Private vs. Public Schools

Hi! I was wondering what is the major difference between a child attending private or public schools, and the pros and cons of that? Also, cost wise, is it hideously expensive?

Thanks!

It really and truly depends on the school. Fees vary by thousands of dollars in private education and they increase from kinder(prep)- year 12
thats cost wise
there are many pros and many cons to a private education
The biggest obvious con is money, uniforms,fees, books and stationary really adds up in private education. Alot of people may also tell you that private educated people are snobby or have bad work ethics which I totally disagree with but it is often said. As far as pros go (from experience in both public and private schools and this is just my own opinion) there is more individual care and often better facilities not to say that public schools dont have fab facilities because they do but i find specific areas of faculty are looked after.
Thats just my in put hope that helps a bit :)

hi lauren, yes that helped a lot! I have been discussing this with my bf and he is very insistent on private (he went to a private school) and I attended public. So I guess it really boils down to if you can afford it or not too..

Thanks!

No problems we had the same thing here DF went public but then went to state selective and i have been mostly private but have attended 2 public schools for 2 years. Any other questions feel free to ask :)

I don't thinks comparing public and private schools is that simple (or fair) There are lots of different public schools (selective, collegiates, performing arts, sports etc) and lots of different privates (independants, catholic systemic, christian/religious, alternative etc) and all have their pros and cons. The only "simple" comparison is cost - you have to pay to go private and even this varies greatly amongst schools.

I think the more important questions/perspective should be -

what schools are available in your area?
what are the strengths and weaknesses of these schools?
what can they offer your child? subject choice/extra curricular?
where will your child be happiest?
where will your child reach their full potential?

To me the success of a school comes from its staff/teachers (and this can change over time as teachers come and go) No amount of money/buildings can replace teachers who are passionate about their craft and these great teachers are found in public AND private schools. (I work in a public school and resent the common implication that the best teachers work in the private sector)

Talk to other parents and students in your area (a variety) to get a feel for each school and make appointments to visit each as well.

Education is a partnership between you, your child and the school you choose. If you are active in your child's education - they will be fine. This - to me - is far more important than the amount of money you spend. I am of the opinion that a determined child will do well anywhere - with the right support.

personally in my opinion it doesnt matter if its "private" or "public" its not going to change if your child wants to learn! nowhere does it say if you go to a private school you are going to be "smarter" or have more job opportunities.
i personally attended a private all girls school where the fees were thru the roof i can tell you now most private schools have a "registration fee" which is around the $100 mark just to sit there and fill out forms mind you with paying that $100 that does not garentee you will get accepted into the school.
then at the school i went to if you got accepted, you had to pay a acceptance fee of $800

then it was tuition fees of 3,640 per term.... times that by 4 then by the 12 years i was there and well you get the picture.
admittidly i am now a couple of months off a degree in nutrition but i worked my ass off the last 2yrs i believe it is up to how hard your child trys.
you could pay all the fees work your ass off only to find your child has NO interest in school.
if you can afford the private school lifestyle then go for it! i know lots of people who have attended public schools and they are just as well education if not more!
public schools offer assistance in trainee ships/apprenticships etc
the only difference is the the classes are smaller in a private school which means more one on one time with the teacher!

hope this helps and hope i didnt offend anyone. (this is my opinion only)

Whoa the school fees are massive! I think the best option for now is to suss out the area we are going to live in and the schools available too?

I think asking other parents and teachers about the schools will be better than just chucking the kid in a private school and hoping for the best...brookemorrison is right, you could put the child in the best private school and it could have zero interest in studying!

I am another one who thinks it comes down to schools available, funds available, child's personality etc. I think there are pro's and cons in both, and have just been through some major confusion trying to figure out where to enrol my DD for school, and I am a teacher with the insider knowledge tat goes with that and I still struggled with making the decision.

At the end of the day for us it came down to a few things-
1) cost: we are planning on having 3 children, to privatley educate them was going to cost us in excess of $150 000 for school fees alone over there school career, not to mention uniforms, books, excursions, extra curricular activities.

2) Location- our most local schools are either catholic (which we are not) or public. I really believe in having children schooled in the area they live if at all possible- all of DD playgroup friends are goin to the school I have enrolled, I already know some of the mums, DD's daycare is able to pick her up for after school care.

3) Teachers & Facilities: I know for a fact that there are some damn fine teachers working in the public education system- I know this because I am one of them, a good teacher is a good teacher no matter what school they teach in, we are all educated in the same institutions and come out with the same qaulifications. The school that DD will be going to (our local public) has quite a large student body, but this means they have access to a range of funds, grants and facilities, which the local catholic school did not.

So they are my reasons, but at the end of the day it comes down to personal choice. Many people think that High school is more important than primary school, but I tend to disagree. If a child doees not get a good primary school education, where they are building their 'tool box' of skills and strategies about how to learn, then the best high school in the world is not going to be of any use to them, because they dont have the skills and the capacity to learn the information they are being presented.

I agree with Ali 100% about primary actually being more important than secondary.

There are quite a few threads in BB that discuss this issue. public vs private. Some can get VERY heated ;)

I have privately educated my DD since she was in pre-school... she is now in grade 9 and the fees are now about $18,000 per year (not including uniforms books etc). My 5yo DS goes to a public primary because it has a better reputation than the private co-ed ones in terms of quality of staff. If he was a girl he would also attend the girls' school.

You can't really compare private vs public... like others have said it's more school vs school. HOWEVER we have been very impressed with what our DD has received over the years. Money well spent.

Putting my hand up for school v school, not public v independent/private!

It does depend on the school. But DH and I would much prefer public so our DD is going public next year. I attended private (catholic) most of my schooling but did around 3 years of public, and I liked public so much better.

Pros of public -
*low fees - the extra money can be put into extra cirricular stuff, tutoring, etc.
*secular education where you can opt out of scripture (this is important to us as I'm athiest and don't like how catholic schools sell catholicism as truth rather than a possibility)
*tend to be less elitist

Cons:
*sometimes have less resources. An expensive private school I went to in high school had the best of everything. They were charging ten grand a year (this was 15 years ago) plus attracting quite a bit of govt funding. They had brand new buildings, a huge hall, while the local public high was falling apart.
*sometimes have larger class sizes

Class size is an issue. My DD's private classe sizes have been great. In primary years they capped the class size at 20... it never got that high... I think 18 was the largest. The girls had much more individualised learning. Every year they had a diary which the teacher would write in most days and you could write in if there was anything basic you needed info on... or you could write stuff like "DD had a very late night last night due to a family celebration" or "DD mentioned that her foot was hurting after Little Athletics yesterday... please excuse from sport if she complains of pain". Unfortunately i have found that communication with the teacher isn't so easy at my DS's public primary. Every morning the teacher seems to be swamped with parents trying to tell her stuff that I am used to popping in a diary :( So a lot goes unsaid.

Well, I guess where you live also decides whether you get into the school or not? There are so many decisions to make! I have heard of families who move closer to the suburb so as their child can attend that particular school? What's the general opinion on that?