Choosing a school for primary can be made more difficult because you may also be making a decision about where your child will be going to secondary school.
If you live in a metro area and want a Catholic secondary school, you better get your kids into a catholic primary school, and if you want your kids to attend a specific private school then you need to get them on to the list for that school.
In the words of the rabbit...:I'm late, l'm late, for a very important date, no time to say hello, goodbye. I 'm late, I am late, I am late".
At the age of 4, Miss A is not on any school lists, which means it would be a waste of the enrolment list fee to start adding her to a few. So I called direct, spoke to the enrolment lady and asked if we would have any chance of getting in at Year 7, around 2019! Yes, that should be ok, do you have our prospectus she says. Well, I have worked a few years in finance and I know a prospectus can come in handy when buying managed funds, investments etc, but wasn't aware I would need to review one for schools. But, today it arrived, less than 24 hours from hanging up the phone, a shiny blue parcel is here, it is glossy, it is quality stock, no less than 300gsm on the cover, the girls are all looking magnificent and happy and well adjusted, there are lovely marketing words all over it. For a marketing person like me, I know this is high quality material, specifically designed to lull me into believing this is the best option for me, and bugger the price, if that's what it costs, than that's what I will do. I will try to keep my wits about me as I read through my prospectus. But I need to get on a list, just in case!
Learning about learning! What matters in the quest to get the right school for your child.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tips for Tours
Another tour just completed, before I write about that I thought it might be good to mention some other factors that can assist with tours.
1) If you get a chance to leave your kids behind, than do so. I have had to drag both the girls to every tour, they are over it and it makes the tours hard work for me.
2) Schools do not seem overly pram friendly, especially not if you are trying to keep up with a tour. Carry your infants and leave the pram behind.
3) Ring and see if it will be students, staff or the principal that is conducting the tour, two of mine have so far been by students, one by the principal and one the assistant principal. I wont be going to any others hosted by 10 year olds, no matter how lovely they are. In fact, isn't it a bit rude, imagine people turning up to your workplace for information and you just letting the Year 10 work experience kid showing them around the place. Most schools will do a tour at any time, so if students are the host on the open day, just make a time for another day, when the principal is actually free. And, if they are hard to catch for a tour, imagine how hard they will be to catch if your kids go there and you need to call a meeting.
4) Ask questions as you go, few people seem to. A few easy ones that I have picked up along the way are; what are the school fees, can you explain the buddy policy, do Prep children have lunch at the same time/place as the rest of the school, do Preps have their own playground? What are you offering for children that are doing really well, what kind of assistance do you offer if my child is not keeping up? Also interesting to know where the Gr 6 kids generally go...is that where you are thinking your child might go?
As you can see, few grade 6 kids would be able to answer any of these questions, nor help you up stairs with the pram, or gauge what the parents are interested in.
1) If you get a chance to leave your kids behind, than do so. I have had to drag both the girls to every tour, they are over it and it makes the tours hard work for me.
2) Schools do not seem overly pram friendly, especially not if you are trying to keep up with a tour. Carry your infants and leave the pram behind.
3) Ring and see if it will be students, staff or the principal that is conducting the tour, two of mine have so far been by students, one by the principal and one the assistant principal. I wont be going to any others hosted by 10 year olds, no matter how lovely they are. In fact, isn't it a bit rude, imagine people turning up to your workplace for information and you just letting the Year 10 work experience kid showing them around the place. Most schools will do a tour at any time, so if students are the host on the open day, just make a time for another day, when the principal is actually free. And, if they are hard to catch for a tour, imagine how hard they will be to catch if your kids go there and you need to call a meeting.
4) Ask questions as you go, few people seem to. A few easy ones that I have picked up along the way are; what are the school fees, can you explain the buddy policy, do Prep children have lunch at the same time/place as the rest of the school, do Preps have their own playground? What are you offering for children that are doing really well, what kind of assistance do you offer if my child is not keeping up? Also interesting to know where the Gr 6 kids generally go...is that where you are thinking your child might go?
As you can see, few grade 6 kids would be able to answer any of these questions, nor help you up stairs with the pram, or gauge what the parents are interested in.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Closest State Primary School
The tour today was of the closest State primary school to our house. This for many people would be the first choice of primary school for their child, for a number of reasons.
1) State primary schools are super affordable, this one is $100 per child, per year, bargain! That includes all their books, pencils, stationery etc. Additional costs are for swimming, camps (3-6) and excursions, and uniform, which was a fairly standard Aussie primary school style.
2) Convenience. This school will be walking distance from us. It makes drop off and pick up easy and means that you will meet people who live in your local area. It makes attending out of school hours activites or meetings easy to get to and may even allow you to make a network of like minded people who you can share school pick ups with, baby sitting etc.
3) State schools must meet the minimum government regulations and must be accountable to those regulations. While this sometimes might be frustrating for schools, it does mean that all children have minimum standards that they should be reaching.
4) Diversity. State schools give your children a great opportunity to mix with everyone from their community, not just a specific religion or socio-economic group.
So how did today's school rate? Pretty good.
There were a few issues that I will have to consider more carefully, such as, this school has decided not to run LOTE, the principal believes that it doesn't work in Victoria, and not in this area. His thoughts are that one hour a week will leave the children with extremely limited language skills (counting, days of week, some songs, colours etc) that wont have them fluent in a language, and then in high school they learn a different language. While many of the students are already speaking a second language at home and struggling with English, so a third language is not ideal. These are valid reasons not to offer LOTE, however what about the argument that LOTE can introduce a whole new culture for a child, what of those children who have no exposure to other languages at home?
This school council has organised a Speech Pathologist to be at the school once a week to assist the children that need it.
They have additional aides and programs for children not keeping up with the minimum levels. They did not have any programs for those at the other end of the scale.
The school grounds are currently a building site, so can't be properly considered, the stimulus money certainly going to good use with a new library and gym, and a few new classrooms. These will be ready for next year, so the Preps will have a lovely school room and facilities to get them started.
Standard transition program from kinder and buddy system that is popular with schools now.
It was also wonderful to hear that the school doesn't zone. In fact we were informed (as I expected earlier) that State schools are not zoned, if you apply, you should get in (this can depend on visas, residency etc). Government regulations also suggest Prep classes are capped at 21, this is a recommendation, and up to the school.
The teachers were all using the interactive white boards, the students were all very polite. The school was clean, calm and comfortable. Possible that it hasn't changed much over the last 50 years, but that can be a good thing.
1) State primary schools are super affordable, this one is $100 per child, per year, bargain! That includes all their books, pencils, stationery etc. Additional costs are for swimming, camps (3-6) and excursions, and uniform, which was a fairly standard Aussie primary school style.
2) Convenience. This school will be walking distance from us. It makes drop off and pick up easy and means that you will meet people who live in your local area. It makes attending out of school hours activites or meetings easy to get to and may even allow you to make a network of like minded people who you can share school pick ups with, baby sitting etc.
3) State schools must meet the minimum government regulations and must be accountable to those regulations. While this sometimes might be frustrating for schools, it does mean that all children have minimum standards that they should be reaching.
4) Diversity. State schools give your children a great opportunity to mix with everyone from their community, not just a specific religion or socio-economic group.
So how did today's school rate? Pretty good.
There were a few issues that I will have to consider more carefully, such as, this school has decided not to run LOTE, the principal believes that it doesn't work in Victoria, and not in this area. His thoughts are that one hour a week will leave the children with extremely limited language skills (counting, days of week, some songs, colours etc) that wont have them fluent in a language, and then in high school they learn a different language. While many of the students are already speaking a second language at home and struggling with English, so a third language is not ideal. These are valid reasons not to offer LOTE, however what about the argument that LOTE can introduce a whole new culture for a child, what of those children who have no exposure to other languages at home?
This school council has organised a Speech Pathologist to be at the school once a week to assist the children that need it.
They have additional aides and programs for children not keeping up with the minimum levels. They did not have any programs for those at the other end of the scale.
The school grounds are currently a building site, so can't be properly considered, the stimulus money certainly going to good use with a new library and gym, and a few new classrooms. These will be ready for next year, so the Preps will have a lovely school room and facilities to get them started.
Standard transition program from kinder and buddy system that is popular with schools now.
It was also wonderful to hear that the school doesn't zone. In fact we were informed (as I expected earlier) that State schools are not zoned, if you apply, you should get in (this can depend on visas, residency etc). Government regulations also suggest Prep classes are capped at 21, this is a recommendation, and up to the school.
The teachers were all using the interactive white boards, the students were all very polite. The school was clean, calm and comfortable. Possible that it hasn't changed much over the last 50 years, but that can be a good thing.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
What do I want
So, it seems that when deciding on a potential school you really need to have some questions organised, or at least know exactly what it is you are looking for in a school.
What am I looking for? Well, everything I guess! My main purpose is to find somewhere that I think the girls will be happy, where bullying is not part of the culture, and anti-bullying programs are embraced. A school where all students are considered, wherever they fall in the academic spectrum, to be valuable students and just as worthy of the teachers time. A school that is accepting of students from all walks of life. A school that is progressive enough to look at new options when the old ways are not taking them where they want to go. But most of all I want a school that will encourage my girls to believe they can do whatever they want. One that will never crush the spirit they may have to do something. A school that says Yes! rather than no. A school that provides them opportunities to do a variety of things, to learn many cultures and be the best they can be.
What about academic performance? Nope, not at the top of my list. Yes, I will check the myschools website to see how they each performed, but it wont be the deciding factor.
Fees? Unfortunately this will be something that limits us, however in my quest to find what I am looking for I am being open to looking at all the options and reviewing what you actually get in comparison.
What am I looking for? Well, everything I guess! My main purpose is to find somewhere that I think the girls will be happy, where bullying is not part of the culture, and anti-bullying programs are embraced. A school where all students are considered, wherever they fall in the academic spectrum, to be valuable students and just as worthy of the teachers time. A school that is accepting of students from all walks of life. A school that is progressive enough to look at new options when the old ways are not taking them where they want to go. But most of all I want a school that will encourage my girls to believe they can do whatever they want. One that will never crush the spirit they may have to do something. A school that says Yes! rather than no. A school that provides them opportunities to do a variety of things, to learn many cultures and be the best they can be.
What about academic performance? Nope, not at the top of my list. Yes, I will check the myschools website to see how they each performed, but it wont be the deciding factor.
Fees? Unfortunately this will be something that limits us, however in my quest to find what I am looking for I am being open to looking at all the options and reviewing what you actually get in comparison.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Raising Children Network | Choosing your child's school
Raising Children Network Choosing your child's school
One of the many websites with information about starting school.
One of the many websites with information about starting school.
Are you going to school next year?
Welcome!
Here begins the quest to make the right decision in where and when to send Arabella to school. What I expected to be a fairly straightforward option has become a complex process. Where once the idea was that we enrolled our children into the closest or most convenient school and sent them off with crisp new uniforms, shiny black shoes and a lunch box yet to have stickers applied, it seems to be no longer, then again, perhaps it was never like that, it was only my naive impression.
There are now countless experts who will tell you when and why to send you child to school, there are marketing professionals (very much like me) who will develop strategies on how to encourage you to send your child to their school, there are tactics to ensure a school will be amongst the highest achieving establishments and there are the opinions of every Mum whose child is at one of these schools. So how do we make the choice? What information do we gather? Whose advice should we rely on? What does actually make the best school? And then again, who is it best for, you or your child? Will they attend the religious school of your choice, regardless of what the academic standards or will they be sent to the most prestigious, simply because you can afford it?
I will embark on a campaign between now and January 2012 to make the decision for us. Along the way I will share with you the funny comments from the mums, the sheer marketing babble (I recognise it very clearly, as I often write it myself) the honesty direct from the students and the style of the teachers and principals.
Open days, phone calls, unorganised playground chats, newsletters, advertisements, school showbags and prospectus' all lead to influencing the decision, so these will be my source.
Join in and add your comments, but note this blog is not about degrading any schools, teachers or students, but about acknowledging they all differ slightly, and finding what is best for your family may not be as easy as you think!
Here begins the quest to make the right decision in where and when to send Arabella to school. What I expected to be a fairly straightforward option has become a complex process. Where once the idea was that we enrolled our children into the closest or most convenient school and sent them off with crisp new uniforms, shiny black shoes and a lunch box yet to have stickers applied, it seems to be no longer, then again, perhaps it was never like that, it was only my naive impression.
There are now countless experts who will tell you when and why to send you child to school, there are marketing professionals (very much like me) who will develop strategies on how to encourage you to send your child to their school, there are tactics to ensure a school will be amongst the highest achieving establishments and there are the opinions of every Mum whose child is at one of these schools. So how do we make the choice? What information do we gather? Whose advice should we rely on? What does actually make the best school? And then again, who is it best for, you or your child? Will they attend the religious school of your choice, regardless of what the academic standards or will they be sent to the most prestigious, simply because you can afford it?
I will embark on a campaign between now and January 2012 to make the decision for us. Along the way I will share with you the funny comments from the mums, the sheer marketing babble (I recognise it very clearly, as I often write it myself) the honesty direct from the students and the style of the teachers and principals.
Open days, phone calls, unorganised playground chats, newsletters, advertisements, school showbags and prospectus' all lead to influencing the decision, so these will be my source.
Join in and add your comments, but note this blog is not about degrading any schools, teachers or students, but about acknowledging they all differ slightly, and finding what is best for your family may not be as easy as you think!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)