Is it really worth going to a highly ranked state primary school?
Paying more rent/mortgage to be in the zone.
Our kid has started prep this year and the school seems to be very pushy with preps learning grade 1 work already.
The parents seem to be very pushy as well, no play/TV breaks after school and no time to play at the park on weekends.
Am I setting up my child to be depressed or succeed in life?
"you doctor yet, come back when you doctor"
Too late! Should have started when they're still in womb with mozart etc.
The fact that someone has to ask the question means the child is going to be a failure
It’s a bit like asking ‘how much is it’ for something you know is going to be expensive. You aren’t going to buy it and then going to come on Ozbargain to find a cheaper substitute
What a disaster it would be if they couldn't get into University. They might end up doing a trade, make bucket loads of money and retire by 40.
Isnt OP a bit old for Primary school?
Research of anyone has accused the school staff of anything or sued the school in the past. Some Christian schools have an absolutely toxic culture that is guided only by the mood or ego of the principal who got their job not through merit or passion for teaching kids but because of the pay or prestige. If the school is operated by a church that talks about weird shit, then ultimately you and everyone at the school is answerable to the batshit insane church board. A selective public school would be a million times better than chancing it with some random church ran school.
absolutely toxic culture
guided by mood or ego of principal/admin staff
answerable to batshit insane (or inept) people
You just described almost all public schools too.
Lol even on this forum
High ranked state primary schools are typically located in estates with higher socioeconomic status. These parents would typically send their children to extra curricular classes and have high expectations (of their child) and are very competitive. It is not the direct effort of these schools' educators within. Depends on what you can afford, my recommendation would be for private/christian/catholic school for primary education followed by a high ranked state school or selective schools.
If you see Tesla's in the school pick up it's a good school.
Rich parents actually make absolute KENTS of human beings. Being wealthy doesn't mean anything
Also appearing rich ≠ actually being rich.
Appearing rich can often mean being in debt.
Um wealth doesn't correlate with crime.
Wealth means many things less likely to have health issues etc
Can you get along with bogans?
Its primary school it does not matter whatsoever
Even if all they do is finger painting for 7 years? Just a hypothetical
.
Really odd to be asking a bunch of randoms if your kid will basically succeed or not.
You would know your child best and what suits their personality, strengths, weaknesses etc.
I know successful people that went to public school and I know unsuccessful that went the private school.
Dont compare to what others are doing, do what is best for your child based on your relationship.
Even then, the definition of 'succeed' differs between people.
Me: as long as my kids grow up happy, fulfilled and did better than me, I’d call that a win.
Other asian parents in my circle: if my kid isn’t doing a PHD by age 5 I have failed.
fulfilled and did better than me
You won't know that unless you set them up to succeed unless the benchmark is really low.
kids need routine, discipline and to develop good habits, whether that be study, sport, social, family or work.
@Archi: People who are more artistic probably don't need routine, discipline or good habits. They need space to be themselves.
@GG57: that is true, in a similar fashion, parental intervention is critical whether that be artistic or not, choosing the right institution for your child, understanding what your child needs are.
Is the primary school aligned with your values and priorities?
The parents seem to be very pushy as well, no play/TV breaks after school and no time to play at the park on weekends.
Well that’s a bit extreme - I’d be sleeping with one eye open especially when I’m older.
Is it really worth going to a highly ranked state primary school?
I'm going to take a controversial opinion and say absolutely yes. I grew up in one of the lowest SES areas in metro Melbourne. The school I went to was absolutely horrible, buildings were falling apart, teachers didn't care, I saw fights break out between two parents at pickup once over a parking spot. I could go on, but I didn't realise until later on in life when I moved out of that area and school that the shit kids in low-SES areas go through is messed up.
Yes, society should do something about this and we all need to do better, but in terms of what you can do to help your kid - send them to a good school.
Our kid has started prep this year and the school seems to be very pushy with preps learning grade 1 work already.
Sounds like you're twisting it a bit here - schools teach to a curriculum, if students are good, then they should be given work that is harder or more challenging. Telling you from my experience as a teacher (not primary school, but the same principle applies), the worst thing you can have is students being bored. If you can give them harder, more challenging, more relevant things to work on and build their knowledge and skills, that's a good thing and it shows that the teacher is actually motivated to give them a better learning experience rather than just telling them to stay bored and stay quiet.
The parents seem to be very pushy as well, no play/TV breaks after school and no time to play at the park on weekends.
I find it hard to believe that this is common - yes, perhaps some parents are like this, but definitely not the majority, and I have experience with parents at some leading schools (i.e. top 10 in ATAR rankings).
Ultimately, the question is whether it even really matters. If you want to take your kid to the park, then take your kid to the park. Who cares what other parents are doing with their kids. Make your own decisions.
Am I setting up my child to be depressed or succeed in life?
Probably neither - there are so many factors which influence a child's happiness, and your impact as a parent needs to be taken in its totality. Again, in my experience as a teacher, schools are fairly generic places with really diverse student populations.
If I could give some advice, it's best to give your kid options. Going to a good school allows them to have those options and explore what those options are.
I grew up in a similar environment to you. Luckily, natural ability and plenty of resources available to me (one parent was an ex-teacher) helped me get ahead. Being dux of such an environment can get you close to the top in the state, but interpersonal skills development is very limited in such an environment.
Nowadays though there is another division:
schools
/ \
high / low socio-econ
/ \
normal / tiger school/parents
I would recommend sending a child to a high socio-economic normal school. As an example, friends who have their kids at a strong selective school nearish to where we live have explained how unmotivated their kids are. The other kids get endless tutoring for every day study and to get into opportunity classes and know everything before the teacher teaches. In this situation kids either have the ability and don't need the rote learning, which stifles their creativity and enjoyment, or if they don't, no amount of rote learning will help them in their career in the future. Someone might pull me up on the last point with Gladwell's Outliers principle.
As for us, my kids are reasonably clever. We home school them and they play for most of the day, with a lot of self reading in areas of interest, us reading to them and some lessons in English and Maths. They're still young, but later on the study will be based on their interest. This gives us a lot of time for outdoor activities, meet ups, etc.
They're still young, but later on the study will be based on their interest.
Really curious as to how you came to this conclusion.
My view has always been that kids should perhaps spend more time on (or specialise in) areas that they find interesting, but the idea that you can base their education off what they find interesting seems to ignore the fact that there are certain essential skills which could be lost.
Again, comes back to my point of giving kids options. By narrowing what they learn to their interest at some point in time, they close off their options for later life. As an example, I hated English as a kid, didn't care much for reading and writing in primary school. However, I became really interested in literature later on in life and would not really have been able to study literature if I were not "forced" to have had to study English when I was younger.
Let me clarify. I'm a believer in a sphere with a couple of spikes, that is, general knowledge of many things with a few specialist areas and most importantly the ability to learn.
In high school in neglected English to maximise my stem marks and ranked in the state in a number of subjects because I was interested in it. In uni I did Econ and finance and generalist maths/stats. Later generalist MBA.
Even though I neglected English studies, I enjoy it, have written a book and keep a dictionary nearby and love word puzzles. And I have maintained my love of history, geography all my life.
My point is I did well in chemistry but have not used it for anything. I was curious, but if my kids aren't, I wouldn't push them. I do use it for my garden, etc, now, but I can pick that up easily even if I only had a basic overview.
be mindful of who they have as friends, they have the biggest influence on them more than we like to accept.
But it's also the least power the parents usually have on this matter. Most of the time, it just happens.
that is right, that is why a lot of parents will rather go to schools with better reputations and proven success through alumni, in hopes the pool of kids that their child is acquainted to have a better influence,
Better to be thugs in a Ferrari
Then good citizens in a Suzuki
*than
Aee you saying @stopback drives a suzuki…??
You have to decide if you'll feel aligned with the families in the school/area (because they'll become your/your kid's friends)
The rich parents stick together and the wanabe rich stick together.
Oh they sometimes have a token poor they adopt.
Unless there are a bunch of kid trying to light their farts on fire at the lunch break, I'd avoid it. Worth doing some research.
The question you should be asking is.. "what are my kids like?"
You should have a fair idea (and a realistic one) in your mind what your kid is like and whether they're intelligent or not. If your kid seems quite intelligent, has a curious personality and can learn things quickly, etc, it might be of some value to put them in an environment where they have that opportunity to thrive. On the other hand, if your kid is the opposite, you have to you can put them in the best school and it may not make a difference. Having said that, kids can be unpreditable, so It's a bit of a gamble and it's up to you to decide whether it's worth whatever your sacrificing,
Not worth it. Well, not unless you want to live there.
Generally, and Im talking SA here which has strict zoning and stupid house prices as a result, they tend to be over subscribed.
On top of that, outcomes are not any different long term, you have pita P&Cs to deal with, higher fees and just generally more bs and self entitlement.
Look for schools that offer good class sizes, feed into the high school you want, run the programs you want (and I mean, ask real questions - what does your morning routine involve, show me your actual literacy/phonics program for example).
Personally, in SA, if I had my time again, I would go parish Catholic or similar.
It depends on your child, if they show signs of some talent and inquisitiveness then yes give them the best start you can.
Is it really worth going to a highly ranked state primary school?
That depends on how good or bad your local school is.
Our kid has started prep this year and the school seems to be very pushy with preps learning grade 1 work already.
At prep level, kids have a huge range of ability, (even more than later) and schools should accommodate that. Why do you think it is "pushy"?
The parents seem to be very pushy as well, no play/TV breaks after school and no time to play at the park on weekends.
Is this a cultural thing? Migrant neighbourhood?
Am I setting up my child to be depressed or succeed in life?
No. Kids are resilient. But maybe a different school would be better for you. The school community was a big part of my life when my kids were in primary school.
I often wonder if public school + after school tutor.
Homework was what always killed me and reduced my marks by 50%
Prepare them now for selective schools.
You don't want them to fail the entrance exams and become the shame of the family