[mmk]

My initial thoughts were that DS would just go to public school - I went to one and I turned out ok. DH felt the same.

Now I've been talking to people and for various reasons I'd like DS to go to a private school so he thinks that study is normal etc, and even if he is one of the worst performing kids his results will be much better than if he was an average kid at our local public school. Obviously at this stage I have no idea how he'll do academically, but he has a lot of determination, is very observant and very switched on. I never assumed he'd be anything other than average at school, but I don't want to disadvantage him when he has the potential to be up there with the 'smart' kids. I just want him to have all of the extra opportunites available to him that getting the grades opens up.

DS is 4, so he'll be starting prep next year. I don't want to just send him for high school because I think the step up (of study expectations) will be too great, so I was thinking grade 4 or 5. If he starts this young then we will obviously have to drive him (or get a school bus) so this would limit the schools he could go to I'm guessing because of access.

Another option is to send him to one school for prep-3, another for 4-6 (to prepare for high school), then whichever school was better for high school when he could make his own way there. Some of the high schools though don't have a junior school attached, so he can't just be driven there for 2 or 3 years until he can make his own way there.

We also don't see the point of paying 10k for prep if it's not going to make that much difference in the later years, which is why we were thinking of grade 4-6 to change schools. We can afford private school, but it's going to mean lifestyle changes so we were going to hold off if it won't disadvantage him.

So what would you do? Send him to potentially 3 schools? Or limit high school options by not considering those that don't have a junior school? Or just throw him in the deep end from public primary to private secondary? Or any other option I haven't thought of...

TIA

[kirst4985]

WHere are you some state schools are really good. The first state school my DS1 went to was terrible it was our local school so we sent him thinking travel would be easier and all his friends would be in the same area BIG MISTAKE he was bullied terribly the school would do nothing about it and he spent so much time just colouring in and watching disney movies while the teachers tried to control some of the other 'bad' kids. We found a lot of the kids were from bad homes neglected and prone to violence. The principal was lazy and didn't want to face any issues, they never did any excursions because the dropkick parents didn't want to pay $10 for the kids to go to the museum and my son was falling behind not because he couldn't do the work but because he wasn't being taught it. We pulled him out and I home schooled him while we researched other schools. We too looked into private schooling but in the end found just because it's a private school doesn't mean they are better. A lot of private schools put too much focus on religion and seem to think that other subjects are not as important. Now of coarse they are going to teach religion and have every right to but some kids spend so much time in chapel and religious study they miss out on things like science which the church doesn't always like I myself went to a private school and they refused to teach evolution in biology because they didn't agree with it. My grandmother works for Catholic education and she warned us of this. Not all private schools are like this of coarse you just have to do your research like with public schools. SOme private schools are awesome and we have considered sending our boys to a private high school but we will see when the time has com. I did a lot of research and ended up getting my son into Mcdowall State School (in Brisbane) It is FANTASTIC. I have no complaints at all. They are consistently one of the highest preforming schools yearly and do a lot of fun things with the kids to keep them engaged and to enjoy learning. My son LOVES school now he always has something good to say about his day. My school website can be a good tool to go off in your preliminary research.
After a lot of research I am happy to send my son to McDowall and am looking forward to my DS2 starting prep there next year. Good luck in your research. Hope you find the right school for your Son.
www.myschool.edu.au
Make sure you look at the percentage of students in the below average/average/above average and compare that with the naplan scores. Just because a school has a large number of students below average doesn't mean it's a bad school some schools take on children with special needs and they will be below average however if they have a bad naplan score as well then the school is not preforming well. They do not use test scores of children with special needs in the naplan section. Then google the school talk to people see what they have to say about the school