Private or Public Schools?

[Black Orchid]

Sorry to steal your topic Gordon but it's just a massive mess over there and not conducive to posting in.

I went to a private school but my kids went public because their father INSISTED on it.

Advantages of a private school ...

Better selection of teachers ensuring better quality of teachers because their jobs are based on performance and not just a given
Much broader variation of subject matter
More varied sports programs which are needed for balance in education
Rubbish like Safe Schools Programs and such are not tolerated
They are held to account if the do not perform

[sprintcyclist]

my kids were not 'academically' inclined.

no point sending them there.

[Black Orchid]

Public schools are hit and miss now depending on the area and the Principal. Both of mine went public in primary school and it was a small school, classes not over crowded and excellent dedicated teachers. My oldest went to a public high school and received an excellent education before the rust started setting in but then the rust DID start setting in.

My youngest went to an OC primary school in year 5 then on to a selective high school and I found that was a huge mistake too. 19 Asians to 1 Aussie. Whilst the Aussies went in being really smart they were often made to feel that they just did not do enough. A mark of 95 was not good against marks of 99 attained by the Asians who went to before school pre Uni classes and after school study classes. Couple that with every hour of their weekends behind a book it was just not a good environment.

The few Aussie kids there spent their afternoons socialising and soccer training and their weekends playing soccer and socialising and just being out and about in general. So the Asians all get the best marks and where does it get them? They may get the best marks for Uni but they have absolutely no social skills and make crap Doctors etc

Even in school kids need a well rounded education and many public schools just can't do that anymore. They are more interested in social engineering and gender fluidity.

[Black Orchid]

my kids were not 'academically' inclined.

no point sending them there.

You can be lucky Sprint but now it just depends on where you live.

[Gordon]

Love what you posted above, BO.

I started off as a great advocate for public education. Her primary school is rated very well but I have issues with it.

Academically she's really solid, like top bands for Naplan but the school only caters for the average kids or the ones falling behind and there are no resources for kids who need extra stimulation.

Take maths for example. She knocks over her maths worksheets + the extension work in a few minutes and there is nothing else for her to do except help other kids or be bored.

The teachers are not allowed to supply work outside of the curriculum.

She missed out on a year 5 OC class by 2 points as there is only one OC class for MILES around us hence the entry score is very high. She was like 10 or 15 points higher than her cousin who did get in for a West Subs OC class.

I'm actually REALLY positive about our local highschool in many ways. It looks a bit shabby around the edges but the maths, english and science departments are awesome and it has a selective stream she will almost certainly get into.

My only concern is the over crowding, the school is busting at the seams and about 2 years ago the problem began to escalate with reports they had to 'hot classroom'.

This led me to look for alternatives but unfortunately my schools of choice have waiting lists from birth.

Anyway, in the last week something off the fucking scale amazing has happened and she will now be going to one of the best schools in the country.

[Gordon]

Selective schools, yikes.


freeimagehosting

[Black Orchid]

WOW that's amazing whatever happened lol. I hope the school suits her and that is another plus for many private schools in that you can choose a school that suits your kid rather than having to attend a school just because your address feeds into it. If you get in early enough that is.

I would not recommend a selective school to anyone now. Once upon a time they were excellent but now they are skewed against us.

The OC school nearest to me has become so popular that a once gracious and character filled school environment is now a mix match of demountable classrooms. So many so that the school has had to rent land from Council to dump 20 more!! Asians have swarmed into the area like flies so their kids can attend there. Before school and after school study/learning centres are popping up everywhere to cater to them and are killing it.

You can see I am not politically correct

[Gordon]

I wanted my girl to get into the selective stream at our local highschool and her practice tests indicated she will, but for insurance we sent her to a coaching class from September last year.

I've always been philosophically against coaching, but I've kind of changed my mind. This place was bloody brilliant (and bloody expensive) but it really challenged her and took her up many levels, and it focused on REAL learning and not rote learning exam hacking.

We got some very interesting insights tho. Most of her class were Asian or Indian and have been coaching since 2nd or 3rd class.
My girl was in about the top 10% but here's the thing. The kids she spoke to do nothing else except study study study and the only sport is a bit of school PE.

I recently heard a story about an Asian mother who based her decision on choosing Sydney boys or North Sydney boys (two of the higher achieving schools in NSW) on which one had the LEAST sport.

Sorry if I'm talking her up, but my girl gets into district and regional at every sport, plays netball, surfs...and to top it off, currently doing her grade 6 piano.

[BigP]

Public schools for both my kids and no real complaints, In NZ they stream the kids, bright kids go in top streams and tend to get the better teachers, My daughter is in her 3rd year of an engineering degree at Auckland university , my son in his last year at high school and will be attending uni next year , Private schools are not a panacea for all the worlds education problems

[Gordon]

WOW that's amazing whatever happened lol. I hope the school suits her and that is another plus for many private schools in that you can choose a school that suits your kid rather than having to attend a school just because your address feeds into it. If you get in early enough that is.

I would not recommend a selective school to anyone now. Once upon a time they were excellent but now they are skewed against us.

The OC school nearest to me has become so popular that a once gracious and character filled school environment is now a mix match of demountable classrooms. So many so that the school has had to rent land from Council to dump 20 more!! Asians have swarmed into the area like flies so their kids can attend there. Before school and after school study/learning centres are popping up everywhere to cater to them and are killing it.

You can see I am not politically correct

The school she is going to is not the closest but simply brilliant. I've also gone off the idea of a fully selective school but as I've said, the partially selective school in my area seems like a much better alternative.

I know teacher who is very close to someone high in the NSW education dpt, and this year they're going to do a little bit of re-balancing of the racial inequality of selective schools. Around the cut off score levels, where there's an Anglo/Euro or even Middle Eastern name just a point or two below in obvious indian or asian name, they're going to bump them up.

I've heard the likes James Ruse, Baulkham Hills are 98% Chinese/Indian.