Private vs. Public, WWYD?

I know it's kinda early, but if I want to enrol dd in a private school, I should have done it the day she was born with some of the ones around here! :lol:

Basically, I'm tossing up whether I want to send dd to a private school or public. Money is not the issue, it's more the fact that all private schools pretty much are religious.
Dh and I aren't fond of religion, so that's pretty much the turn off when we think about it, but I feel (and dh agrees) private schools give much better education, and money isn't particularly an issue. I know first hand as I went to a private school and have seen the difference of kids who came to our school from public ones. My mum also works in public schools, and she is adamant that private provides a much better education.

Though there are a couple good public schools we either are zoned into or could be zoned into if she goes to the right daycare.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Want to go privately but didn't like something that private/public did or didn't do/have? How did you make your decision?

I would only send my children to a private school if there were no suitable public schools nearby.

Day care has nothing to do with zoning as far as I'm aware. Its where you live.

There are private schools that aren't religious. Independant schools.

Also, I choose the school based on the school. Not so much the public/private aspect. I choose to live in smaller country towns for the smaller public schools, but for high school I'd prefer private if I can. I will likely be sending DD away to board in another town (no high school here) & I'm looking at the public as well as private for her. (There are hostels over here because a lot of kids have to go away for school, but can't afford boarding fee's plus private schooling.)

Ask around & read about the schools. Its the only way to know what they're like.

Private v public didn't come into it for our decision. We looked at all the schools one on one and spoke to people. It just so happened the school we chose on merit was private.

We will be sending dd public until at least the middle if primary school. As much as the reputation of the private school we are contemplating is great, so is the public school. In fact, for the earliest years, public is better. So we will use that school until she is a bit older and we can work out whether it will continue to be enough or whether the extra investment is needed.

Base your decision in what feels right to you. If you don't want the religious influence, look at the other options available to you... Don't just think public v private. Look at their merits


Clover, day care can be a factor. ESP family day care. If a child has to attend care before and after school due to parents working, the location of their carer can be taken into account as a carer can't be at three schools at once for drop off and pick up. Some child care centres also differ drop and collect at certain schools. I know if dd goes to fdc with my friends little boy, it will make it easier for us to get her I to the school we want to use as the day carer can't be at two schools several km apart at the same time to collect them.

Look at the schools not as private vs public, but which ones will suit your child. There are some private schools I wouldn't touch with a 12 foot pole, the same could be said about some public schools. As it is, in our area, the best school is a public school that parents outside of the catchment are lining up for as soon as enrolments open. Literally, lining up. The interview if you are out-of-catchment is intense! The principal is committed, the school has won awards, the teachers win awards, the school is run fantastically, they have been selected as one of the first independent public schools in Qld and are well in to the process of setting up "Centres for Excellence" in Science, Sport and Music. They win competitions to get money for the school, have strong community connections, and fundraise like theres no tomorrow. None of the private primary schools around here can come close to offering what this school does. I'd be disappointed if I had to choose between this school and the private schools around here.

High school, however, is a completely different story. I am hoping DD has the opportunity to explore lots of different subject areas and develops some well-defined interests/specialties that will make choosing a high school easy depending on what they can offer her. I am thankful I don't have to think about that for a few more years!

Public primary, private secondary.

I'm curious as to what you mean by "better education"?

Thanks for the suggestions ladies, when I get on my laptop I'll reply properly :)

N2L - I mean the quality of education is generally better in the private schools around here. It's not always the case, but for the schools in my area and that we would be zoned for, it can make a huge difference.
But it's not always the case, there are a couple of really good public schools, but it's a matter of being able to get into them

We are going through the same thing ATM. DH is actually quite anti-religion but I think I'm slowly talking him around. In my opinion, even if you are not religious, it doesn't hurt to learn about it, if only to teach respect for others beliefs. They don't have to believe it themselves but for the short time they are learning about religion, they need to be respectful and sit quietly while those who do believe can listen and learn. Also, just because I'm not religious doesn't mean my kids can't be if they choose it ITMS. I went to a religious school and it was there but it wasn't such a big part of my education to turn me off religious schools.

My point is basically to forget the religious portion and focus on the education and opportunities offered, reputation of the school, general feel and fit for your family. My DH & I went to see a school yesterday that was religious and he was really impressed with them. Check out their websites, go see them and get a feel for which one will fit best.

One thing the school we went to yesterday said was that it didn't matter when we got the applications in, they would sort and preference based on their criteria rather than first in best dressed.

For us, public primary. Unless we are living in an area where the public primary is totally dodgy, I can't see DDs going to private primary schools. For me, I see little benefit. DH went to a private primary, and the education and experiences I had were by far better, there was a lot of pressure, even on the little ones, at this particular school. I went to a catholic school in primary, I'd definitely consider it for DDs, even though we are not religious. We learned about all different religions, obviously Catholicism being the biggest focus, did all our sacraments etc, but I found it a good experience and learned a lot from doing them, and by about year 6 I'd realised I wasn't a Catholic in my heart, but still enjoyed participating.

Secondary, the main factor for us will be the best school within the closest proximity to our area, whichever one that is. I went to a private high school initially, and DH did the whole way through. We both found the experience to be very meh, with not a great amount of care for the students well being, it was more about the grades, especially the older you got and if you didn't fit the schools particular mould. They were both Catholic, but honestly, the emphasis on religion was minimal compared to primary school. One class every couple of days on religion, assembly in the chapel once a week with maybe one or two prayers. Most of the girls there were not religious.

I then went to a public HS. Wow is all I can say. The facilities were better, the teachers were better, the extra-curricular activities were better, and the mix of students was better. It was co-ed too. By far a better experience, not only socially, but educationally. I got more of an education in the 6 months I was there than the 4 years at the private HS.

So yeah, I'd go on each schools own merits, not necessarily because one is public and one is private :)

My kids are at an independent school (ie. private) and have been there since ELC. Our school has links to the Uniting Church. Most (all??) private schools will have a link to a church, but this does not necessarily mean that they are heavily religious. My kids have chapel once a fortnight as a whole school where there is a bit of singing and someone tells a story with a moral, usually personal, not from the bible. They also have RE once a fortnight where they receive a broad based education in all religions, not just christianity. DH and I are not remotely religious, but we are very pleased for our children to learn about various religions and religious beliefs so that they can make their own decisions.

I would ask any school you were interested in about the religious education component of their curriculum.

Yeah, I agree with choosing a school on its merits not whether it's public or private.

We're not religious either so the primary choice was a no-brainer - we have one public and one private religious to choose from here. Both are good schools, though the public primary has better results so that's where DDs will be going.

Secondary will be much more of a dilemma. All the local public schools have very average results. The private secondary schools are not that flash either. Our local public secondary school in Melbourne had better results than our local private secondary in the place we moved to. However, the demographic is changing so maybe things will look differently in a few years time.

I don't think I'll be as averse to sending DDs to a religious secondary school - I think it's less confusing for them when they're older to grasp the concept that different people believe different things and that mum and dad don't necessarily believe in God and what they're taught in school (if we decide to go for a private religious school). I think that would be confusing for a primary school-aged child.

If I thought about secondary schooling too much right now, I'd be in a real panic and thinking whether we did the right thing moving from the city to the country as there aren't a great choice of good secondary schools.

Nickle730 - There are Independant private schools that have nothing to do ith religion. Smaller towns won't have them, but bigger ones do. Steiner schools are not religious, and there are quite a few others.

BG - thats what you get living in a smaller country town. No idea ;) Would you have to actually apply for the different zoning area? I know you can apply to the school with good reasons for using a school out of your zoning area anywhere, but you need to apply to the school & they decide if they'll accept you or not depending on enrollments they already have.

I would only go private if there was some particular reason that made that school better than the local public one.

My girls go to a private Christian college. Its ethos is that all teachers and staff of any kind must be practising Christians, but that it is not a requirement that all families with children attending are practising Christians, which is why we got in.

TBH I was naive in underestimating the level of religion that goes on. The kids' day starts with Good Morning Mrs X and may God bless you and it just continues from there. They pray before recess and lunch - nothing full on, just thanks for the food kind of stuff. They do worship one week and assembly the next at which there are a number of songs sung, all of which are religious. My eldest daughter's teacher seems to be particularly spiritual, and has in the past crossed the line in what I think is appropriate teaching on her part but when that has happened I have discussed it in what I hope is an age appropriate way with Miss I. DH and I had to sign an agreement that we would support the teachings of the school and so we knew what we were getting into, just wasn't quite expecting so much at such an early age ITMS.

So, yes the religion troubles me because I don't want my children confused by contradictory behaviour - for instance, the teacher told my daughter that she MUST pray before she gets into bed each night. Ah no. Not in this house. Darling, you can pray before bed or any other time you like if you want but you don't have to. I think as the girls get older and are more capable of us having a discussion on what our beliefs are, then this will be easier.

The flip side is that I absolutely believe my kids are getting a far better education there than at the local primary school (had we stayed in our old house in our old suburb I would have very happily sent them to the local public primary school). The school also has a fantastic approach to community services, great morals, discipline, bullying, sport, the arts etc. Basically, from my experience so far its an exceptionally well rounded approach to educating a child in every sense of that term and so we deal with the religion side of things.

ETA: Just wanted to add that while we're not practising Christians, we believe in basic Christian values so its not a huge stretch for us with the teachings, just more that we don't believe God put the rainbows in the sky to apologise for 40 days and nights of rain ITMS

I went to a Catholic primary school. I do believe in their values & morals, but I've not ever been a practising Catholic. We used to have Liturgy(sp?) every Thursday & an optional mass on Tuesdays, but that was the only time we spent in church.

Some teachers push the point a bit (my year 6 teacher was always onto me about attending Sunday mass, even when I was in high school), but it was up to me & my family what we actually did. I did occasionally attend, but neither of my parents were religious, so if they weren't attending it wasn't that easy for me to go.

But values & morals start in the home :) Any good school will follow on from there.

My sons are/will be going to a catholic primary school (DS1 starts Prep next year), and will go to a Catholic secondary boys college (providing they get in down the track). We wanted a private (Catholic) education for them so there is some religious element to their schooling. While we aren't weekly church goers at the moment, we felt it important that they have some sort of grounding in religion and I do intend to take the kids to church semi-regularly (I don't kid myself it will be weekly - very unlikely!!).

Having said that, we did our homework about the local public schools and the nearby catholic primary schools. We also wanted to give our boys the best start we could and we feel we've chosen the most appropriate school that fits with our thinking, and we also look forward to doing our part to contribute to the school community - I think that's important too.