Mandurah High Schools

[aquagirl]

Is it really worth spending the extra to send kids to private scools? Our current catchment high school is Halls Head Community College but some say John Tonkin is better. Are the wait lists long for the the private schools? Any information or comments welcome.

[Jordy]

Of all the South Africans I know in Mandurah, not a single one uses the government schools. Every single one is in private schools. Two reasons: academic excellence and a desire to have their children in a Christian environment.

[aquagirl]

Is the private school thing also because most South Africans had their kids in private schools in South Africa before moving here? I can't believe the academic level could that different here in Australia.

Of all the South Africans I know in Mandurah, not a single one uses the government schools. Every single one is in private schools. Two reasons: academic excellence and a desire to have their children in a Christian environment.

[Jordy]

Perhaps. We would not have been able to afford 3 kids in private school in RSA but here it is affordable. What I have seen is that the standard of the classrooms and facilities are leaps and bounds better in private. My daughter does after school gymnastics in one of the public schools in Mandurah and so walking around the property to get to the gymnasium, my thoughts turned to the difference between a government hospital in South Africa versus a private hospital in South Africa. I was actually shocked that a government school in Australia looked like that. Look this was just the one that I went to, but the grounds were not maintained, there were weeds and grass in the flower pots around the school, the flowers long gone.

[Enrica]

I think Jordy that perhaps that is a once off. I think the government schools infrastructure is excellent. The government grants to public schooling outstrips the private schooling. The facilities I believe are even better than the private schools.

The level of education is exactly the same, they both follow the same curriculum.

I found that the public schools have less kids in the class than private schools ... Average class 24 some of the private schools go to 32 .

I think primary school in government schools are fine but high school you need to be careful where your kids go , the schools are big with some not very nice feeding areas resulting in a varied class of student.

That's just my 5c worth

[Drought]

umm- not going to go into the public vs private thing- there are several factors to consider for both options. As for the funding side of things; to say gov. grants to public schools outstrips private schools, does not reveal the whole picture- it is true that it costs the gov. significantly more per student in funding those in public schools, but that does not equate necessarily to better facilities. ( too long to go into detail, but if anyone wants more specifics, i will respond to those requests)

Class sizes have recommended maximums, but are not enforceable- once again simple numbers are not the only thing to look at - research has shown that there is no educational benefit in having small class sizes until that class size drops below 17, so for anything from 18-32, the educational outcomes are the same- not for the teacher though!

Decide what your child needs from their school first, speak to the people and parents at the school and decide if the ethos of the school is what you want from an educational perspective. In some cases a particular public school would be perfect, in other the private school would be just it!

Just as is the case with public schools, there is a range of private schools, ranging from low fee paying to the (very) high fee paying ( $19000 per year!). There is also a big difference between for example Christian schools and church based schools and even in the Christian schools where some have a requirement that all staff be active members of a Christian church to others that have a Christian philosophy(?) only. All sorts of issues that can be raised around this.....

IMHO the simple reality is that education begins at home- as parents we have to be prepared to be actively involved in our children's education- which is so much more than just being involved in their school work- the actual school then becomes less important i.e. if a kid has been taught the values that their parents want them to aspire to, they will be successful even if the school is "dodgy". Just make sure the school offers what your kid wants to do.

[Jordy]

There is also a big difference between for example Christian schools and church based schools and even in the Christian schools where some have a requirement that all staff be active members of a Christian church to others that have a Christian philosophy(?) only. All sorts of issues that can be raised around this.....

Couldnt agree more.

[Guest May]

What schools would you suggest?

[Drought]

depends on what you want from the school e.g do you want the staff to be practising Christians or "supportive" ; are you after a Christian or Catholic school, range of options available to students, class sizes, etc, etc. Once you have made up your minds as to what is the most important, then you will probably find selecting a school far easier.

[Guest May]

Hi Drought,

thank you now that sounds like a start, I suppose maybe start with Catholic and work my way down simply because we are catholic and products of marist college ....(no comment)

so what are good Catholic high schools in Mandurah

[Drought]

only 1 Catholic high school in Mandurah- Mandurah Catholic College. don't know too much about it, so can't help too much there-sorry.

D

[Jordy]

There is also Dawesville Catholic Primary School

http://web.dawesvillecps.wa.edu.au/

[Drought]

yup- quite a few Catholic primary schools- question referred to high schools only.

[Guest May]

thank you Jordy and Drought for helping me along. The Mandurah Catholic High School fees look very reasonable compared to private schools elsewhere. I suppose there are add-ons.

Just food for thought now.

[Netta]

I know this is a late reply, but thought I'd post it anyway.

I think there is a big difference in the public vs private debate depending on the different areas in Aus. I know of a few really good public high schools in Perth. However, Mandurah is a different case Like Jordy said, I also don't know of a single South African in Mandurah with children in a public high school. The few public high schools we have here are absolutely terrible (in my opinion only of course).

So to answer the original question posted by Aquagirl, it is probably worth spending the extra $$ on private school when living in Mandurah.