- Aug 17, 2006
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Surely you get a family discount, if you have more than one student attending at the same time?
Education & Reference Public and Private schooling
- Thread starter I Lost My Keays
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Surely you get a family discount, if you have more than one student attending at the same time?
I can't wait to my boys are at school. I'll save so much money. Daycare is over $2000 a month at the moment.
- Aug 17, 2006
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I went all public, with a selective school in year 9/10. Public primary school was absolutely fine and to be honest, I'd never even considered sending my kids to a private primary school. Even playing ammos footy for an AGS old boys team, while I'd say 75% of the players went to high school there, I'd say there were only a handful at most that went to primary school there. The Mrs went to a Catholic primary school and was keen to send the kids there too, which I'm not completely against, but I just suggested that we look at the comparison in fees and think about whether it's better to send that on their early school education or to put it aside for something else for them down the track (experiences, a fairly nice first car, whatever). We can revisit after a couple of years...but I mean, come on...private school for Prep/Grade 1...why? I think I've won that discussion, although it seems like it's come down as much to where the kids from her mothers group are going as much as my thoughts.
For those that think the school you go to doesn't make a difference, well not saying you're wrong, but that's certainly not my experience. It's not so much the education as the peer group. I went from being a solid student at Melbourne High (which is the top boys school in Victoria year, after year, after year) to not even going to university following year 12, after deciding to change to a public school that offered a basketball program...good fun, but one of the biggest wastes of time in my life, in retrospect. It probably put me three years behind where I should have been in life by the time I was 25.
Basketball was literally a VCE subject (i.e. instead of doing that sixth subject of Biology, or LOTE, or Physics, my sixth subject was 'Basketball'). I didn't even go to university straight out of high school. My mates didn't give a stuff about school, they were all going to do apprenticeships and so that was the attitude that I had, even though I am pretty much useless at anything mechanical or practical. The chances of me not going to uni if I'd just stayed at Melbourne High are zero, because the thought of doing something else would have never entered my head. And the basketball program was terrible too...Melbourne High's team would have smashed them. If you were willing to pay for the program, you were in, basically.
For those that think the school you go to doesn't make a difference, well not saying you're wrong, but that's certainly not my experience. It's not so much the education as the peer group. I went from being a solid student at Melbourne High (which is the top boys school in Victoria year, after year, after year) to not even going to university following year 12, after deciding to change to a public school that offered a basketball program...good fun, but one of the biggest wastes of time in my life, in retrospect. It probably put me three years behind where I should have been in life by the time I was 25.
Basketball was literally a VCE subject (i.e. instead of doing that sixth subject of Biology, or LOTE, or Physics, my sixth subject was 'Basketball'). I didn't even go to university straight out of high school. My mates didn't give a stuff about school, they were all going to do apprenticeships and so that was the attitude that I had, even though I am pretty much useless at anything mechanical or practical. The chances of me not going to uni if I'd just stayed at Melbourne High are zero, because the thought of doing something else would have never entered my head. And the basketball program was terrible too...Melbourne High's team would have smashed them. If you were willing to pay for the program, you were in, basically.
- Aug 21, 2007
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I'm with you there. With 3 days a week childcare at the moment, after rebates, we pay just under $5,000 a year (about $95 a week). Once Miss almost 3 starts school though, her yearly fees, at least for the first few years, would be just under $2,000 for her Independent school.
- Aug 15, 2014
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I went to a Catholic primary and a semi-private Catholic high school. From the group of friends I had in primary school, half went to the local public high school and half went to the Catholic secondary.
A lot of the ones that went to the public school ended up either doing apprenticeships or floating around doing not a lot for a few years after school. The majority that went to the Catholic school ended up transitioning into uni and taking up professional jobs. I was amazed at the stark contrast between the two. The public school kids also mixed with a very different crowd and had a fair few behavioral issues.
The catholic high school I went to was great (besides the bullshit RE crap which was a bludge from year 7), offered great facilities and pathways and was relatively cheap at around $4-5k a year. That was just my general observation from the area.
A lot of the ones that went to the public school ended up either doing apprenticeships or floating around doing not a lot for a few years after school. The majority that went to the Catholic school ended up transitioning into uni and taking up professional jobs. I was amazed at the stark contrast between the two. The public school kids also mixed with a very different crowd and had a fair few behavioral issues.
The catholic high school I went to was great (besides the bullshit RE crap which was a bludge from year 7), offered great facilities and pathways and was relatively cheap at around $4-5k a year. That was just my general observation from the area.
- Jul 9, 2010
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Would love to know what the public school was, or the vague area.
- Aug 15, 2014
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Mooroolbark high school. Not a great reputation, in fact all the public high schools in that area have poor reputations.
- May 5, 2006
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I think so, but I don't know how much it is.
From memory (and I could be making this up) the cheaper Catholic schools are more likely to discount fees to get all 17 children from each family through the door than the top tier $25k+ schools.
- Jul 9, 2010
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Exactly. So ahhh is that maybe why the people who went there didn't end up doing too well? Maybe because of the shithole suburb?
- May 5, 2006
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Anyone go to a Montessori school? Only kid I know who goes to one is the son of someone I know who is Autistic. Seems like it's more for younglings but there is a K-12 Montessori school here.
Also, what about home schooling? I know one dude that was at my primary school until maybe year 5 or 6 then disappeared. I just assumed he moved area so moved schools but he turned up years later having been home schooled all the way through to year 12. What the *? Who does that to a kid? Bloke is a social retread as you'd expect. Not faeces flinging and yelling at strangers on the train weird, but just a bit off.
Also, what about home schooling? I know one dude that was at my primary school until maybe year 5 or 6 then disappeared. I just assumed he moved area so moved schools but he turned up years later having been home schooled all the way through to year 12. What the *? Who does that to a kid? Bloke is a social retread as you'd expect. Not faeces flinging and yelling at strangers on the train weird, but just a bit off.
- Aug 17, 2006
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Well, there's a solution then for if/when a tipping point is reached.
Say you have year 12, year 9 and year 7 aged children. Now, even if they do public primary school, if school fees are 20K each, that's 40K+ per year from the time child #2 hit year 7, until they finish Year 12. Six straight years of 40K+ on school, including one year of 60K+ and five more years of 20K+ (the years before #2 started high school and after they finished).
I can't imagine anyone that I grew up being in a position to even contemplate that as an option for their kids.
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- Aug 15, 2014
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Nope. I've grown up in that 'shithole' suburb my whole life and tracking along nicely in life, along with my circle of friends. The public high school however is a shithole.
- Jul 9, 2010
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Have met people on and off who went to Montessori and Steiner schools. Generally alright but they all had some sort of tick, ie some couldn't do basic maths, others were socially out of line, some were able to have incredibly intense conversations out of nowhere, others wore shorts and Birkenstocks in the middle of August... there is the issue of an education not being properly taught and social skills being turned up too high (kids barely high school age talking to adults confidently and at their level). I don't think I massively mind it though.
I do remember a few years ago, me and a mate were watching the A-League at a pub in the Melbourne CBD. There was a youngish guy there about our age sitting by myself and my friend is the sort of guy who always strikes up conversation with other people – trains after the footy, in line for a pizza, on the piss – anyway this dude ended up sitting with us and he went to the Steiner school with that band Snakadaktal who were around on Triple J for a little while. He was a nice enough guy but sort of looked right through you and the next day I had a friend request from him which was odd considering we talked for about 40 minutes and it was barely 8pm. He would listen to everything you'd say and stare at you while you did, and then not really offer anything at all, not even a "oh yeah" and so you'd have to kind of just wait for him to say something or else just make up something and end up talking too much and looking like a weirdo. Then all of a sudden he started talking about relationships and how his friend had left at half-time, and how the train system has a pull for people... it was like he was writing poetry. Also had one of those faces that's a baby face but also looks really old... he also told us how the Snakadaktal kids used to smoke tea leaves with their parents, how they had bonding sessions sitting shirtless and rubbing sand in their fingers, how they used to go from really arrogant to overly friendly within a day... and then how they ended up totally selling out and changing to get more airplay. Just odd and the sort of people who would be a total pain in the arse to be friends with – you'd never know which person is going to show up.
One of my best mates was home schooled and he was less socially *ed than the people I went to school with. It was sort of like having a Tim from the Office around – you'd just look at each other and think 'wow' when some kid was doing something ludicrous, like popping a pimple 50-cent-coin sized pimple to impress a girl who was near on 110 kilos and who had a kid by the time most of us had finished our TEE. Man. One of those people who you naturally can have a laugh with and who shares the same views as you.
Then again you go out to the Hawthorn Hotel and all the boys there are dressed exactly the same in black running shoes, grey trackie pants with the hem, a puffy jacket, and there's about 23 of them. When a group of chicks come past they'll do s**t like pour a pint on someone's head, or make random noises... a guy I once saw was doing the old 'how loud can you say 'penis?'' thing to try and get some attention. Essentially everyone is bred into some sort of *head.
- Aug 17, 2006
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So what's your answer then, since you feel a private education is a waste of time and money (my bet is he went to Mt Lilydale or Aquinas as a co-ed Catholic alternative in the area)? 'Be born in Camberwell, or Kew'?
I'd love to know how you have such a comprehensive knowledge of every pub and suburb of Melbourne, having been here for all of five minutes. I'd be absolutely amazed if you've even set foot in half of the places you feel compelled to share your opinion of. And the ones that you have, I wonder how you got there? An outer suburban train station probably isn't the best site to do a snapshot of an entire suburb.
- May 5, 2006
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Every school is the sum of its parts.
Good students + good parents + good teachers + good administrators + good resources = good school.
For each element that falls away so does the school.
Wasnt he schooled in WA?
- Aug 17, 2006
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I did see that at primary school. I was probably about grade 5 and a boy came into grade 4 from a Steiner school, despite being about a year older than me. His writing looked like Chopper Read's.
- May 5, 2006
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I'm out of the loop not having kids so not knowing what is normal for each ach but my mate's 4 year old counted out all her little princess fairy toy things (whatever the * they were) she had on the desk in front of her from 1 to 19 or 20 no worries. I thought she was a genius, but that might be normal for that age. Not being able to read at 7 is shocking. Every kid should be able to read before starting school, let alone by 7.
- Aug 15, 2014
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The primary catholic school that I went to was a feeder school to the catholic secondary. I will say that a lot of the kids that went to public high school was mainly due to not being able to afford the fees of my school and generally came from lower income families. Therefore they were now mixing with kids and families of a lower socio-economic status.
MWPP
Flying High
Scotland as I mentioned earlier in the thread , I went to a Montessori preschool (and it was great in that the small class sizes /additional resources allowed them to cater to individual students' needs in a way that my public primary school couldn't). I and many of my friends from that school ended up skipping a grade of school . I attended it from just before my 3rd birthday, to the week before I turned 5, then moved to my local primary school . I believe that my old Montessori school has since been extended to include primary.
- Aug 15, 2014
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Correct, I went to Mt Lilydale. The school offered everything I could've asked for in terms of education, teachers, sport etc. Never came across any issues there during my time. Especially compared to Lilydale High and Lilydale Heights.
- Aug 17, 2006
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Yes, which is kind of my point. I was speculating on the schools that Golden6 may have attended, besides Mooroolbark High.
