In our small town, there is one public primary and one private (religious) primary school.

The public primary has better NAPLAN results and a good reputation. The private school also has a good reputation.

In other words, they're much of a muchness but based on what I can see/hear the only reason we would send DD1 to our local private school is for the sake of giving her a private education. I'm not going to do that.

HOWEVER, the secondary school choice will be much harder. The local state high schools AND the local private schools, based on their results, are not much chop.

So, despite my many political reservations about sending her to a private school (I don't believe you should be able to 'buy' a better education), something I read in a Christopher Hitchens book resonated with me. His mum sent him to a top UK private school insisting, "if there's going to be an upper class in this country, Christopher is going to be part of it."

As someone who believes that a better education would have changed my life for the better and instilled more confidence in me that was not forthcoming in my home environment, I'd like to give my daughters the best possible chance to do whatever they want and not be held back by the belief that they're not good enough.

So, yes, if money was no object, I would absolutely send them to a private secondary school.