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Catholic vs Private schools


SA111

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Hi,

 

Can anyone provide some information on the differences between these two. Are Catholic schools still private schools?

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Not sure about differences, but Catholic schools are considered as private 🙂

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…sort of:

 

Public schools, strict catchment areas , you pay nothing.

Catholic schools , no catchment areas, heavily funded by the state and funded by the Catholic Education Diocese it falls under, you will also pay , can vary from $1500 to $8000 per child per year

Private – no catchment areas, often leads toward being ‘Christian based (not always) more likely to play rugby union, $12 000 min per child per year , costs get obscene

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Just a quick note: "Public schools, strict catchment areas , you pay nothing." This is not true. State and suburb depending - some pay more, some pay less, the school sets its amounts. We pay $750 a year for public primary school, and $850 a year for public high school. For high school (year 7) we also had to spend $700 on books, and $1400 on a laptop, this all excludes uniforms and school bags. When we moved we budgeted 0 for school. Upon arrival we had the shock of our lives. The cost to setup 2 kids was astounding, the uniforms were VERY expensive, and we did not expect the school fees at all.

Edited by Mel-B
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Actually Public is 100% free (The Australian Government has an obligation to provide state education via public schools to all children in Australia) the amounts you referring to are voluntary contributions, social pressure in some areas and in the school as resulted as these fees being seen as compulsory - but they are not.  https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/going-to-school/Pages/school-costs.aspx

as for the cost of books, uniforms  and laptops - yes you will have to pay for that , I think that is reasonable 

 

 

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On 3/31/2020 at 12:13 PM, LM17 said:

Private – no catchment areas, often leads toward being ‘Christian based (not always) more likely to play rugby union, $12 000 min per child per year , costs get obscene

 

We're doing this whole exercise at the moment.  We found the private schools in the North of Brisbane to range between $4000 a year up to $15000.  They aren't all obscene.

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fair enough  @ChrisH  , I was commenting on my experience in Sydney  where they are not afraid to charge , its insane: (granted the example  below is on top end of the scale 😉

 

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Edited by LM17
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Thats just insane.  I think there is definitely a point where paying more doesn't get you anything more in terms of quality of education.

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@ChrisH   at $22k for your first year at primary school - its just about being in the "old money club" in Sydney.....you will never get the value for that in my opinion ....

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/6/2020 at 9:37 AM, ChrisH said:

Thats just insane.  I think there is definitely a point where paying more doesn't get you anything more in terms of quality of education.

 

You're hitting the nail on the head!

 

We were struggling with the exact same "dilemma" at the time and a close friend who is a school psychologist said to us that at the end of the day, the success and opportunities of a child does not depend on which school they attend. It depends on their attitude, commitment, dedication, upbringing, values etc.  At the end of year 12 they all write the same exam and they all have to qualify on the same scale and meet the same requirements for university.  Although some schools in lower socio-economic areas are often more prone to "problems", there is not a single school that does not have bullies, drugs, "bad kids", terrible teachers etc. and attending a private school does not make your child exempt from exposure to "bad things" or minimise their likelyhood off getting involved in drugs or with the wrong crowd, etc. 

 

Yes, private schools often have better facilities, fancier goodies and more elaborate activities & excursions (all for which you pay), but that's essentially where it ends. The rest is up to your kid. 

 

We decided on the public route and have not regretted it for a single day. 

 

For what it's worth, I screen job applicants and I've never ever looked at which school they attended.  Besides, many people who apply for jobs in our culturally diverse country did not even attend school in Australia, so it is basically irrelevant.

 

Don't sweat the small stuff or break the bank - your kids will be fine whatever school they end up in.

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