Thank you so much for all the replies. Both schools are good. The kindergarten available here is somewhat linked to the public school. I've watched the public school expand over the last few years as more and more people move into the area. I worked in an educational bookshop and the teachers were coming in more and more to buy resources, not the photocopiable worksheets they can just give kids, but for ideas and class activities, alongside literacy sets etc. I like knowing that, seeing the teachers coming in their own time, often using their own funds because they want to teach better, especially in a school I'm interested in IYKWIM? The private school has only opened up this year, but they are already regulars at my old work. Both reputations are strong in the community.

I know what some of you mean though, with the public secondary subjects. Some subjects I wanted were pulled due to lack of numbers, and I think my TER suffered because I ended up doing subjects I was weak at, but my parents couldn't afford private and that was the best public school in the area. DH is no help as far as that comparison goes - he left school after year 11, after wagging much of that, and came from a school who told him continually that he would never ever be what he wanted to be. So he left and got the apprenticeship he wanted, and now he is very very good at what he does. I think what a few of you have said has hit the nail on the head, that I'm just going to have to compare the two primary schools and decide which is better, and hope that if we choose the public school, that the private one will have an intake at year 7.

Thank you so much. I've really enjoyed reading your points of view and experiences.