Private vs public for primary schools

[Miss.September]

DD is only 19 months old, but we learned today that the school we want to send her to is already taking enrollments for 2015!!!! It's a P-12 Anglican school. While neither DH or I are particularly religious, we like this school.

But I'm wondering if I'm better off sending her to the local public school. It'll be brand new next year, the school itself is moving into a new and bigger premisis. Both schools are close to us. Is the private school education better for a primary school student or does it really not matter? I didn't go to private school, so I don't really know what the difference is. I wonder if we should send her to the public school for prep to grade six, and then into the private school for her secondary years. Both are good schools according to their reputations.

I can't believe I have to be making these decisions now!!!! TIA!

[glenny_c]

Hmmm, hard one. I'm a primary teacher and I've worked in private and public. I personally don't think it makes that much difference in primary- you start to see the big differences in public vs private education once you hit high school. My DH and I have already said that we will prob do public for primary and then go private.

[Phteven]

The public schools around here are wonderful.
I think that the money spent on private school fees is better spent on overseas holidays.

[toomanyshoes]

Our plan since having kids has always been public for primary and private for high school. Which is what I did.

Although I am willing to check out the public high school in the area closer to actually having to make that decision. DH went to the high school near us and from what he said it doesn't sound good, but things change, we also might move between now and then.

I think it's important to go look at the schools for yourself, lots have open days and see what is on offer to children.

[berrme]

Personally I don't think it matters whether you go public or private for primary, but definitely check out both schools properly before making your decision.
You can always put your name on the list for the private school and make a decision closer to 2015, just because your name is down doesn't mean you have to take the place when it is offered.

[grub17]

our first bub is only 11 months old but we're pretty sure we are doing public for primary and private for high school.
I believe it is truly how much time you spend with your child reading, writing, helping with maths and incorporating maths into their lives that makes the difference in primary school. I reckon if the parents are willing to put in the time and effort with a young child it doesn't matter overly much which school they go to for primary.

but private for high school for the choice of subjects and more optional extras you get.

but if your choice school does p-12, then lucky you! no major upheaval when they change to high school!

Would you have much luck in getting your child into the high school classes if she didn't go primary there?

[ladybird11]

Last year I enrolled my DD and DS into private primary school - purely because I knew that if we wanted to send them to a private school I wanted to secure a place.

So we looked around (public and private) and I liked the 'feeling' of the school we selected the most. Given that things can change greatly in short period of time if the 'feeling' has left the private school prems and lies with the public school when time comes, we've lost $100 - no biggy considering its holding two places for my kids for our (current) first choice school.

I've heard from a colleague who just went thru the process of moving his kids into private school from public, that compared to the public school his kids were going too the kids at the private school went thru double the amount of workbooks in the same period of time (but remember, I'm talking about individual schools here - doesn't mean at all this is the same across the State, or country for that matter ;-).

[MissM]

DD's school is P-12. I dont see the point in sending a child to a public primary then a private high school - to me, it doesnt make sense kids soak up more info until they hit puberty, then it starts slowing down (apologies if other ppl dont think so, but with all those hormones raging, who can concentrate??)

A friend of mine and I went to a public primary she was pretty intelligent, her folks put her in a private catholic school and she struggled with the work because she wasn't taught the way the private primary school kids were so they had tutors.

Another example is my cousin is in year 5 (2 grades higher than DD) does not do half the school work DD does. DD does fractions, ratio's equations, DD writes essay's and speeches for assignments .... oh dont get me started on the freaking english homework (thank god for google!! ) it all depends on what you are prepared/can afford to pay.

DD was enrolled @ 3years old, but of course they have to pass their orientation exam .... Yes exam ...

Anyways - me personally, I would be devastated if I had to send my child to a public school, (please dont take offence to that, but that is my opinion of the schools in our area) but I remember how ruff it was. I also know the care DD gets at school, and none of the public schools I feel would be able to even come close to DD's school! We are not religious either, infact when DD was enrolled I was a single mother!

Good Luck choosing, but for us, its Private all the way.

I hope I have helped

[mrsmac]

Teachers are trained in the same universities - there is no difference between the training of public and private school teacher IMO. Yes some catholic teachers go through Catholic teacher training but not for other Private schools.
I am a huge advocate for public education, I work in it, I send my children to public schools. My DD finished high school last year and is at Uni now after a public education.
I hate to tell you but there are poor teachers in all systems, there will be bullies in all systems- private schools do not give you a charmed life.
I think private religious schools are great for people who strongly believe in the ethos of the school and want their child's education to reflect their religious beliefs but not for those who just send their kids there cause they want them to go to a private school.

[Amaunet]

but private for high school for the choice of subjects and more optional extras you get.

I work in a public high school and we offer and run more senior subjects than any other in our area and many more than the private schools We actually offer every HSC subject ( except languages, we have French and Japanese and others via distance Ed and religion) and run most. Subject offerings are often dependant on size, bigger the school the more subjects. They also do a history tour of Europe every two years and have a partnership with the local uni and some students have begun undergrad studies.

On the subject of primary schools, I think the individual class teacher makes a huge difference and this obviously changes from year to year.

I know kids who have succeeded in public and private and kids who have struggled in public and private. It often comes down to the fit between the school and the child.

It's also worthwhile remembering that schools change as staff and students come and go, what you like now may not be the same in a few years.

Goodluck with your decision

[Lulu]

I agree, DD's public school runs an amazing curriculum and I sent her there well out of the area because it was better than all others around.

It can be very hard. Initially I was going to send her to the private school I went to, but when I went back for the open day I changed my mind. Urgh, I dunno...and reports from those local to the area weren't good either. I just went back for my 20 yr reunion (5 years after DD started state school) and it seems to have pulled itself back out of the mire. It changed heaps for the better.

Conversely - I first sent DD to another state school I went to (after the private because it didn't offer the subjects I wanted) because it was one of the top schools back then. It was a horrific schemozzle by the time she went there. Urrgh again.

There is a very "highly rated" private school not far from here.....and all the local drug lords send there kids there. They can afford it though

The public versus private debate will continue forever.....but if you base your decisions purely on if it's public or not you are doing yourself a disservice.

[~Kim~]

If you take away the fees, does it offer what you want for your child?
Regardless of the payments, does it offer the ethos, the teaching philosophies, the environment etc that you want your child to go to every day?
We live in a weird little microcosm, so for us the choice was more about where it was going to be the 'easiest' for DD to go to school. Her dad is one of the local coppers, and there are lots and lots of people that he comes into contact with, so we are sending DD to a school where lots of cops kids go, so she won't be singled out and out of place IYKWIM? but we are also sending her there for the ethos, the tiny family environment (there are only 10 classes and the school goes all the way to Yr9) that will mean she won't slip through the cracks. If we lived back in country NSW where we had invisaged she would start school the local primary school was the best for her.
Different strokes for different folks but if you strip it all back to the basics it's a bit easier we found.

[Schmickers]

We've gone private for primary. We cop a lot of criticism for it, actually.

The thing is, the private school is walking distance from our house - the public is four or five times that far away. The public school takes in from lots of low-rent public housing in the area. I'm sorry, I'm not being elitist, but I went to a bad school, and it really affected me. I don't want my children to go through that. It's not even so much that I think the private school offers more opportunities - although in many ways it does - it's more that I know that by constributing substantially to the cost of their education, I am also entitled to more of a say into the way that education is conducted. I remember at the height of my issues in school, my parents were powerless to do anything about it until my mother (a teacher at another school) pulled some strings to try and get things changed. Most other children didn't have that option.

We don't spend heaps of money, but if there is only one thing I am happy to spend a lot on, it will be education for my children. I don't object to anyone I know sending their children into the public school system; so it surprises me that so many people consider it appropriate to judge me for sending my children through the private system.

[Lulu]

But does having kids from a low-rent area make the teachers any less passionate?

ETA - not being smart. Right now my son is at a school I would not usually have chosen for him. Quite frankly he had to go to the local school because they are legally obligated to educate him (that sounds terrible, read his blog if you want the background people), and I have never been so touched by a bunch of people so passionately dedicated to helping him. Silly me for assuming otherwise!

[grub17]

oh control freak, i def agree, it comes to fitting the child with the school and there are some amazing public schools our there. I went to a pretty good one myself and was always a public school advocate... until I heard of the education my husband got at a private school.... much more choice in classes etc cos they were able to run niche classes for students and not need the minimum number to put a class on.

I couldn't even do legal studies at my school cos only 10 of us wanted to and we needed another ten or something kids for the school to actaully be able to run the class! and no, not a small school, about 1500 kids at the time.

But that does come down to fit like you say, unfortunately the closest other high school was 30 mins by car away so it's not like i could change. But if you were in a bigger area, you could look to the school that has the subjects you want.

But that's just my experience and while i am still peeved i didn't get to do subjects i wanted, I do think I went to an excellent school and got a very good education. But knowing what i now know, and given we are defence so who knows where we'll be, my children will probably go private high school.

i think this is a pretty emotive debate and it's amazing to hear all the different experiences. At the end of the day PakRat I'd be looking at the specific schools in your area and what they offer, what scores they are turning out at the end of the year and what others say about the teachers/students.

You are still so long off her actually going to high school, maybe enrol her to cover your base and then make the decision with her when the time comes.

Personally, I'd save my money for high school and send public for primary and then see what's about. Learning has come a huge ways since i left school just 10 years ago! so i can only imagine what it'll be like in another 10.... hey she might not even 'go' to school but do it from home with some whizzbang computer thingy!!!

[Miss.September]

Thank you so much for all the replies. Both schools are good. The kindergarten available here is somewhat linked to the public school. I've watched the public school expand over the last few years as more and more people move into the area. I worked in an educational bookshop and the teachers were coming in more and more to buy resources, not the photocopiable worksheets they can just give kids, but for ideas and class activities, alongside literacy sets etc. I like knowing that, seeing the teachers coming in their own time, often using their own funds because they want to teach better, especially in a school I'm interested in IYKWIM? The private school has only opened up this year, but they are already regulars at my old work. Both reputations are strong in the community.

I know what some of you mean though, with the public secondary subjects. Some subjects I wanted were pulled due to lack of numbers, and I think my TER suffered because I ended up doing subjects I was weak at, but my parents couldn't afford private and that was the best public school in the area. DH is no help as far as that comparison goes - he left school after year 11, after wagging much of that, and came from a school who told him continually that he would never ever be what he wanted to be. So he left and got the apprenticeship he wanted, and now he is very very good at what he does. I think what a few of you have said has hit the nail on the head, that I'm just going to have to compare the two primary schools and decide which is better, and hope that if we choose the public school, that the private one will have an intake at year 7.

Thank you so much. I've really enjoyed reading your points of view and experiences.

[Miss.September]

I just got a reply from the private school and the lady comes across really really lovely....she said that a lady has just had a baby and put the baby's name down for school.....in 2024!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Far out!!

There is an information session on Saturday, so off to check it out.

[Phteven]

I don't agree about the range of subjects being better in private schools.
My boys are both enrolled in a bi-lingual school with multi-age classes. To the best of my knowledge there are no bi-lingual private schools in our state so it would be impossible for us to access the same quality of education through the private system.

Dunno who said that the private school went through twice the amount of workbooks but I would be horrified if my children suddenly started doing heaps of workbooks. Nothing worse than teachers who sit their class down and make them do endless work books. Is it really so hard to involve your class in learning together or to devise your own lessons? IMO doing the workbooks is a clear indication of lazy uninspired teaching.

I was a 'problem child' so I went through mainstream and alternative schools in both the public and private system and whilst one of my private school headmistresses is still a role model of mine most of my private school teachers were utterly insipid.
Over the years I've noticed that one of the big downfalls of private schools is that they are too answerable to parents for fees/survival. I know that on the surface this might seem great but the problem is that most parents (including me) don't really have a great grasp on what best practice in education is. IMO if you can't introduce beneficial changes because parents can't see the benefit that's a problem. If parents think that doing lots of workbooks is great education then you're stuck with providing a second-best education because if you replace the workbooks with something more educational and inspirational but less tangible then you lose your fees.