Have you considered getting him to sit the scholarship test for the private schools. I applied for it as an aside to the selective entry exam for my daughter and she ended up with the choice of both which was unexpected.
Is not expensive and your son might benefit from some coaching towards test techniques, just a few sessions helps their confidence enormously - as much as I am against the coaching for selective schools I think that unless you bite the bullet and get it then your child is not on a level playing field.
Newcastle is still very much anglo-saxon community (esp in comparison with Sydney) and coaching is yet to become the norm up here - we have a selective school and it not dominated by the families who are prepared to have their children coached extensively to increase chances of selection.
Is not expensive and your son might benefit from some coaching towards test techniques, just a few sessions helps their confidence enormously - as much as I am against the coaching for selective schools I think that unless you bite the bullet and get it then your child is not on a level playing field.
Newcastle is still very much anglo-saxon community (esp in comparison with Sydney) and coaching is yet to become the norm up here - we have a selective school and it not dominated by the families who are prepared to have their children coached extensively to increase chances of selection.