Stressed about educational decisions

[*Ang*]

I think that by the sounds of things that you are going to have a hard time convincing both your DH and parents not to send the kids to a private schools. In theory I agree with what has been said here about being able to walk to a local school, having friends close by and having a community feel about it.

In reality, if you are wanting to send your DS to a private highschool the following is a list of "selection criteria" used for enrollements at most private highschools and primary schools:

1) Sibling of children currently attending
2) Catholic (insert app religion here) Children from feeder schools
3) Non religous children from feeder schools
4) Remaining children ie non religous or children from non feeder schools

The important thing to remember is that MOST enrollments are filled from criteria's 1) and 2). I know of one catholic primary school here in Perth that for a kindy class of 30, 28 spots were filled by sibling which only left 2 others and these were given to children who lived in the diocese and whose parents frequented church. So unfortunatley regardless even tho this would be lovely to think:

My hubby feels that if it comes down to one place left they would take the person who went to a private school over the one who went to a public school... i don't think thats the case, i'd like to think they'd go on educational merit.

In reality I doubt that it would ever happen.

As an aside I am catholic and we have chosen to educate our children privately. Both children were enrolled in primary schools within their first year of birth and are also enrolled in a number of highschools too - and I am by no means the first parent to do so! In relation to highschools, I am not necessarily talking about your top 5 "cost wise" in Perth either, I am talking about your "normal" private highschool.

So what I am saying is if you truely believe that you want to educate your children privately and can afford to do so ENROL NOW.

[*Ali*]

I think if it is stressing you out then you just need to put down his name at both state and private schools and say whatever will be will be. Remember what I always say, you dont know what you don't know- and if you didn't know that you needed to put his name down earlier, then you couldnt have possibly done it (plus remember you have recently moved, so even if you had put his name down in his first year, those schools would be over an hour away now!)

I tend to agree with Bath that, for me the quality of the education students recieve in Primary School is what sets the tone for how they learn in High School- if kids are given the basic building blocks of reading, writing and maths, and are not given what I call a "toolbox" of skills which help them to learn, ie. problem solving, critical thinking etc, they are going to struggle whichever school they are educated in.

Something else to remember is that there are good and bad teachers in EVERY school in WA, we are all educated in the same institutions and are bound by the curriculum wherever we teach.

I know how consuming it is trying to decide where to educate your children, I go through the same internal struggle daily, because the local schools are not somewhere I want my kids educated- not because of the schools, or the teachers but because of the area we live in and the amount of 'other' social problems there. So for the sake of my kids education, if I cant get them across the boundaries into a neighbouring school, then I will send them to a catholic primary school- not because it is private, but because I believe it is where my children will recieve the best education.

At the end of the day only you and your DH should have a say where the kids go to school, and then it is up to your DS to make the most of the education given to him, be it private or public.