24 May 2011

Canberra Schools and homes close to UC?

| bohochic
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I’m moving to Canberra end of year and trying to find out about primary and high schools both private and government run.

Also if anyone has any ideas regarding well priced, pleasant suburbs within a 10 km radius of the Canberra University it would be much appreciated!

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jayanthisubhadra7:50 pm 01 Jul 11

I was checking too..

I found useful information in these two web sites.

http://the-riotact.com/canberra-schools-and-homes-close-to-uc/45963
http://www.det.act.gov.au/school_education/enrolling_in_an_act_public_school/priority_enrolment_areas

Lyneham High and Telopea park school seems good for highschool
Turner Garran seems good for primary

Appreciate if some one can give opinion on these schools.

You can’t go past Aranda …. its a great little suburb. Close to the city (and UC) with bushland for the kids to run and play. Aranda Primary School is top notch and feeds into Canberra High School. Radford College is an alternative if you want to check out private schooling.

Canberra High is an excellent High school as is down the road from UC.

Cocoa- the scary part here is I suspect it is not tongue in cheek! s#*t

First thing to consider when choosing where to live near UC is the ACT government’s lovely “Priority Enrolment Area” statement which dictates where you can and can’t send your kids to school by your street address Second thing to consider is “does your child have any special needs – eg gifted and talented, or special learning needs”. Kaleen primary (and to some extent Aranda) has best reputation and caters for gifted and talented children. School is chocked full and entry by IQ or street address. Big classes but caters very well for G&T. If you think you child would need more attention, Macquarie primary is nice little school in nice suburb. Catholic schools all a big dodgy (even on the my school website) except Darramalan which is high school. If your child has extra special learning needs Turner primary is the go but Turner real estate is out of range for most. Don’t go Gungahlin – its a traffic nightmare and no trees. The new suburb next to UC of Lawson will be open soon! If you are looking for christian education Brindabella Cristian College has good reputation. So you’d probably want to consider your educations preferences then chose your school before you choose your street address! Gets even worse at high school. If you are looking to go private high school put your name down the day of birth and you might get a spot.

aidan said :

Well priced suburbs? No offence Watson, but the inner north is a lot more expensive and really doesn’t make much sense for someone working at the Uni of Canberra. Properties in Evatt/Giralang/Kaleen will be $100k less than comparable places in Watson. For O’Connor/Lyneham/Ainslie the price differential would be even higher.

No, not cheap indeed. I have to be inventive to afford staying here, but I like the location and the vibe enough to want to do so. But admittedly one of the reasons why I live here is that it’s easy cycling distance to my work and now my daughter goes to school here, I would not want to move away.

Sorry, long explanation to say, you might indeed be right that for new Canberrans, Belco is a better choice. Though I lived in Weetangera when I first moved here from Europe and hated it, but that’s just me and I didn’t drive back then.

When I lived in West Belconnen, I sent my kids to Kaleen Primary (not Maribyrnong Primary also in Kaleen) where they went for 3 years. This was my older daughter’s 3 primary school, she’d been bullied a fair bit at her first two schools.

Kaleen was brilliant and the best thing ever for my kids, my older daughter especially. They offer academic extension and a cohort representing a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, family dynamics and socio economic backgrounds.

The principal Grace Dunlop has led the school for many years, she was so supportive in ensuring that my children were included and ‘taught how to socialise’.

I couldn’t recommend the school highly enough, please do yourself and your children a favour and make a time to visit the school.

bohochic said :

I gathered that the north side (up??) from the city center is an ok locale. Oh and well priced means not falling into a dead faint over the price of a sardine tin on a saucer.

You’ll pay more for an equivalent property in “Inner North”. If you want to do that be my guest. It doesn’t make sense to do so, IMO, if you’re working at UC and have no emotional ties to the area.

You can’t go too far wrong looking in Florey/Melba/McKellar/Evatt/Kaleen. Bruce and Aranda are close, but about as pricey as the outskirts of the inner north.

Kaleen has two Government and one Catholic Primary school (heaps of choice). Same for Evatt. Kaleen has the advantage of a decent size shopping centre which is handy. Giralang is very nice and I think the school is great, my kids go there.

This is fantastic guys, thankyou so much and please keep the information coming as it is very much appreciated. I have been looking at the allhomes site for a while now and whilst there is info about trends ect of suburbs, it is difficult without being there. I say about 10 k from the uni just for peddle power sake but it certainly could be more. I gathered that the north side (up??) from the city center is an ok locale. Oh and well priced means not falling into a dead faint over the price of a sardine tin on a saucer.

Gerry-Built said :

It is somewhat touchy at the moment – with more kids now in the private system, than the public system…

In High Schools. Just. Not so overall. From the ACT school census:

In 2011 public schools accounted for 59.0 percent of the total student population

UC is pretty centrally located, though the closest primary schools to UC would be Maribyrnong Primary School in Kaleen.

Depending on where you decided to live, there is Aranda Primary, Macquarie Primary, Florey Primary, Kaleeen Primary, Giralang Primary, Evatt Primary, Miles Franklin Primary. i.e. quite a lot really.

Well priced suburbs? No offence Watson, but the inner north is a lot more expensive and really doesn’t make much sense for someone working at the Uni of Canberra. Properties in Evatt/Giralang/Kaleen will be $100k less than comparable places in Watson. For O’Connor/Lyneham/Ainslie the price differential would be even higher.

There is an excellent real estate site (allhomes.com.au) which allows you research past property sales. It gives an excellent feel for prices. In general the closer to civic (city centre/parliament house) the more expensive the real estate. Some Canberra suburbs have more project and/or government housing than others. These suburbs have traditionally been cheaper to buy into, and the housing stock is generally smaller. Most suburbs within 10kms of UC will be very pleasant. You’ll save money if you choose to look on the north and western side of UC as these areas are further away from the city centre.

bohochic said :

Thankyou, shall direct myself to those links and look into the suburbs and yes it is University of Canberra. High school a little way off yet but primary schools are what I really need right now- guess being there will enable me get idea of high schools. Do you know if schools have a catchment area that the kids have to live in to go there?

some schools have feeder areas where they HAVE to take kids from, though most schools would not be at their limits… a few parents get around this by using the address of a conveniently locally located relative as their contact address…

bohochic said :

Thankyou, shall direct myself to those links and look into the suburbs and yes it is University of Canberra. High school a little way off yet but primary schools are what I really need right now- guess being there will enable me get idea of high schools. Do you know if schools have a catchment area that the kids have to live in to go there?

Info here: http://www.det.act.gov.au/school_education/enrolling_in_an_act_public_school/priority_enrolment_areas

Kerryhemsley11:01 am 24 May 11

Come on Shadow Man you know you want to.

Burgermann!!!

“Also if anyone has any ideas regarding well priced, pleasant suburbs within a 10 km radius of the Canberra University it would be much appreciated!”

Define “well priced”. I don’t believe there is anywhere in Canberra with realistically priced homes. As you’re asking about prices I’ll assume that you’re not moving here from Toorak or Double Bay and value is of concern, in which case anywhere in West Belconnen is worth a look. (Higgins, Holt, Macgregor, Page, Scullin, Florey, Melba, Latham, Charnwood, Dunlop, Flynn, Fraser, Spence)

Thankyou, shall direct myself to those links and look into the suburbs and yes it is University of Canberra. High school a little way off yet but primary schools are what I really need right now- guess being there will enable me get idea of high schools. Do you know if schools have a catchment area that the kids have to live in to go there?

Most suburbs of Belconnen and North Canberra are okay, though the closer to the city, the higher the cost of homes (generally). Each suburb has its own problems. Personally, I would avoid Gungahlin, as traffic is HORRIBLE there at peak times – though the new work on GDE may help out with that somewhat.

I would avoid Tuggeranong, and probably most of South Canberra as those areas are further afield than 10km. Traffic flows quite well along the Tuggeranong Parkway though, so don’t write off central suburbs, like those in Weston, or Woden. To me, Weston (town, not suburb specifically) is the most appealing location in Canberra.

Are you an academic, studying or working at UC?

…when you narrow down your list, reply to your (this here) post, and the lovely RA readership will be more than happy to supply you opinions, anecdotes and “facts” about the schools you list

It is somewhat touchy at the moment – with more kids now in the private system, than the public system…

Good Luck 😀

Do you mean the UC?

I can highly recommend Watson (surprise, suprise) or Hackett. But they’re very pricey now for both buying or renting…

Majura Primary (public) has a good reputation. So has Rosary Primary (private/Catholic). They are both located in Watson. A little bit further you have North Ainslie Primary (public) which also has some good points.

Don’t know about highschools, I’m afraid. There’s Lyneham High, Merici College and Canberra High School, but I’ve no idea about their reputation.

These suburbs are in the Inner North and a short distance to the city. They are also green and close to some nice local shopping centres with good restaurants and cafes, etc. Lots of young families have been moving into the area in recent years. Closeby are Downer and Dickson and a bit closer to the city O’Connor, Ainslie and Lyneham.

Public Schools
link to pdf map of Canberra schools on the page. You *may* be limited by your feeder suburb, depending on numbers at your local schools.

Catholic Systemic Schools
Catholic Systemic Schools in Canberra (pdf link on page).

Other Independent Schools (non Catholic-systemic)
list of independent schools (not catholic systemic) in CanberraRadford next to UofC; Burgmann, Merici and Daramarlan may be pushing 10km

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