Public or Private Primary School?

Thank you all for the comments. I’ve had conversations with friends and similar to this post, they have differences in opinion. But one statement caught my attention… ‘the cream always rises to the top.’ Whatever this means or however anyone interprets it, maybe it should be a constant reminder that i should not be stressing myself about it. As much as i hate to admit it, i maybe putting too much pressure to myself as a newbie mom. I believe well-seasoned mums give me a nod with what i’ve just said. In fact my hubby doesn’t even worry about it either, he simply said to me ‘don’t sweat it.’ I believe in the end, everything will work out fine. Our decision will be carried out in the perfect time. I realized that choosing a school, either public or private is not a definitive solution; instead a long process that involves the child’s interests, parent’s preferences and teacher’s contribution to unleash the inner genius within.

CharlieMaii why did you want to go to Dickson College?

Does anyone have a view about Lyneham High, Campbell High, Daramalan College or Merici? Would be grateful for any information.

I went to a private primary school and private high school from years 7-10, then I went to 2 public high schools, the quality of teaching at all the schools I’ve been to seems pretty consistent, I’m living in Woden area at the moment but I managed to get into Dickson High, if you explain your circumstances they might be able to fix something up for you at the school you want your child to go to.

bloodymary said :

somewhere_between_bundah_and_goulburn said :

Whatever you do, don’t send your kids to Kaleen High afterwards!!

What’s wrong with Kaleen High? Any reputation that i am not aware of? And this might be out of topic but i think it is still relevant; where can i find demographic statistics relating to crime rates, bullying, child accidents in school?

Cheers in advance!

I went to Maribyrnong, and many of my classmates went to Kaleen, they appeared to be rife with bullying, and the students don’t respect their limited resources and even the staff. To be fair, the prisoners from Bimberi are sent there. Their only saving grace is that they have one of the best Learning Support Units in the ACT.

To be fair, I went to a ####hole school as well (Amaroo).

somewhere_between_bundah_and_goulburn said :

Whatever you do, don’t send your kids to Kaleen High afterwards!!

What’s wrong with Kaleen High? Any reputation that i am not aware of? And this might be out of topic but i think it is still relevant; where can i find demographic statistics relating to crime rates, bullying, child accidents in school?

Cheers in advance!

I’m sick of the public/private school debate and the generalisations, bias and politicisation from both sides based on personal experience and anecdote.

I think the most important things to consider as a parent choosing a school for a young child are:

– the likelihood that the child will have a happy first year at school (the values and experience of the kindergarten teacher and the way that children are introduced to school are very important!) Happy children learn to love and value school, work and community.
– the connection of the child and their family to the school – is there a welcoming school community? Will you be welcome to help out in whatever capacity you choose? Will your contribution be valued? Are there opportunities to meet the other families and build your child’s social network? (Attendance at a P&C meeting for a school under consideration might be instructive)
– how does the school deal with problems (eg bullying)? Does the school have policies for these? Does the school emphasize the values that your family values?

Good luck with your choice.

Jim Jones said :

troll-sniffer said :

80% of a well-educated child’s edumacation occurs in the home. If you’re not too lazy or busy to mentor your child properly it doesn’t make a lot of difference which school you put the little genius.

Boarding school?

Always sounded to me like a great way to pretend you don’t have children.

Yep – a great way to make sure your kids are uninterested in you from their mid teens onward.

troll-sniffer said :

80% of a well-educated child’s edumacation occurs in the home.

Why is that? School hours occur six hours a day which make up more than 40% in a 14-hour day of child’s activities (excluding sleep time), that only gives approximately 60% of the time for children to interact with parents and outside of school.

troll-sniffer said :

80% of a well-educated child’s edumacation occurs in the home. If you’re not too lazy or busy to mentor your child properly it doesn’t make a lot of difference which school you put the little genius.

Boarding school?

Always sounded to me like a great way to pretend you don’t have children.

80% of a well-educated child’s edumacation occurs in the home. If you’re not too lazy or busy to mentor your child properly it doesn’t make a lot of difference which school you put the little genius.

chewy14 said :

Jim Jones said :

Private school students generally have access to more drugs (and usually with a predisposition to more expensive types of drug – pills instead of pot, etc.)

The idea that private school students have less access to drugs than public school students is a myth.

This bit.

Ah, gotcha.

That’s from one hell of a lot of first hand experience, as well as regular contact with teachers and administrators of both private and public schools (across Australia).

chewy14 said :

On the whole Public Vs Private thing,

how much do other students or year groups affect an individual’s learning?
If your peer group is highly achieving and motivated does it increase your chances of doing well? Is the reverse true?

It’s well recognised within the education system that there are varying degrees of good and bad years of students – that doesn’t necessarily mean that if your peer group is smart then you will be too, but it does have an influence educational outcomes.

To put it in sporting terms – if you play in a team with and against players of a higher standard, your own standard rises faster than it would if you were in team with worse or similar players.

To be fair, that is one reason why people do tend to go for private schools – the measures of educational standards usually are, by and large, higher. The problem then becomes the ways in which some private schools procure their measures of higher standards: there are some schools that are quite ruthless in this, and undermine particular groups of students in order to achieve it.

+1 for Maribyrnong. It got the Hall kids and some of Flynn’s very good teachers after they closed in 2006. Local schools don’t exist any more according to official department of education policy, so don’t feel any pressure to support a school because it is near you.

Other than that, it’s a matter of finding a school with a cohort where your kids will fit in. At the end of the day, a school can have great programs, fantastic teachers, and brilliants results, all to be overshadowed by your child being in a cohort of nasty kids with equally nasty parents to back them up.

Ask around and find out what the school’s policies are with respect to teaching to individual differences and bullying, and then ask for practical examples of how they have done it.

The smart kids will learn anywhere – at home if they have to. It’s the kids who really need the help that rely most on the school for their education.

If you’re thinking about Kaleen Primary, why not look at Maribyrnong. It is a smaller school, with only about 200 kids, most of the teachers have been teaching at the school for a long period of time (at least when I was there).

Whatever you do, don’t send your kids to Kaleen High afterwards!!

bloodymary said :

Further reading, Canberra Grammar School is an Anglican school which is not our religious practice in the family. I just want to make myself clear before anyone else misjudge this statement, i am curious though if religious denomination of schools will influence learning the primary years?

You’d think the private schools would obviously have a very strong religious push in their teachings (and have units like ‘religion + faith’ or something like that) but ultimately I don’t really think it influence the kids THAT much; noone I know who went thru the catholic primary schools (or private highschools) are overly religious or have resulted in them challenging their own family beliefs. I’d assume a good chunk of the school fees would go towards religious activites though (building a new chapel for instance).

Further reading, Canberra Grammar School is an Anglican school which is not our religious practice in the family. I just want to make myself clear before anyone else misjudge this statement, i am curious though if religious denomination of schools will influence learning the primary years?

My kids attend Canberra Girls Grammar.It’s also an Anglican school. Interestingly enough, both my kids year levels have a diverse range of ethnic and religious groups represented by the families of their class mates – Jewish, Hindu, Muslim. I don’t think that it matters at the primary level – unless you’ve got issues with kids learning about Christmas and Easter.

I-filed said :

Why not spend the $20,000 on a $200,000 mortgage and move to a better suburb, with a decent public school?

Which suburb with decent public school would you recommend?

I-filed said :

btw if you live in Forrest I don’t think Telopea can require your family to speak French to allow your child in.

Telopea has no PEA (priority enrollment area) but they prioritize French-speaking family, it’s on their website.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

For whatever reason my parents decided that the best way to educate me would be to send me to Canberra Grammar. The thing I find interesting is every former classmate I have discussed the private v public question with has stated that the would never send their child to CGS, or any private school for that matter.

Agree with that; my cousin was the only one of our family who went to a private school (Canberra Grammar) and said exactly the same thing. The rest of us went to a public school and would all recommend it to this day (Lyneham). We all went on to Uni(although not the be all end all) and got decent jobs. None of us ended up pregnant at 17:)

That being said- How do you measure success? Outputs? The amount of kids went on to Uni? The amount of kids who aren’t pregnant? Or the amount of kids who don’t use drugs? is any of that even relevant to the quality of education in primary/high school? (what? people who go to Uni don’t use drugs or get pregnant!? WOW! :)..)

Honestly I just don’t think it matters; I think there’s more to choosing a school than just private vs public. Location, quality of teaching, classroom sizes- maybe. And I agree that much of it does depend on the level of involvement from the parents and the child’s character and willingness to learn.

AND..Given Bloody Mary’s child is a toddler, it’s probably a lil premature to determine the lil’ one’s character and smarts just yet:)

Further reading, Canberra Grammar School is an Anglican school which is not our religious practice in the family. I just want to make myself clear before anyone else misjudge this statement, i am curious though if religious denomination of schools will influence learning the primary years?

It comes down to a combination of the child, the school and the parents.

I went to a crap highschool, and agree with the comments about how people are ‘dragged down’. It happens.

I also know people who went to top private schools (eg the Grammar schools and Radford) that seemed to do well in school, but crashed and burnt in uni and career.

I think it comes down to the parents being smart enough to know their child, and what the child needs to thrive. For me, going to a crap highschool had some really good outcomes, but for others it was disastrous. Being able to make that decision, and support the child, it what it’s all about.

That said, I must admit I’m a big supporter of balance for children, not just extreme academic achievement. At the same time, I wouldn’t be happy if my 14 year old dropped maths in order to study drama. Growing a child is about developing a future adult, and schooling needs to be considered in this context.

For whatever reason my parents decided that the best way to educate me would be to send me to Canberra Grammar. The thing I find interesting is every former classmate I have discussed the private v public question with has stated that the would never send their child to CGS, or any private school for that matter.

Jim Jones said :

Private school students generally have access to more drugs (and usually with a predisposition to more expensive types of drug – pills instead of pot, etc.)

The idea that private school students have less access to drugs than public school students is a myth.

This bit.

On the whole Public Vs Private thing,

how much do other students or year groups affect an individual’s learning?
If your peer group is highly achieving and motivated does it increase your chances of doing well? Is the reverse true?

chewy14 said :

Jim,

not disagreeing but what are you basing that on?

Which bit?

If your child hasn’t got the brains, there’s not point in sending them to a private school, my grandson goes to a public school, he is very intelligent, he is way beyond his years, he was dux of his school in 2nd grade, wrote a three page essay on the environment at age 6, he is a year younger than the other studnents.

thelozenger said :

Private. I went to a private Primary School, High School and College (St Clare of Assisi and then St Clare’s college), and my brothers went to Marist.

In High School worked where many students from Lanyon High School also worked. Out of the 20 or so people I met from Lanyon, one is now at university, and rest work either at McDonalds or Big W (or got pregnant at 17) 90% my friends from private schools are now at university or working in good jobs.

I have friends who went to public schools and tell me horror stories of thing they were allowed to do, how there’s no discipline, ect. (How doing drugs was a frequent occurrence at Tuggeranong College most days.)

I know first hand just how good and bad public schools can be. I’ve had the fortune to attend two of the best public schools in Canberra but conversely, spent four years at one of the worst… Lanyon High.

Lanyon was and by all accounts still is a terrible place. In my years there, police were called several times a year to deal with students, with teachers on occasion having to go to court in relation to the behaviour of students. Violence was prevalent with two teachers seriously assaulted and requiring time off. Others were involved in scuffles. Students had a pack mentality which fueled under achievement and conformity. This pack or gang behaviour boiled over into a full blown riot at the local shops once requiring dozens of police and making it onto Win News. In fairness, this riot also involved students from Mckillop, a private school and was sparked by a dispute between a small number of students from both schools.

My year group had over 230 students in it, I am aware of only 12 who made it to Uni or CIT. A handful are training for a trade. Most though now work in local shops, some have kids and are claiming welfare as single mothers or dads. Some are even living as drifters.
The real shame is there were a lot of people who were great, who early on had potential, were really smart and could have gone far. I saw them get dragged down by the environment they were in.

By all accounts, private schools still have an edge. However, I know private students who have gone of the rails. I know some who came into public college and couldn’t cope with the new found freedom. I know one who came from a wealthy local family, had everything going for her yet still flunked public college after years at Girls Grammar.

Research the school, talk to friends and find out what you can, check out the achievement results too. Check the annual reports for schools from the ACT Education website, these offer a real insight. Try to build a picture of the school and get a feel for the environment, the people, the area and the history of the school. Check many sources.

I know, this question is similar to ‘chicken and egg’ and it has no definitive conclusion. I agree to most of the comments. It all really depends on personal preference and what works best for the family. It is also dependent to several external factors that i have to consider to make a decision. Other readers might have misjudged my curiosity but i just wanted to differentiate the options that are available to me. I also wanted to understand why others have difference in opinion.

This has been a great read. I have become aware of some considerations which never crossed my mind. I am learning a lot!

I don’t understand – you say you can only afford to live in Kaleen, but you can afford $20,000 a year to send your child to Grammar?

Why not spend the $20,000 on a $200,000 mortgage and move to a better suburb, with a decent public school?

If you can’t actually afford Grammar, or a good suburb, then your post is a waste of our time surely?

btw if you live in Forrest I don’t think Telopea can require your family to speak French to allow your child in. Children learn the language at the school (that’s the idea- it isn’t a school just for the children of diplomats from France, the Congo and Vanuatu, and Australian diplomats just back from postings to those countries)!

and from the public curriculum.

Public primary schools in the ACT are almost all very very good. Many people send their kids to public primary school then private high school.

If you really want to move house for school, perhaps start thinking now about the high school you would prefer – many of these take enrolments when the kids are born, so if you want an expensive high school you need to start thinking about that now.

But for primary school – as long as your local school doesn’t have a really bad reputation, I’d go to the local public school.

If you do send your kids to a private school, make sure to get them some after-hours tutoring on why anecdotes are poor criteria for decision-making. This important lesson appears to be missing from the private curriculum.

I really wonder about people here who are saying “I went to a private school and I’m fantastic, and these others all went to yobbo school and they all work at Maccas”. As Woody and others said above, it’s a heck of a lot more about the educational attainment of the parents, the socio-economic class you belong to, and yes, whether or not you actually have books in a home and take an interest in your children’s education.

Oddly enough, those who send their kids to private schools tend to be of a higher class, have more money (and more money to pump in when the school needs to raise funds for equipment) and regard their children’s education to be more of an investment. Poor people, surprise surprise, tend not to have such a family investment in education and therefore their kids more often end up working at Maccas.

In the city I grew up in, I went to the bottom co-ed school for 4 years and then the second top girls’ school for one year. Yes, the girls’ school had a heck of a lot more resources and on average, more motivated students (because their parents were motivated). But we weren’t all dropouts in the bottom school and I didn’t learn all my academic skills from the top school (in fact, by then, what I learned in my final year made little difference overall) – the difference in the quality of education was not much to do with teacher quality and commitment, as far as I could tell.

If you’re an engaged parent, your kids will do well anyway (leaving aside their actual capabilities, such as intelligence and so on). Ok, you don’t want to go to the dossiest school around, because perhaps I would have achieved higher marks if I had a bit more competition around me at the poor school, but if the school is decent and has a culture of caring about its students, then that will be enough.

thelozenger said :

Private. I went to a private Primary School, High School and College (St Clare of Assisi and then St Clare’s college), and my brothers went to Marist.

In High School worked where many students from Lanyon High School also worked. Out of the 20 or so people I met from Lanyon, one is now at university, and rest work either at McDonalds or Big W (or got pregnant at 17) 90% my friends from private schools are now at university or working in good jobs.

I have friends who went to public schools and tell me horror stories of thing they were allowed to do, how there’s no discipline, ect. (How doing drugs was a frequent occurrence at Tuggeranong College most days.)

Some public schools are good- but be careful.

I actually have to agree with this to an extent. I went through the public system in Canberra, and while I probably went to the ‘rougher’ schools, based upon my experience there is little chance I will be enrolling my kids into the public system. Again, it’s only my personal preference, and I’m sure there are some good public schools out there.

The answer remains the same now as it has for many years: If you want a quality education for your kids and you have lots of money go for a private school. If you have no money you’re stuck with the public system whether you like it or not.

Jim,

not disagreeing but what are you basing that on?

Random points I considered when sending my kids off to school.

Don’t do private primary, hinders your childs social abilities and their awareness of life in the real world. I was public primary and private highschool and you could pick the all private school kids by their belief that they were a gift to the world. Some went on to work for Daddy’s company, the rest failed when the cut throats from the public world climbed over them to get the rewards.

Work on your definition of private, just cos you have to pay to send them there, doesn’t make it a private school. As far as facilities and options go, with schooling you get what you pay for.

Talk to other parents, either ones you know or randoms down the shops. Talk to parents of well behaved kids and snot nosed terrors (note how much of their behaviour is reflected in the parents). Find out what school they send their kids to.

Look at the socioeconomics of the area, often people who are better off have set higher standards for themselves and will expect the same of their children (of course some will just be absent parents) but chances are Hawker primary is better than Charny because the kids are expected to do better and are supported in that.

Whatever school you decide, support your kids, don’t pack them off to school, expect the teachers to do everything and then blame them when your kids fail. If you kid gets attention for working hard, doing well and putting in an effort then they will continue to do so.

Lastly, while I have no empirical evidence to prove it, my mum who was a high school principal told me so so as far as I’m concerned it’s gospel. A single teacher will have more impact on your child’s learning than any processes in place at that school. If your child gets along well with their teacher and their teacher makes learning interesting then your child will do better. Obviously the reverse is true as well.

Oh and of the four schools you’ve suggested, go with Kaleen, the rest are south of the lake where all the misfits and criminals live. You’re much better off in the north!

morgyn said :

I know Kaleen Primary has a big G&T program, which must pull their NAPLAN results up a lot.

Not necessarily. Not all G&T kids perform well under exam situations. Not all smart kids who could be in a G&T program but are mainstreamed perform well under exam situations.

Our school has a big G&T program, but it also has a big Learning Assistance program with a lot of ASD kids. Therefore, our school doesn’t look brilliant on that horrible website. Don’t judge a school by the website.

gospeedygo said :

thelozenger said :

Things

I think you will find that discipline and full parental support are a greater factor in a students success than what school they go to. That being said it would be silly to send your kids to Burnout High when there are obviously better options.

As an aside, do private school kids do their drugs on weekends instead?

Private school students generally have access to more drugs (and usually with a predisposition to more expensive types of drug – pills instead of pot, etc.)

The idea that private school students have less access to drugs than public school students is a myth.

morgyn said :

I know Kaleen Primary has a big G&T program, which must pull their NAPLAN results up a lot.

When I went to school we just snuck in cheap port to drink…

gospeedygo said :

thelozenger said :

As an aside, do private school kids do their drugs on weekends instead?

I think they’re more on the supply side.

bah, skool who needs it lol ur all loosers naplan sux sounds like some nappi wash who washes nappis but lol ha ha ha

I know Kaleen Primary has a big G&T program, which must pull their NAPLAN results up a lot.

thelozenger said :

Things

I think you will find that discipline and full parental support are a greater factor in a students success than what school they go to. That being said it would be silly to send your kids to Burnout High when there are obviously better options.

As an aside, do private school kids do their drugs on weekends instead?

thelozenger said :

Private. I went to a private Primary School, High School and College (St Clare of Assisi and then St Clare’s college), and my brothers went to Marist.

In High School worked where many students from Lanyon High School also worked. Out of the 20 or so people I met from Lanyon, one is now at university, and rest work either at McDonalds or Big W (or got pregnant at 17) 90% my friends from private schools are now at university or working in good jobs.

I have friends who went to public schools and tell me horror stories of thing they were allowed to do, how there’s no discipline, ect. (How doing drugs was a frequent occurrence at Tuggeranong College most days.)

Some public schools are good- but be careful.

Not ruling it out completely, but I THINK that’s kinda not likely to happen in ACT’s primary school system, public or otherwise:) But that being said, maybe Bloody Mary’s toddler is hardcore:)

As far as “getting into” a school, I guess you’d research areas where the particular school might give preference and encourage your kid to follow such pursuits- things like band for instance are often useful.

You could do worse than living in Kaleen- it’s a decent suburb and Kaleen Primary actually has a pretty good reputation; I’ve got several friends who send their kids there and they seem to consistently all have good things to say about the quality of teaching across the board from Kindergarten to Year 6. Kaleen also has two other primary schools (St Michaels and Maribynong) for more choice.

Things can also change a LOT by the time your toddler is of school age- Schools that were out of favour a few years ago can all of a sudden be considered great. In regards to primary school though, I think the advice is right that in general, ACT’s primary school system is pretty consistent across the board.

Private. I went to a private Primary School, High School and College (St Clare of Assisi and then St Clare’s college), and my brothers went to Marist.

In High School worked where many students from Lanyon High School also worked. Out of the 20 or so people I met from Lanyon, one is now at university, and rest work either at McDonalds or Big W (or got pregnant at 17) 90% my friends from private schools are now at university or working in good jobs.

I have friends who went to public schools and tell me horror stories of thing they were allowed to do, how there’s no discipline, ect. (How doing drugs was a frequent occurrence at Tuggeranong College most days.)

Some public schools are good- but be careful.

Thank you for the comments. There are very good suggestions and some are not so constructive, too. Nevertheless, i appreciate the time and insight you’ve all given me. Having said that, NAPLAN test result was only a baseline. I needed to start somewhere and as a newbie mom i have to rely on information available to me otherwise i should have not posted this inquiry on the web and made abrupt decision was i short sighted about NAPLAN results.

1. Kaleen is a good suburb, if you have a house lined up there take it as you may spend a lot of time looking for another property.
2. You will have difficulty getting your child enrolled in a primary school that is not in your area as there are quite a few schools operating at or above capacity. The primary schools in the ACT are mostly very good and above most other states, you will probably find that your local primary school is fine.
3. NAPLAN results tallied at at school level are useless and statistically flawed, they provide very little useful information about the school. The main factor will be your involvement in your child’s learning. Visit your local schools and choose the one you like and the one that suits your child.
4. I would say that public/private makes very little difference at the primary school level, you may gain more benefit at the high school level where the education and facilities available may vary more, but your child still has a good chance of going onto further study either way. At the end of the day it will depend on what you can afford and what you think is best for your child.

Your child can’t inherit a suburb’s NAPLAN results by moving there. The factors most strongly associated with your child’s educational success – highly educated parents, high socioeconomic status, mother aged thirty or older at time of first child’s birth, speaking English in the home, child not adopted – are already in place well before the child starts school and can’t be changed by a move.

Private schools in Queensland and Western Australia are grappling with this now – their overall results are being driven down by working class parents made rich by the mining boom and who want little Tayluh and J’aydun to get the very best education money can buy. It’s too late.

Fiona said :

no idea about Kaleen.

Kaleen has a reputation for getting ‘troublesome’ and low-achieving kids into good learning patterns.

freakwent said :

Last time I checked, the single biggest factor in determining children’s academic ability is the availability and use (by parents) of books in the home.

The education and foundational learning *you* provide for your child/ren is infinitely more influential than the school they go to.

I’d suggest sending them to public school so that they learn self-discipline (this is particularly important at older school levels: private schools molly-coddle their students so that they perform highly in tests, which leads to students expect that everything will be done for them, while public school students have to sink or swim on their own) and decent social skills (how to to converse with the proletariat).

Having a child in a ‘local’ school and a sense of engagement with local community is also highly important. This provides a sense of groundedness and community – as opposed to school being ‘a place that I go to that isn’t home’.

Everyone wants the best opportunities for their children. I know that I’ve been really happy to get some professional insight from the teachers of my kids on their approach and program, and where they feel I can make a good contribution. I feel no insecurity that I have denied my children the opportunity to get higher grades. Public or Private – both are good options though there are probably poor options within those categories.

I have also self-censored my original post…

Bloodymary, I have yet to find a use for NAPLAN results. They’re poor reflectors at best of what a school is doing. Rather than relying on quantitative data for a qualitative decision, why don’t you use the qualitative information that precedes the NAPLAN results on the MySchool website? You can get a sense of how seriously they take their role and what their values are from that. Then, having narrowed the field, your next job is to visit some schools and get a sense of the attitudes of the teachers.

But more importantly than that, take an assessment of your own expectations. If you expect teachers to do all the work for you, good luck finding any school that will subvert a parent’s role like that. If you want a school you can work with to improve your child’s development (and I suspect you do), you have to walk through the front door of the school and meet some teachers.

I went to one of the poorest performing schools in NSW, according to NAPLAN results. Nonetheless, my mother read to me constantly, hounded me about spelling and maths; I had a few excellent teachers (and a few duds), and I was eventually qualified as an English teacher (not that that means much: they never test whether an English teacher can spell, read or construct sentences, anyway!). NAPLAN results are for government purposes. The more critical factor for individual children is how the parent/s relate to the school and its staff.

In terms of quality of education, ACT Government Primary schools are as good as the private schools. I attended a private primary school, and found that students who progressed with me had little advantage in the secondary years to those who attended a public school. Often some of the Public schools have better facilities than the private schools (depending on its affluence)

Take some time to research the public schools and the curriculum they offer, and weigh it against your own values and perceived needs. Simply glancing at standardized test scores is limited, as school is more than just about getting an A.

As said before, its really about how much time you spend with them at home to “reinforce” the learning they are doing at school.

I came on here to comment on this but now I don’t really need to. Level and sane heads have prevailed and people realise that NAPLAN testing is no and nor should ever be the be all and end all of determining school choice. Choose the school in your area, go to the school, meet the Principal and talk to him/her about what the school offers, take a look at the school. If you were applying for a job you’d do these things, so do it for your kids too.

There is good and bad in every situation and every school but please don’t choose a school on scores of a standarised test. Your children deserve better than that.

‘Support your LOCAL Community, Support your LOCAL school’

second attempt at a post (I censored and deleted my original post)

public or private? it doesn’t make any difference. what makes the difference is the amount of time and effort you are prepared to put into your child’s education.

in the end, it’s a joint venture with teachers and parents.

Last time I checked, the single biggest factor in determining children’s academic ability is the availability and use (by parents) of books in the home.

I wouldn’t worry about schools that do well on NAPLAN unless you have a career path for your child that includes someone paying them to do well on NAPLAN-style tests.

Girl’s Grammar does have good teachers, but there are also highly motivated parents (such as yourself) who are more likely to have high literacy themselves sending their kids there. As with Telopea. Telopea is great for above average kids, not so great for the average ones. Garran also has a similar parental population – lots of hospital staff sending their kids there. Red Hill is mixed, with the combination with Narrabundah, a HUGE range in abilties there. no idea about Kaleen.

urchin said :

i see that the teacher’s union was right to object to the website.

Maybe they should have done a better job of educating the previous generation about cause and effect…

Just aviod the new “super schools” and your kids should be fine.

If you want to send you kids to a private highschool, better get them on the waiting list now.

You need to realise that there are more to schools than NAPLAN results.

The tests take place over 3 days in Term 2. Children who are sick but at school on test days may not perform as well, they may not be used to test situations, or they may just not perform well under test situations (my oldest is an A student, but always performs well under the national benchmark in the NAPLAN tests – she sits her year 9 one next year. The other is in the G&T program at primary school and breezes through tests). All of these situations, and others, may result in the NAPLAN scores not being as good as they could be. Another factor is any special needs children who sit the tests. They may also bring the overall school result down.

You really need to spend time at the schools. Talk to the principal, teachers, and parents who are at the schools. Look in the classrooms. See if you can sit in during a lesson or two. See what the P&C are up to. The good schools are the ones who let you do these things. They won’t necessarily have the great NAPLAN scores (the MySchools website is so misleading), but they will be the ones who provide a quality education to your child.

Don’t forget, too, that most public schools in Canberra provide a hands on fun learning situation rather than an bums on seats, copying from the whiteboard approach. I know which one I prefer my children to have.

I have been involved with public schools in the ACT since 2002. One is now in high school, the other in primary school. I am happy with both schools. Neither schools performed terribly well in NAPLAN. But that isn’t important. They are giving my children a fantastic education. The kids love attending school. 3 days out of the school year aren’t all that important. What’s important about NAPLAN is how your child goes compared to his or her classmates. NAPLAN is about showing the teachers the strengths and weaknesses of their classroom, and how the teacher can help them to learn.

i think it’s pretty short sighted to make two major decisions (purchase of a home and child’s education) based solely on a 30 minute scan of standardised test scores. i see that the teacher’s union was right to object to the website.