Hello!

We are looking at schools for our daughter, and want to know whether to consider public or private.
I went to a public primary school and private high school. My husband went private the whole way through.
Does it matter? Is private worth the money for primary school?


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  • My kids go all to the same school which is a high profile public school (prep till yr 12). However I found them not very inclusive towards my youngest who has Down Syndrome.


  • Honestlyi feel like it all comes down to the child whether they want to listen and learn either private or not


  • My child has always done well in school and has always gone to public schools. It depends a lot on the child as well as their peers.


  • I guess it depends on why you want to send them to a public/private school. If you want them to have a religious aspect then private would be for you. If you wanted a school that achieved academically, you would have to check NAPLAN scores for the past few years to see what’s going on with the schools you were interested in. If you wanted a school that didn’t cost the earth then public would be the way for you.


  • up to you but my kid’s public school scored way better for those national tests than the private ones


  • Personally, I think my daughter would have benefitted more from going to a private girls school. I think they’re more focussed at private schools and she was very education focussed during her school years


  • Apart from your personal feelings, the quality of your local public school really matters as some are truly exceptional. Contact both and arrange to tour during school hours as that gives you a really good insight into the school. Some people want their child to ge k-12 at one school, so that may also limit your options.


  • I choose public for primary & private for secondary. But when my daughter started to rebel in Year 9 I wasn’t afraid to change schools either. It didn’t help with our relationship at the time but it did hep refocus her school work


  • It is a personal choice and depends on the type of public school and private school and it depends on what your focus is for your child. Do you want an independent school? a religious school? A co-ed or single gender school? Make a list and go through it – it does help. Schools can always be changed if you are not happy with your choice. Good Luck!


  • It really comes down to public verses private. We were really wanting to get our child into a certain catholic private primary school as we thought it was a fantastic school.IF you are after a certain kind of religious instruction then private is the way to go. But if you think its for a better education ask around. I have found some public schools are just as good. We were devistated when we didnt get our child into the selected school we were told to go to a certain one closer to use we refused to be dictated where to send our child as it just didnt meet our standards so we choose a lovely public one close to home. Just across the road to be true..
    We have found the public one that only costs about 220 a year to send our child to plus about 150 for extra excursions etc. to be of a great standard. they have provided our child who has a few little quirks with a great teaching standard and support, as well as goverment provided speech theropy etc. ( there will be kids like this regardless of been private or public) They have allowed for our input to help him deal and keep him in line. He is even in learning equal with most of his peers. It really comes down to what you can afford. How your child turns out as a adult has nothing to do with the choosen school for education its about the quality of it and its friends. we are sending our next child their next year. Although we were dissapointed not to get into private we believe it happened for a reason…..


  • I love public schools and I wouldn’t go to private ones. My daughter went to very good public schools in primary school, and she’s now in a great independent public high school.


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