How bad is the state school in Melbourne?
I'm a newbie in Melbourne, just touched down in Sept 16 2009. My husband was offered a job by a company here. It took us quite some time to get a rental place. Anyway we've got one in Elwood. Before we were here we heard from many people saying that Australia is so good...Australian are a caring & loving community, good educations, good universities....these are the things that attracted us here just for the sake of our kids. Their education means a lot to us. since we've decided to move here we want it to be a good change.
But just yesterday, one of my hubby's colleague share us her story, she has been here for almost 20yrs. She said she make the same decision like us do one time ago but now full of regrets. She said states schools here S***Ks and children easy influence by those bad kids and private schools here the fees are more expensive than the fees for universities. If we wanted to send them there we have to be super rich. She asked us to think twice before decide to settle down here.
We came here with full of confidence and hopes that our children can get a better education here but...
How true is this? We are very lost. This really demotivate us.
How bad is the state school here? Maybe i can listen to some good achievement stories from anybody about the state schools that can make us feel a little bit better and relieved?
11 Comments
It really depends on the area where the school is. Talk to your neighbours, and visit some of the schools so you can see what they are like.
yeah will do that soon hehe...
Hi Jennifer09,
Welcome to Melbourne, and most of all welcome to StreetAdvisor! Congrats on the rental in Elwood, it's a favourite area of mine in Melbourne, in fact I was there on the weekend having breakfast in Ormond Road...you'll love the area!
In regards to state vs private schools it really depends on who you talk to. I went to a private school, so I can only speak for that, but I know a lot of people who went to public schools and they loved it and would not have it any other way.
My advice, if you can afford a private school, go for it! If you can't afford it, then the public schooling system in Australia is great as well. But keep asking around, especially some of the locals in Elwood (or near where the schools you are thinking of)
Good luck Jennifer09!
AJ
AJ u from private school? Whicn school u from? How much have ur parents spent?If u dun mind sharing....
Private or public , once your child starts school , after a while the differences won't seem so important any longer , because you will have more important and serious issues to deal with.
Where are you from Jennifer09 ? I find your comment ," She said states schools here S***Ks and children easy influence by those bad kids" quite offensive . There are " bad " kids as you put it in private, public, overseas, in homes, everywhere. Family plays the biggest role on a child's life and the sooner parents understand that the less pressure they will put on schools to turn their children into "perfect robots "
Here is a 'good achievement' story for you, my son went through the public system and is now studying Medicine at Melbourne University . I never pressured him and I never expected miracles from the school. I gave encouragement, love, patience and was there for him every day.
So if you are looking for the perfect country with perfect schools and perfect people, then you have come to the wrong place......Are you perfect ?
Hi Jennifer09,
Yes I went to Xavier College many years ago. Was quite a good school, and I think I will be sending my kids there one day. I don't know how much it costs though, but I think it is an expensive school.
DArgy is on the money with these things though, we had another discussion about this a while back, and she has some good insights. I do agree with her.
AJ
Here's the other thread I was talking about Jennifer09 - some good useful info in there:
http://www.streetadvisor.com.au/victoria/forums/best-school-in-melbourne
Thanks AJ : )
I think Xavier College did a good job with you if you are able to "think outside the box " and agree that there are shades of grey in our community and things aren't always what they seem.
From personal experience I can say that the private school I attended had lot's of discipline which forced you to work harder. If you didn't you knew about it - and people cared. It might also explain the high university entry scores...however this can also backfire. It seemed a larger percentage of kids kicked out of university were from private schools. University (and work for that matter) doesn't have that crutch.
I still think parents are the best educators. Motivate your children and they will find a way to achieve, private or public school.
I think Jennifer09 wanted us to confirm what she thought of our public schools which is why she has nothing further to add to this discussion....
You could try to find better public school but I don't think it will be big difference.
Definitely they should study more to get more knowledges and have set of subjects at schools.
I don't understand why they don't study English grammar (own language) and don't read World or English classic books (even for kids) in primary schools. Do they study it later?