Adelaide Private Schools

[nguni boer]

After lots of research it looks like Adelaide is where we will be going at the end of the year. We need some advise on Adelaide Christian schools please. My daughter (grade8) and son(grade6) are both in private Christian schools at the moment in south africa and we would like to continue with simmilar if possible. However, some seems to be unaffordable! We looked at St Peters College and Wilderness School, both look fantastic, but VERY expensive. Sport is very important, cricket and hocky. Can anybody please share their thougts or experiences or advise on Christian schools in Adelaide or surrounding towns?

[miraclebabycaw]

I'm with you on this. My daughter is also currently in grade 6 at a Christian Private school in Jhb. Was hoping for the same over there in Adelaide, but it's scary the prices. I have read that the Catholic schools are very good at a much cheaper rate, but haven't started looking into them too much as yet. There are also Lutheran run schools an independant as well from what I can remember. I did come across a site that listed all Christian based schools in Adelaide but can't seem to find the link now. Just google them.

http://www.dete.sa.gov.au/locs/pages/default/pszoning/?reFlag=1 is the government listing of schools

[Bronwyn&Co]

I highly recommend Mercedes College in Springfield. It's a lovely co-ed Catholic school. My children were very happy there. The fees are a lot less than private school fees. We aren't Catholic but we got in, however apply asap because there is a wait for some year levels. There are several other SA families there too. Don't be shy to hit the 2nd hand uniform shop either, lol, every bit helps Good luck guys.

[nguni boer]

Thank you very much for the replies, will follow up on the info!

[Danie]

Try these

http://www.privateschoolsdirectory.com.au/adelaide-schools.php

http://www.adelaidechristianschools.com/

http://www.australianschoolsdirectory.com.au/adelaide-schools.php

[miraclebabycaw]

Thanks Danie

[Bob]

Up in the Adelaide Hills town of Mount Barker, just 30 mins drive thro rolling countryside to the city of Adelaide on a two / three lane highway each way at 110 km / hr, there are private schools;

St Mark's Lutheran Primary School, which is a feeder school to the Lutheran high school (Cornerstone College)

http://www.stmarks.sa.edu.au/

Cornerstone College is the Lutheran high school here

http://www.cornerstone.sa.edu.au/

The local Catholic school is St. Frances de Salles

http://www.stfrancis.adl.catholic.edu.au/

Both my kids went to Cornerstone College.

Bobby runs his own business nowadays and was South Australian State Apprentice of the Year in 2006 and Australian Apprentice of the Year runner-up in 2007.

Heidi is studying dentistry on the Gold Coast in Queensland and finishes at the end of next year. She was offered Medicine, but declined to do the course.

Both go to church on their own now they are living away from home. Both have a personal trust in God and see life as a pilgrimage.

[nguni boer]

Thank you very much for the information, we are investigating all posibilities. Might have to do a trip down under to go and look!

[joweni]

Also have a look at Pedare College in Golden Grove. Have heard some very good reports and not too pricey.

[VanClanDownUnder]

Hi nguniboer, I am new to this forum, but we have been in South Australia for over 8 years now. I am originally from PE too! This is a bit of an essay, so please excuse, but here goes!

We have 2 sons, one has just started high school (year 8), and the other is in year 5. Like you, Christian schooling has always been important to us. We live in the beautiful Adelaide hills, in Mount Barker and my boys go to St Marks Lutheran Primary School (as mentioned in Bob's reply above) and my oldest has just started at Cornerstone College. Both these schools are priced at more the middle of the range private schools, and so far we are thrilled with the education and care that they have received at both schools. We have been at St Marks since my eldest started year 3 (we moved to the hills from the eastern suburbs of Adelaide in 2006).

Choosing where to live in Adelaide is a very personal choice of course, may I suggest that you look at Lutheran schools education as an option (see www.lutheran.edu.au for more about their values, etc). Our experience of these 2 schools is one of warmth and welcome, with a bit more tradition and discipline than public schools. The Christian ethos is also very integral to everything that the school is about, so they are not just paying lip service to it.

On the sports' front, it seems that only the top level private schools play sport in teams as part of the school, unlike when I was at school in PE where sport was part of school life. There are heaps of sports clubs everywhere though, and as both my boys are also very sporty, we are very involved with sport. They play soccer at the local clubs at Mt Barker & Hahndorf, where there are teams for all the age groups and they play against other clubs in different areas of the hills. Then there is the next level up, where they play in a team that represents the hills at state championships, etc. they are not always selected for this team thoug. They also play tennis and cricket. Then there is footy (Aussie rules of course), basketball, netball, softball, gymnastics, etc, etc. Our experience is that if there is a sport out there, there will be a place to play it around here. Only exception perhaps is rugby union, where there are very few clubs in Adelaide.

If I haven't bored you too much with all this detail, and you would like any more info or anything else, please 'sing out' (Aussie slang for 'just ask') any time.

[Flanker]

Consider Temple Christian College - http://www.templecc.sa.edu.au/

[MannyT]

Agree with Bronwyn, suggest that you investigate Mercedes College. Situated In the Eastern suburbs, about 2.5 kms to Burnside Village (it doesn't get much better than Burnside Village for a pleasant shopping experience), 6kms to the CBD, and about 10kms to the beach at Glenelg..:)

There are about half a dozen of Adelaide's top private schools within a 5 km radius of Mercedes College. Reasonaby affordable places to stay in the area are, Mitchum and Hawthorn.

St Peter's College (boy's only). PAC, Walford, Scott College, Wilderness School, Seymor Coleege to name a few are very expensive..........

There are many others though and the Lutheran schools are definitely worth considering.

You probably need to decide where you would like to live and then research the private shools in the area.

Enjoy!

Manny

[nguni boer]

Once again, thank you for the information and sharing your experiences Rookie, it is appreciated. We are impressed with what we have read about Cornerstone College and once the final decesion is made regarding where we will live, we will have to commit and do it!

[nguni boer]

Thanks Manny, your information and oppinion is appreciated. We also had a look at Mercedes College as well as St Peter's College. Also very impresive and looks like the old traditional type schools (Grey Collge, St Andrew's etc).

[Wodwik]

Nguni, here's my opinion. Our son was offered a scholarship at a pvt school in Joburg and we were in the category of 'private is better' in SA. Remember in Oz the schools all write the same matric exam (as we were told by a pvt school in Adelaide) and the public school facilities are far better than the 'Model C' govt school facilities in SA - some even get laptops from Yr8. We interviewed a local pvt school and discovered the sports master had gone on long leave so hockey was discontinued. Just like that.

You won't get any change from $20 000 at St Peters - but it is a very good school.

We have accepted that school sport is a bit iffy - along the lines of 'everyone gets a turn' rather than 'best man for the team' as were used to in SA. But we have our son at Henley High which has a Specialist Sports Program. The hockey coach is an ex-Kookaburra and they spend millions on mentoring and developing kids as they progress through the school.

Club hockey is very strong and the state champs were held recently. Once again there are a lot of older players that mentor and coach the kids. Our son plays U15 and also gets a few games with the senior teams.

Google Portside Christian School. Check out who the headmaster is!

I'm not religious so I can't offer advice on that front, but decide if you want a hills or a beach lifestyle and thereafter look for a school!

[VeraB]

HI there,

I have my boys at Sacred Heart, I found the fees reasonable for Private / Catholid school and the facilities are super. It is a middle school for years 6 - 9 for boys. They are in year 7 and 9. The secondary school is co-ed and not far from the middle school. They are located in the Somerton Park area.

If you need any other info, pse let me know.

Regards

Vera

[Bob]

I think that "Woodwik" has offered some excellent advice.

Schooling is a matter of where you live. It makes little sense to live on one side of Adelaide to put your kids into a private school miles away, on the other side.

What you're doing in that incidence, is committing yourselves to endless hours of travel and angst . . . . usually in peak hour traffic . . . and your kids and spouse won't love you for the choice.

Having an idea in mind where you'd like to live first (a suburban lifestyle with all facilities close by or a more open, country lifestyle in the Hills, or close to a beach for constant swims and water) should offer you a better, narrower choice of schooling options.

Also, I've heard mention some pretty expensive schools where you shell out $20 000 (R175 000) a year and get no change.

With two or three kids going to private schools like that, I hope you are pulling in excess of $200 000 (R1 750 000) a year to pay for your kids' education.

My son goes out with a girl who went to Prince Alfred's College. Her father was the finance officer there for 25 years and, although being an excellent school, it doesn't always bring the academic achievements that other schools can deliver.

Beth, having gone her whole school life at PAC is an Occupational Therapist now. My youngest daughter, Heidi, went to Cornerstone College, a Lutheran high school up in the Adelaide Hills at Mount Barker is on the Gold Coast as a dentist.

Both girls love what they are doing and are happy at the moment with their career choices. In the future, who knows what they may do next???

Paying top dollar for your kid's education in Australia doesn't always equate to earnings capacity on leaving school and getting a career.

In the end, each child has to figure out for themselves what they'd like to do when they start their working life and some take time, while others know at age 14.

It has to do with their own level of maturity . . . . and money doesn't buy that!

[AndrewMc]

My daughters were at Mercedes School in 2010 and 2011 doing yrs 6-7 and 8-9 respectively. A really caring environment that they enjoyed, and plenty South African families. The method of teaching is different to what they were used to in SA - not sure if this was a good thing or not. Now we are back in SA and they are at Parktown Girls doing gr 8 and 10 respectively, they have had a bit of a wake up call in terms of what is expected from them - environment appears to be a lot more demanding. They miss Mercedes terribly and are still in contact with their friends there.

[funtobeaussiechick]

Would you like to elaborate what you mean by they have had a bit of a wake up call regarding environment? Do you mean environmental science or what. Do you find Parktown better or worse and if so can you explain please your take on the differences. thanks

[Bronwyn&Co]

My daughters were at Mercedes School in 2010 and 2011 doing yrs 6-7 and 8-9 respectively. A really caring environment that they enjoyed, and plenty South African families. The method of teaching is different to what they were used to in SA - not sure if this was a good thing or not. Now we are back in SA and they are at Parktown Girls doing gr 8 and 10 respectively, they have had a bit of a wake up call in terms of what is expected from them - environment appears to be a lot more demanding. They miss Mercedes terribly and are still in contact with their friends there.

Andrew my children were also at Mercedes in 2010 in year 7 & 9, then we moved to Brisbane. They also miss the school & friends terribly & beg for holidays in Adelaide regularly ;-)'

I'm not surprised Parktown Girls is more demanding. It's always been my impression that our kids are having a much 'softer ride' here in Aus.

I wish you well with your journey!