Private Schools
- Thread starter Mrs Bird
- Start date
Mrs Bird,
I'd love to answer the poll, but none of the answers seem quite right.
Our experience has involved sending our kids to an independent school - so technically private (and parent-run).
It was chosen for the learning environment not any prestige or results thing.
Now transitioning kids to public system so they can walk to school & have local friends.
We are less concerned about the academic side as we can support our kids' learning, social side is important.
So don't really see private schools as a waste of money, but don't perceive enough of a benefit to keep our kids in them.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I'd love to answer the poll, but none of the answers seem quite right.
Our experience has involved sending our kids to an independent school - so technically private (and parent-run).
It was chosen for the learning environment not any prestige or results thing.
Now transitioning kids to public system so they can walk to school & have local friends.
We are less concerned about the academic side as we can support our kids' learning, social side is important.
So don't really see private schools as a waste of money, but don't perceive enough of a benefit to keep our kids in them.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I guess it all comes down to what you think is important.
We have a great local high school that has 300 out of area applications each year for 50 places. We are in area, luckily and get straight in, but feel that all those applications speak volumes. I know teachers who work at the school and feel my kids and I have access to a caring, academically striving enviroment. I also like the fact that my kids are making local friends, not friends that live a hour away.
If our local school was a bit sus, then maybe I would have to re-think!
Mrs Chris1
Addit: agree with Acey's comment- don't disagree with them, but no great benifit in our situation also.
We have a great local high school that has 300 out of area applications each year for 50 places. We are in area, luckily and get straight in, but feel that all those applications speak volumes. I know teachers who work at the school and feel my kids and I have access to a caring, academically striving enviroment. I also like the fact that my kids are making local friends, not friends that live a hour away.
If our local school was a bit sus, then maybe I would have to re-think!
Mrs Chris1
Addit: agree with Acey's comment- don't disagree with them, but no great benifit in our situation also.
I've always believed in the Public system, but after 2 terms in the local school, unfortunately I feel that I have to shell out for something better.
And after 1 term in private it has proved beneficial, but I wish it hadn't been necessary.
And after 1 term in private it has proved beneficial, but I wish it hadn't been necessary.
Hi,
After coming out of public school system only a few short years ago I thought I should post here. It didnt kill me, sure there are probably better schools than the one I went to, but I think a persons life is moreso created by what they do after school rather than in.
For my own future kids, perhaps i'll let them decide where they want to go to highschool... but ****, thats nearly 25 years away
-Cheers
Dave
After coming out of public school system only a few short years ago I thought I should post here. It didnt kill me, sure there are probably better schools than the one I went to, but I think a persons life is moreso created by what they do after school rather than in.
For my own future kids, perhaps i'll let them decide where they want to go to highschool... but ****, thats nearly 25 years away
-Cheers
Dave
I think it depends a lot on the child and where their strengths lie.
I did have the private school education but don't think it was best for me. Personally I think I would have done better at a school more directed to the arts rather than a narrow academic cirriculum.
See where your childs interests lie and decide from there
I did have the private school education but don't think it was best for me. Personally I think I would have done better at a school more directed to the arts rather than a narrow academic cirriculum.
See where your childs interests lie and decide from there
I had both public and private schooling.
Public schooling was OK. (Hampton D2K )
Private schooling was OK.
However I noticed (at 16 !!!) that there was more 'school spirit' at the private school, and more teacher interest in my studies and general well being at the private school.
Horses for courses I think, depends on the kid.
I'll be giving it serious thought over the next few years.
TheBacon
Public schooling was OK. (Hampton D2K
)Private schooling was OK.
However I noticed (at 16 !!!) that there was more 'school spirit' at the private school, and more teacher interest in my studies and general well being at the private school.
Horses for courses I think, depends on the kid.
I'll be giving it serious thought over the next few years.
TheBacon
No answer abive fitted.
I was happy for the firstborn to go to government schools.
But the quality of what was coming back was not terribly good.
There were some very big grammatical faults in the marking of the grammatical testing.
And when my daughter came back with the story of the couple who had their clothes off and doing things to each other- that was not in the school yard, but it implied that teachers were not readily available in the school yard.
So we sent #1 to grammar- not because it was a wate of money, and not because it was the most important thing in our life.
(obviously from the options you present you are very strongly against private education, so it hardly makes it a fair poll- you must be from the press!)
It was a big struggle for us- but because the teachers were really very good in binging out a very shy and withdrawn girl, it was worth it.
We then had some big tax problems, so we had to send #1 back to the government system- and had to keep #2 in the government system.
The government system did some pretty bad things for #2. She was accused of some things- and on the sole evidence of the accuser, was suspended from school, without any support from anybody else. The accuser had the parent with her- my daughter was not allowed to be with either of us until the "verdict" was delivered. Thew suspension has been lifted from the record, but it has left some pretty nasty marks.
My daughter is not an angel, but she did not do anything near what she was accused of. And the teachers lied about her treatment after the suspension (they were caught out).
Sorry. I don't feel that your questions are fair, and that the possible responses you give are a fair reflection on the reason parents may choose to send their children to a school of their choice.
I was happy for the firstborn to go to government schools.
But the quality of what was coming back was not terribly good.
There were some very big grammatical faults in the marking of the grammatical testing.
And when my daughter came back with the story of the couple who had their clothes off and doing things to each other- that was not in the school yard, but it implied that teachers were not readily available in the school yard.
So we sent #1 to grammar- not because it was a wate of money, and not because it was the most important thing in our life.
(obviously from the options you present you are very strongly against private education, so it hardly makes it a fair poll- you must be from the press!)
It was a big struggle for us- but because the teachers were really very good in binging out a very shy and withdrawn girl, it was worth it.
We then had some big tax problems, so we had to send #1 back to the government system- and had to keep #2 in the government system.
The government system did some pretty bad things for #2. She was accused of some things- and on the sole evidence of the accuser, was suspended from school, without any support from anybody else. The accuser had the parent with her- my daughter was not allowed to be with either of us until the "verdict" was delivered. Thew suspension has been lifted from the record, but it has left some pretty nasty marks.
My daughter is not an angel, but she did not do anything near what she was accused of. And the teachers lied about her treatment after the suspension (they were caught out).
Sorry. I don't feel that your questions are fair, and that the possible responses you give are a fair reflection on the reason parents may choose to send their children to a school of their choice.
Hiya Mrs Bird,
Must say I agree with GeoffW, the questions are a little lacking...
What about:
I already send my child to a private school and I love it...
I have previously sent my child to a private school (and would again)...
I have previously sent my child to a private school (and would not again)...
etc...
asy
Must say I agree with GeoffW, the questions are a little lacking...
What about:
I already send my child to a private school and I love it...
I have previously sent my child to a private school (and would again)...
I have previously sent my child to a private school (and would not again)...
etc...
asy
After going thru the government school system, I would prefer to die an unnaturally early death than allow my children to experience what I experienced. A school in the middle of country nowhere, very few facilities, mostly portable classrooms (a fire knocked out 1/2 of the school), a mix bag of teachers, some good, most bad or simply detached/disinterested, a school unable to remove violent students, a school that always ended up going with the lowest common denominator. Since my children are mixed decent, actually I like to say both Japanese, Australian again I want to shield my children from any racial attacks that where so prevalent at my country high school.
I take a holistic approach to education, the word education itself normally generates images of something done to you; an (unpleasant) event, rather than what education should mean ie. a never ending process, a way of life eg. continuous learning, questioning inquistiveness, skill enhancement etc . The private schools I have currently enroled my daughter and targeted for my daughters future offer a huge range of experiences for my daughters, which will form part of their ongoing education
The structure of government education has not changed, the focus is in producing workers (factory or white-collar). The focus is on finding students weaknesses and then focusing on those weaknesses (remedial classes) to meet the needs of industry. The future of course is on those who can solve problems, quickly grasp new concepts and skills and most importantly ask intelligent thought provoking questions (ie Why does this happen like this? Can we do it this way?, Is there a better way?). The future of course is also on those who can exploit their strengths to the fullest. As per the 80/20 rule, why waste time doing the 80% of things you are bad at or simply disinterested in, when you should focus 80% of your time on the 20% of things you are very good at and excel at them at the highest possible level. To have a bright future is to be in the top 1% or top 0.1% at what you are good at.
For example DaleGG is a very respected accountant, lets say he is in the top 1% of accountants and more to the point in the top 0.1% of accountants in regard to IP's structures and tax issues. Lets say, (just guessing) that DaleGG is bad or has no interest in Linux kernel debugging. If the real-world was school, Dale would be taken out of accountancy class and forced into remedial Linux debugging class and made to feel stupid for it. In the real-world I hire DaleGG for his excellence in professional accountancy , I just dont care about if he can debug a Linux kernel.
The schools I send and plan to send my children to use the IB http://www.ibo.org/ program, in which the students study "unit's of enquiry", they donft just study the 3Rfs reading, writing, arithmetic as such; they study a subject (e.g. Plants). To understand more, we must ask more interesting questions, and then set about finding the answers; which requires an increased use tools of understanding and communication; eg. Science, English, mathfs are learnt and used ask and solve the questions they have about the subject.
My daughter studied recently the unit of equired entitled "Our green friends", Science type questions like "How do plants grow?", "Do they need water? How much water?" eg. Tomato's were grown in the shade and some in the sunshine and the differences measured, they read fiction books featuring plants, they visited a rice farm and drew pictures of it, they wrote stories about plants, music about plants, tried to play musical instruments made from plants, they looked at why some countries mostly have different food plants (Japan=rice, Aust=Wheat, Europe=Potato's etc).
My point is that the public education system seems to be focused on controlling the uncontrollable in classrooms, simply teaching the tools (3Rfs), and focusing on weak points (remedial studies) rather than strengths.
I take a holistic approach to education, the word education itself normally generates images of something done to you; an (unpleasant) event, rather than what education should mean ie. a never ending process, a way of life eg. continuous learning, questioning inquistiveness, skill enhancement etc . The private schools I have currently enroled my daughter and targeted for my daughters future offer a huge range of experiences for my daughters, which will form part of their ongoing education
The structure of government education has not changed, the focus is in producing workers (factory or white-collar). The focus is on finding students weaknesses and then focusing on those weaknesses (remedial classes) to meet the needs of industry. The future of course is on those who can solve problems, quickly grasp new concepts and skills and most importantly ask intelligent thought provoking questions (ie Why does this happen like this? Can we do it this way?, Is there a better way?). The future of course is also on those who can exploit their strengths to the fullest. As per the 80/20 rule, why waste time doing the 80% of things you are bad at or simply disinterested in, when you should focus 80% of your time on the 20% of things you are very good at and excel at them at the highest possible level. To have a bright future is to be in the top 1% or top 0.1% at what you are good at.
For example DaleGG is a very respected accountant, lets say he is in the top 1% of accountants and more to the point in the top 0.1% of accountants in regard to IP's structures and tax issues. Lets say, (just guessing) that DaleGG is bad or has no interest in Linux kernel debugging. If the real-world was school, Dale would be taken out of accountancy class and forced into remedial Linux debugging class and made to feel stupid for it. In the real-world I hire DaleGG for his excellence in professional accountancy , I just dont care about if he can debug a Linux kernel.
The schools I send and plan to send my children to use the IB http://www.ibo.org/ program, in which the students study "unit's of enquiry", they donft just study the 3Rfs reading, writing, arithmetic as such; they study a subject (e.g. Plants). To understand more, we must ask more interesting questions, and then set about finding the answers; which requires an increased use tools of understanding and communication; eg. Science, English, mathfs are learnt and used ask and solve the questions they have about the subject.
My daughter studied recently the unit of equired entitled "Our green friends", Science type questions like "How do plants grow?", "Do they need water? How much water?" eg. Tomato's were grown in the shade and some in the sunshine and the differences measured, they read fiction books featuring plants, they visited a rice farm and drew pictures of it, they wrote stories about plants, music about plants, tried to play musical instruments made from plants, they looked at why some countries mostly have different food plants (Japan=rice, Aust=Wheat, Europe=Potato's etc).
My point is that the public education system seems to be focused on controlling the uncontrollable in classrooms, simply teaching the tools (3Rfs), and focusing on weak points (remedial studies) rather than strengths.
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My wife taught at an International School with the IB program. Our daughters attended it as well. It was a fantastic program and my wife is convinced that this is the style of learning that our daughters will experience. There were 40 nationalities at the school and the only rascist issues were with the Aussie kids - not ours!
On return to Australia we researched to find the best govt primary school in Newcastle then bought nearby. We are very happy with our decision. The school has an enviable reputation and people try very hard to get in out of zone.
However when it comes to High School we haven't found anything which meets our requirement except maybe the local selective school. Daughter number one may be selected but number two is not as academically enthusiastic as her. By this time Jenni will have finished her studies and we intend having them do High School in a private school and ideally with the IB.
We have even considered taking another OS contract purely so the girls can complete High School in the International IB system. Fortunately we still have some time up our sleeves.
Cheers,
On return to Australia we researched to find the best govt primary school in Newcastle then bought nearby. We are very happy with our decision. The school has an enviable reputation and people try very hard to get in out of zone.
However when it comes to High School we haven't found anything which meets our requirement except maybe the local selective school. Daughter number one may be selected but number two is not as academically enthusiastic as her. By this time Jenni will have finished her studies and we intend having them do High School in a private school and ideally with the IB.
We have even considered taking another OS contract purely so the girls can complete High School in the International IB system. Fortunately we still have some time up our sleeves.
Cheers,
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all your great replies. It certainly raises some very emotional responses, particularly when it comes to our own children.
Asy, I will try to address your issue that I was unfair in my poll.
I wanted to limit to only financial concerns eg I wanted to know if people on the forum thought( very generally of course) that they were prepared to make a financial sacrifice in order to send their children to a private school.
I wanted to avoid emotional issues that come along with the old debate Public versus Private.
It is well known that you never talk about either Politics or religion at a dinner party, well you can now add this topic as well.
I am in the process of working out with my financial planner how we can afford to send our boys to a private school...hence the poll.
Once again Mrs Bird has managed to offend people.
Oh well, what can I say?I cannot be responsible for how other people interept my question. I may be guilty of not offering more options but the poll thingy told me to keep it short.
GeoffW....You made a lot of assumptions in your post about me.
Gees Geoff, I if you knew how much I agonise over each sentence that I write on this forum in order not to offend any one.
Mrs Bird
Thanks for all your great replies. It certainly raises some very emotional responses, particularly when it comes to our own children.
Asy, I will try to address your issue that I was unfair in my poll.
I wanted to limit to only financial concerns eg I wanted to know if people on the forum thought( very generally of course) that they were prepared to make a financial sacrifice in order to send their children to a private school.
I wanted to avoid emotional issues that come along with the old debate Public versus Private.
It is well known that you never talk about either Politics or religion at a dinner party, well you can now add this topic as well.
I am in the process of working out with my financial planner how we can afford to send our boys to a private school...hence the poll.
Once again Mrs Bird has managed to offend people.
Oh well, what can I say?I cannot be responsible for how other people interept my question. I may be guilty of not offering more options but the poll thingy told me to keep it short.
GeoffW....You made a lot of assumptions in your post about me.
Gees Geoff, I if you knew how much I agonise over each sentence that I write on this forum in order not to offend any one.
Mrs Bird
Mrs Bird,
I am very sorry I took your posting in the bad way. It was nothing which was said. It was more just the omission of an option "Yes, because I find value in the private school system" which was the one I was looking for. For that reason, the questions implied to me a presumption that you thought private schools were a waste. I accept that I was wrong in that assumption.
The suggestion to edit poll options was a good one.
Please accept my apology.
I am very sorry I took your posting in the bad way. It was nothing which was said. It was more just the omission of an option "Yes, because I find value in the private school system" which was the one I was looking for. For that reason, the questions implied to me a presumption that you thought private schools were a waste. I accept that I was wrong in that assumption.
The suggestion to edit poll options was a good one.
Please accept my apology.
Hi Geoff,
Thanks Geoff, I feel much better now and you are right that maybe I should have included other options.
In reflection, when I asked the question I honestly thought I would be ridiculed (If thats the right word) that I was contemplating sending my kids to a Private school by members of the forum because it is a waste of money. I suppose we all make assumptions about each other because as Simon commented with this format it is easy to misinterpret a thought or meaning of someones post.
We often talk about how to save money, the latest plan to financial freedom or how many properties we own etc but in my recent memory no one has introduced the subject of how on earth are we going to fit in private school fees into our budget.
We have 3 options
1. Sell a IP
2. Use the equity in our property and take out a loan.
3. Pay it weekly from our wages
Most people have very emotional memories about their school days both good and bad. This of course influences your decision where to send your own children.
I went to a beautiful all girls private school and loved every single moment. My husband went to a very rough western suburb state school and loved every single moment of it as well. The secret behind our experience that we both had great friendships with both students and teachers.
Thankyou for Everybody who shared their experiences good and bad.
Now I just have to learn not to be so sensitive
Mrs Bird
Thanks Geoff, I feel much better now and you are right that maybe I should have included other options.
In reflection, when I asked the question I honestly thought I would be ridiculed (If thats the right word) that I was contemplating sending my kids to a Private school by members of the forum because it is a waste of money. I suppose we all make assumptions about each other because as Simon commented with this format it is easy to misinterpret a thought or meaning of someones post.
We often talk about how to save money, the latest plan to financial freedom or how many properties we own etc but in my recent memory no one has introduced the subject of how on earth are we going to fit in private school fees into our budget.
We have 3 options
1. Sell a IP
2. Use the equity in our property and take out a loan.
3. Pay it weekly from our wages
Most people have very emotional memories about their school days both good and bad. This of course influences your decision where to send your own children.
I went to a beautiful all girls private school and loved every single moment. My husband went to a very rough western suburb state school and loved every single moment of it as well. The secret behind our experience that we both had great friendships with both students and teachers.
Thankyou for Everybody who shared their experiences good and bad.
Now I just have to learn not to be so sensitive
Mrs Bird
Mrs Bird,
I don't think it's about how you fit Private Schooling into your budget. it's about how you think about money.
If you really want your children to go to private schools, make the decision to do it and then find the funds to pay for it. You may be surprised to find how many options there suddenly are once you're open to them.
We tend to make decisions & then find the money required to pay for then - because we believe that money isn't tight or limited, it's everywhere! You've just got to be in the right frame of mind to find it.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I don't think it's about how you fit Private Schooling into your budget. it's about how you think about money.
If you really want your children to go to private schools, make the decision to do it and then find the funds to pay for it. You may be surprised to find how many options there suddenly are once you're open to them.
We tend to make decisions & then find the money required to pay for then - because we believe that money isn't tight or limited, it's everywhere! You've just got to be in the right frame of mind to find it.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I think it doesnt matter where a child goes, as long as he/she is willing to learn, and the school environment isnt horrible or anything.
I went to a public school, then later a selective school.
To tell the truth, the only reason I dislike my first public school is because things like schoolkids chasing each other around with machetes was a common occurence....
Nonetheless, I would still choose public over private. Maybe private school kids get better marks (but they'd still wouldnt learn anything about investing!), but the diversity of ideas in public schools is a major point (and the saved money).
Oh, and if anyone is in Melbourne, with male children, send your kid to Melb High. There is a business teacher there who is amazing, and has some of the most inspiring ideas, not to mention extensive experience in almost every aspect of investment/business. He's operated a business, done daytrading, property investment, etc. In year 12, he managed to invite Robert Kiyosaki to personally talk to our class! Also got people like Lindsay Fox, successful investors, etc to come talk to us.
I went to a public school, then later a selective school.
To tell the truth, the only reason I dislike my first public school is because things like schoolkids chasing each other around with machetes was a common occurence....
Nonetheless, I would still choose public over private. Maybe private school kids get better marks (but they'd still wouldnt learn anything about investing!), but the diversity of ideas in public schools is a major point (and the saved money).
Oh, and if anyone is in Melbourne, with male children, send your kid to Melb High. There is a business teacher there who is amazing, and has some of the most inspiring ideas, not to mention extensive experience in almost every aspect of investment/business. He's operated a business, done daytrading, property investment, etc. In year 12, he managed to invite Robert Kiyosaki to personally talk to our class! Also got people like Lindsay Fox, successful investors, etc to come talk to us.
Hiya Mrs Bird,
I wasn't offended at all... Takes a hell of a lot more than that to offend me!!!
Would you like me to edit the poll to include any other categories (I have the power!! hehe)... if you would, let me know and I will.
AL and Simon, thanks for your discussion about IB schools, I love the thought, but there aren't any in BNE
I wonder how my son would go in an IB school, he's ASD and as such suffered awfully in a 'normal' school until recently. He's now been assessed and has an Individual Education Plan, which means they no longer force him to do things he can't... the IB programme sounds perfect for him.
asy
PS: Dale, how's that linux debugging going??
I wasn't offended at all... Takes a hell of a lot more than that to offend me!!!
Would you like me to edit the poll to include any other categories (I have the power!! hehe)... if you would, let me know and I will.
AL and Simon, thanks for your discussion about IB schools, I love the thought, but there aren't any in BNE
I wonder how my son would go in an IB school, he's ASD and as such suffered awfully in a 'normal' school until recently. He's now been assessed and has an Individual Education Plan, which means they no longer force him to do things he can't... the IB programme sounds perfect for him.
asy
PS: Dale, how's that linux debugging going??
