to any of the above. In the city itself there is also CBC (Christian Brothers College) for boys and St Marys and St Aloyisius for girls they are all rec - yr 12 schools. If you want a christian school then there is in South Plympton Bethesda Christian College which is an R- yr12 school that used to have sliding scale fees dependent on income.

[Guest Libby1971]

Private high schools fees increase as you progress through the system. Things like textbooks are not supplied as you will have to buy them adn all stationary including exercise books. $10k is not unusual to pay for a child in the Catholic High School system in fees only.

[Rachiegarlo]

yes that is true for the Old guard schools out there like mercedes, Rostrevor, Saint Iggies etc, but the ones I mentioned are still signif cheaper than $10k but still offer a good education. http://www.cabra.adl.catholic.edu.au/ktmllite/files/uploads/Fees2009.pdf http://www.sac.sa.edu.au/files/pdf/2009FinancialInformation.pdf

[Guest wijaya]

When I went to home site of catholic education in SA, there was a list of fee. It was around 1-2 k for 2006-2007. If that was the case, we could probably have afforded the fee. Obviously, things have changed. I am not sure whether we can or want to pay 5-10 k for a fee especially for the secondary school.

 

Well, probably we need to seriously think about a good state school, or an affordable catholic school, especially for my son. He is thriving here in a grammar school. Just felt that we are betraying him, if he moves to a so so state school in Adelaide.

 

For my daughter, the catholic school she is at the moment, is in special measure. So any school which is marginally better will be good for here.

 

Thanks all. I will look up for the state schools.

 

Regards

[Guest caoimhe]

We are Catholic and our kids attended Catholic schools in Ireland but we are unable to pay the fees here even though they state that No Catholic child shall be denied a Catholic education, but all our kids are primary school age and we have been told that there is not much difference in education between catholic schools and state schools at the primary ages and I must admit we are very happy with the state school our kids are in. So our plan is to keep them in state school until high school and then hopefully we will be in a better situation to afford the Catholic High School. They can make their sacraments through the parish and then continue them in High school

[Guest sandar1]

Have had friends who went to Stella Maris and have sent their kids to Stella Maris also, hey were very happy there. From what I could see of it, they had a very caring family atmosphere there.

 

God I remember going through this with my guys, its hard eh.

 

Check out the areas you are going to be wanting to live in and maybe then contact the schools by email to get a feel for them.

 

All the best.

 

Sandra

[Guest Mrs PHH]

Our daughter is starting Cardijn College (High School) in January 2010, it's down south in Noarlunga and the fees are about $4k per year. We liked the Headmaster and the Head of English when we met them and were impressed by the kids that showed us around on the open day, also our neighbours know a Tech teacher there and they speak highly of the school. Apart from that I can't give an ojective opinion about what the school is like on a day to day basis as she hasn't started there yet.