We live in a rural area, our town has a primary school and so does the next town over (about 10 minutes drive away).
I am not sure if you have a decile rating system in Australia, but here in NZ schools are rated 1-10 based on the income of parents. The school in my town is rated as Decile 1, which is the lowest it can get. The last ERO report stated that they cannot guarantee the safety of the students and I have seen children hitting/kicking teachers and kids fighting during lunch time. From what I have heard it is not restricted to playtime either. It is a terrible school.
The school in the next town is rated Decile 7, which is better than average and I have only heard good things about it.
However, the next town has announced that it is highly likely that beginning next year they will implement a roll cap and introduce zoning. This means that by the time DS starts school in two years, he will not be able to attend the better school. We bought a house a year ago and DH is unlikely to get the same income elsewhere.
What other information has been given about the zoning? Have you contacted the school itself or further up the chain such as the Ministery for Education
Office?
For others reading this.. the decile rating (ranking) system for school funding purposes. Each decile contains approximately 10% of schools. Schools in decile one have the highest proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. and those at the other end have the lowest amount. This however, shouldnt be a reflection on behaviour! Have you visited the school itself and seen things from the inside?
I have known of people renting a flat in the desired area to have the appropraite address to attend the zoned school.
Two years is a long time in terms of Education and what they decide to do. Is there any other schools you could consider besides these 2?
I guess you need to look at the whole picture..would you want your DD attending this same school as well? Your DH will have all of his primary school years at this place. Would moving house be an option? or does the next area mean a completely unreachable price range. I know you mentioned DH work, is he liklely to stay in the same type of work for the next period of time?
While it shouldn't reflected in behaviour it often is. Kids who come from a background of generational poverty often have no motivation to learn because they may not get it or any encouragement school wise from their parents.
I'd approach the school now and see if they will have a quota of students they can take from outside the zone.
How far away is the town ( apologies if you said this- on iPhone so can't check)
If its the only school in your area and the other school will be limiting intake to their own area, it doesnt sound like you have much of a choice but to send him to that school.
But i wouldnt be concerned with the low income status of the demographics because even the best schools with the wealthiest parents still have ratbag children in them lol. You've got 2 years to check the school out and perhaps try and get to know the teachers and some other parents there. You could ask some of the current parents what they think of the school and try to get a feel for it. And also keep in mind that the children that are there now may not be there in 2 years time....or they would have grown up a little.
Its hard when your options are limited in this way.
We actually had this, I used to live in a small town notorious for being low socioeconomic and rough and you'd hear stories that would make your hair curl about the kids.
Turns out she did really well at the 'bad' school - the kids may have come from odd backgrounds where dad would spend money on drugs instead of food for the kids, but the teachers knew what they were up against and they were incredible. They had teenagers who could barely read there and they put mammoth effort into these kids, really turned some of their lives around. My offspring reacted to being in an enviroment where all the kids swore like troopers by choosing to be the Swear Police and would come home each day with a tally of how many times each kid said the F word, S word etc, which I suppose is better than learning to swear herself Because the school was pegged as seriously disadvantaged, the school got money thrown at it for excursions, special visitors, extra help etc etc so it seemed that every other week they were travelling for some interesting event, often at no cost or very low cost. The enrolment eventually dropped too low and this school is now closed.
So you never know, at least in the early grades you might be just fine. But in a few years, probably not so much. Save your pennies to move at least by mid primary school.
Thanks for the replies.
Moving to the other town isn't really an option, it is a ski resort town and the house prices are about double what they are here.
I take DS to play at the daycare that backs onto the school and have seen first hand the school-yard violence and several of the mothers group ladies have changed their kids away from the school and are much happier. One of the mums was relief teaching there but gave it up because the teachers have no control or authority over the kids.
These are the only two schools in the area, the next closest are an hour away.
At this stage we are leaning towards selling up and shifting from the area.
Arte, speak to the school you want to go to about what happens if you apply early, and what criteria will be used for selecting out of zone children (there should be some sort of tier of priorities). Alternatively if they have a kindergarten/preschool attached, find out what happens to kids who have been to that kindy.
I guess the other way to think about it is whether DH can preserve his job here but live elsewhere. I know that sounds naive cos I know how much empty space there is between places in NZ but are there any other living arrangements you could make where DH commutes somehow (trying to think outside the box here). I most definitely would *not* settle on sending my child to the school with issues.
Yeah but definitely speak to the headmaster at the better school first rather than speculating about what your chances are of getting DS in there.
If it were my son going to the local "sink school" then I'd be homeschooling, if I couldn't get him into somewhere better. I know it would mean I couldn't work, but this is my child's future we're talking about: in a bad school, learning bad habits... hard to break later.
Hi Arte, this is such a dilemma. School is so important, especially for a bright little thing like W. We have a similar problem, in that the suburb we are in has a poorly rated public school. However the next suburb over, which is a higher socio economic area, has a top rated great little public school, yet they also have a catchment policy, which of course we are not in grrrrrr!!! So I know how you feel. Do you have a private school in your area or is it just these two and thats it? We are swaying towards a private school at the moment for this very reason. Otherwise Arte, I would definately consider moving if you can find a way to do it? All the best
What would you do?
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Because the school was pegged as seriously disadvantaged, the school got money thrown at it for excursions, special visitors, extra help etc etc so it seemed that every other week they were travelling for some interesting event, often at no cost or very low cost. The enrolment eventually dropped too low and this school is now closed.
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