Private or Public

[willy1111]

From my somewhat limited observations....

and this may be a big generalisation...

but I tend to think those that go to private schools are more likely to be business people and those that go to public schools are more likely to be employees.

It could have something to do with them taking over a family business, or their parents have been in business, it probably has more to do with their home life and influence of their parents attitudes more so than the school.

But just something I have noticed.

I have a friend who went to private school, he owns his own business, and he is always talking about such and such and that he went to school with him and he owns such and such company/business.

 

[AnneDe]

Here is a link to an article from ABC News that puts another view on the private v's public schools debate:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1708683.htm

From personal experience I have found that a self-motivated child will achieve, regardless of what school they go to

Cheers,
AnneDe

 

[geoffw]

From personal experience I have found that a self-motivated child will achieve, regardless of what school they go to

However, if your child is semi motivated, a good teacher can certainly help improve that child's interest, and performance.

I did well at high school, and average at uni. I was an exchange student at a time when it was not very common, and dux of my high school. But I was not a natural- I worked damned hard to do well at year 12. I was motivated. (When I got to uni, I was put into maths tutorials with naturally brilliant stdents, and I was totally lost).

But my daughters have grown up with the "doing well at high school". They believe that uni is the only way to go, they want to prove that they are as "good as Dad". I want them to do well at what they enjoy, and to find their own natural talents. I can see that there is a huge opportunity for a young person now to succeed in a huge number of fields- especially with the opportunities presented by property investment. And even if they only want to keep on studying- there are a huge number of opportunities in higher education, not just limited by university.

Unfortunately, they don't want to listen to Dad. They just want to do what he did. In another world and another generation.

 

[Dazz]

I went to a really average public high school (South Fremantle SHS), .....right up there with Lockridge.....as part of the academically gifted stream in the early 80's....one "special" class amongst about 10 others. The Education Dept at the time thought it would great for the statistic averages to 'intermingle'. It was well out of the way for my parents, but Dad made the sacrifice of taking me every morning.

After I got bashed and stabbed at the age of 13, they had a re-think. School authorities shrugged their shoulders and said it happened all the time. Got yanked from that program and school, and sent to the same local school as my elder sisters were going to.....Rossmoyne SHS. Another public high school, and one that was recently ranked as the top school in Oz, beating allcomers, public & private.

Had a very pleasant time at Rossmoyne. Biggest difference was that the parents cared about their children's welfare and actually took an interest in what they were doing and where they were.

Where we live currently, we are surrounded by no less than 7 private schools, and no public school for miles.

The wife wants to send the 3 girls to private school, and is heavily influenced more by what other mother's have to say and whether they "get along" with the teachers, and whether they are "nice".

I'd prefer to have the girls going to a top flight public school, but I think the practicalities of getting them there will over-ride alot of that. I think 36K p.a. non-tax deductible (for the 3 at once) is too large for supposedly what they get extra at private school.

I'd much prefer to have them stay in public school and scream ahead of the "normal pace" that the bog standard teachers set them. As parents, we are both spending large amounts of time with them all to get them up to a better level. With me in Australia full time and living at home, it is very enjoyable teaching the kids things that go way beyond what they learn at school.

We both have no intention of letting our kids loose with what the Education Dept deems appropriate as a level and pace for our kids.


….and no, I haven’t forgotten the name of the boy (man now) who stabbed me. I can be very patient when necessary. He’s in jail right now…..and 23 years on, I’m sure he’s forgotten me though.

 

[agent 86]

Mine do public schooling. Money spent on extra private tuition. Well worth it.

They've all still turned out different though.

 

[wish-ga]

Can I just put it out there that a Catholic School needn't be 'exclusive'.

I went to a very small Catholic School that most people would never have heard of. Only 500 students from yr 7- 10.

BUT I certainly caught the bus with lots of fellow students who were living in housing commission flats. NOT everyone at that school had money. My family included!

Some people are resentful ALL of private schools.... they erroneously think that ALL catholic schools are full of rich kids. My Aunty thinks everything I have achieved in my career is because my resume lists the school I went to - GET REAL. Insulting to me - I like to think, skill, knowledged, attitude, presentation in interview count for a whole lot more.

Ironic then that (possibly because of our uniform and behaviour) on excursions we had 'snobs' aggressively hissed at us by passing students from other schools .... who was labelling who there? Interesting huh?

I definitely do not want my future kids to go to a school where they have little opportunity to mix with people of different economic situations.... after all LIFE has diversity doesn't it?

 

[Bantam Roosta]

All 4 of us children in my family went through the public system from Kinder to high school and we all turned out completely different. The high school we went to was fine. They pushed sports, music, academics, was quite often 'up there' for results in the region but was definitely not an 'elite' school. In this particular school I think a lot of the reason the school did as well as it did was because of the principal. He wanted to run the most successful school in the state and he worked damn hard to try and achieve it.

My elder brother completed yr 12 with an OP 1 (the highest, 24 the lowest). Compelted an engineering degree and a senior teaching degree.

My elder sister completed yr 12 with an OP 3. Completed a science degree and a senior teaching degree.

I completed yr 12 with an OP 14. Joined the Defence Force because I wanted good money without having to work my up there. Start uni next year.

Younger sister didn't complete yr 12.

All went to exactly the same public high school and were treated fairly much the same by our parents.

BR

 

[stretchy]

….and no, I haven’t forgotten the name of the boy (man now) who stabbed me. I can be very patient when necessary. He’s in jail right now…..and 23 years on, I’m sure he’s forgotten me though.

Mental note - _ALWAYS_ be nice to Dazzling

 

[see_change]

Depends on the child and what they want to do , and what the parents want.

One of our friends is about to take their son out of my son's school because he's not academic and wants to do tech orientated stuff. He's motivated and that school doesn't provide the opportunities that a good tech will provide.

If you have an academic child they will have a greater chance of doing well in year 12. One of the brightest children I've seen out where I work got a TER in the low 80's at Chifley college ( Rebadged Shalvey High ) and her mark was considerably higher than any of her Class mates . She was probably as smart as someone I know who was one of several in her year at PLC Pymble to get 100 TER ( one of the better performing private schools , on average 50 % get above 90 TER ) .

One of the main reasons I see for people sending their kids to private schools in Mt Druitt ( local catholic school costs around 1 K from what I'm told ) is that they get their kids away from the kids with parents who don't give a stuff about what their kids do.

The old boys network does exist and if you're in " Business in the City " probably does help ( from what I can see standing on the sidelines ) , though networking between parents of existing students is probably as important as is networking between oldboys. Not all old boys make it , though in order to pay to send your kids there you have to be doing something right. Some people like using it , others don't and run a mile

See Change

 

[Shirley]

Qld State Schools

From our personal experience, I have to push the case for state schools (as they are called in Qld -same as public schools down south).

Our three all went to state schools, the older two having to change schools in the middle of high school due to transfers for work. The older daughter was dux of her school and scored the highest mark possible, OP1, as did our son 3 years later at a different school in another town. Our youngest (while being disappointed not to match her siblings' OP1), scored an OP2 but she has talents the older two do not - she is also a classical pianist. No 3 was awarded a $10k per year scholarship to complete her first degree. Between the three of them, they hold 5 undergrad degrees, a music diploma and one is currently doing postgrad studies.

We found that all three gravitated to like-minded students in school and quickly established their own network of friends. Once they reached upper high school and chose the harder subjects such as Physics, there were few, if any, disruptive students in their classes.

I think it all comes back to the parents - too many leave education to the schools when they should be active participants and encourage their kids to strive for their best.

My 2 cents worth.

Shirley

 

[pieman]

shirley
granted gifted students will do well anyway, like my brother inlaw who got a PHD at 25. He went to one shi#e public school but it didnt matter where he went, he was destined to succeed. The student I was talking about are average people like myself that need a bit of a push, not only from M+D. Even though i failed year 11, the 6 years I had at that private school gave me some real discipline and valuable skills like striving to be the best you can in whatever skills you have, like sport/music for instance and celebrating those successes. I owe much of my drive and success to some of that discipline and guidance I received in those 6 years. I was never destined to be dux of any school....
The poor old public schools can never compete for the average child.
pieman

 

[AnneDe]

Well said Shirley!!!

Children that graduate from the state/public school system are often unfairly stigmatised as being "disadvantaged". These kids work damm hard to achieve their best, sometimes in challenging environments.

The fact that state/public schools must take students from all sorts of backgrounds creates a diverse environment, that reflects the "real" world.

Cheers,
AnneDe

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

I went to both a private and public school. I hated school, so I never did well. According to 'the man's' standards anyway. I've always been a staunch supporter of DIY education. What they teach you in school is rubbish and paying for education is a huge waste of currency, resources and time.

If I ever have children (highly unlikely), I would strongly encourage them to leave school as early as possible, get a job and save to invest. I've learnt a lot more educating myself and through working than I ever could have at school. Incidentally, anyone that says 'the best days of your life are the ones at school' obviously never had a life.

For what it's worth, my experiece at the public school (with both students and teachers) was far better than the one I had at private school. Also keep in mind that many people on the Rich 200 list didn't even finish high school.

Mark

 

[peteb]

Mark,
I hope you are joking .......
Peter.

 

[Twitch]

I went to both a private and public school. I hated school, so I never did well. According to 'the man's' standards anyway. I've always been a staunch supporter of DIY education. What they teach you in school is rubbish and paying for education is a huge waste of currency, resources and time.

If I ever have children (highly unlikely), I would strongly encourage them to leave school as early as possible, get a job and save to invest. I've learnt a lot more educating myself and through working than I ever could have at school. Incidentally, anyone that says 'the best days of your life are the ones at school' obviously never had a life.

For what it's worth, my experiece at the public school (with both students and teachers) was far better than the one I had at private school. Also keep in mind that many people on the Rich 200 list didn't even finish high school.

Mark

Mark, although there are exceptions, spending longer at school increases a likely good outcome income and career-wise, as does private schools. Exceptions only prove the rule. (I'm a public schoold boy by the way )

cheers.

 

[Tizzy]

We have always gone private. The same school for 5 kids. What we spent on fees other families and friends of ours spent the same money on a bigger ppor or new carpets or new car. We chose to put our faith in the private system for lots of reasons. For the values, for the choices, the discipline, and the opportunity for kids with average intelligence to be given the opportunity to learn in a classroom where bullying is not tolerated and teachers enjoy what they do.
That system has turned out one doctor, one economist, one half way through an Engineering degree and one finishing off one degree and embarking on another. One is still in high school, with learning difficulties, but a good nurturing school environment will see him get through. By the way, the one about to do the second degree also had some difficulties. I'm just not sure he would have managed in a state school.

We told our kids we probably won't leave them much in the way of money, but we will leave them with the best education we could afford.
By the way, the fees are slightly above the middle of the range. So not essential to pay for the really expensive places unless you can afford it and the school is fairly convenient to get to. Catching three buses across town is not a great life for a kid. Thats my view on it anyway.

 

[Andrew_A]

Mark, although there are exceptions, spending longer at school increases a likely good outcome income and career-wise, as does private schools. Exceptions only prove the rule. (I'm a public schoold boy by the way )

cheers.

I would like to see this supported by data and control group testing.

I would not be surprised to find any correlation between private/public high schooling levels and income levels was a non causal correlation. I mean think of all the junk we are fed at high school and how it relates to what we do today.

My bias is that I went to the most expensive private school in Brisbane and it was a very net negative experience, so I shouldn't be the one doing the testing

Ps: The school was Brisbane Grammar. Dinosaur institution that it was in my day it might have improved slightly since.

 

[chrispy]

Great debate everyone

I worked for many years in what used to be known as a Technical School in Victoria. It was one of the State's best assets. We had more than 1,000 kids - it was co-ed. The main aim was to produce the plumbers, electricians, carpenters, sheetmetal workers etc., but the maths was so strong that a lot of the kids went on to do mathematical Uni degrees. The teachers in those subjects were all Tradies and really down to earth practical people who only wanted the very best for the kids. We only went to Year 11 but at the end of that time almost all the kids went to jobs or further Education. We tracked what hapened to every child.

The Art stream was excellent due to the staff. I was so impressed I ended up transferring my son into the school to do Year 11, as he was obviously Art inclined.

Unfortunately all Technical schools were disbanded in Victoria and converted into Secondary Schools so the fabulous trade specialists all got sent to various schools around the state. This particular school suffered very badly, to the point where it will probably be closed due to lack of students.

I used to take a lot of the phone calls from parents of students in private schools asking for admission for their children as they were not doing so well in the private schools and had been asked to leave in Year 9 or 10. Usually the parents made the statement that they would like their student to attend the Technical School because their child was "good with their hands". We always took offence at that, as it implied that we only taught trade subjects!!

I wonder now what happens to all those kids when the private schools ask them to leave because they are not coping?

Keep up the debate folks its great!!!!

Chris

 

[AnneDe]

There have been improvements made in the relevance of what is being taught and what counts for after school life (particularly in QLD).

See links below:
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning_priorities/qce/index.html
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning_priorities/learning_account/index.html

QCE Information summary for parents – one page summary for schools to distribute (PDF 86K)

This new 'learning account' allows the student to bank credits from all school related subjects, school based traineeships, VET Certificates, enrichment courses done outside school, international studies etc.

Even students that are not academically inclined are able to achieve 'credits' through non traditional qualifications and achievements. Those students that are dis-engaged from traditional education are offered alternatives, that will hopefully lead them to a viable career path.

Cheers,
AnneDe

 

[thefirstbruce]

Pulled this Qld comparative OP score table out of the Courier Mail a few months ago.....