OzBargain Way to Paying Private School Fees

l2argain on 30/01/2025 - 08:10

I always paid direct to school via Amex & accumulated points.

This year school has outsourced to provider who now charges:

1.5% Amex
1% other credit
0% debit cards

How can I try & make this benefit me?

  • Variable load debit cards & do adhoc payments) ,when on sale or points)? Are are they still considered credit?
  • Or would they have to be eftpos cards but no physical payments?

Any ideas
Visa / Mastercard fee approx $150 for year, which I begrudge paying.

Also feels wrong to pay from savings 😝

Any hacks ?

Financial

Comments

  • altomic on 30/01/2025 - 08:25
    +118

    private school ≠ ozbargain

    I went to a private school it was of no benefit.
    i deliberately sent my kids to a state school. they are achieving very well.

    • Gdsamp on 30/01/2025 - 08:41
      +18

      I went to a private school it was of no benefit.

      OzB for 15 years. maybe it would have been ,

      • capslock janitor on 30/01/2025 - 09:04
        +4

        OzB-U is equivalent to dropping out of Harvard

    • Fredfloresjr on 30/01/2025 - 09:25
      +6

      This is the mentality.

      Tell em private school has no benefit, and public school making my kids to achieve well.

      This is how exactly you can save $$$.

    • jv on 30/01/2025 - 09:31
      +10

      I went to a private school it was of no benefit.

      For many people, it does…

      • Yarkin on 30/01/2025 - 23:01
        +20

        For many people, it does of no benefit.

        Wow thanks, that makes a lot more sense.

        • ccrap on 31/01/2025 - 13:55

          In fairness, he did say "for many people…", just not him :D

      • ely on 01/02/2025 - 13:22
        +1

        very important to be keeping up with the joneses, huge benefit

    • brendanm on 30/01/2025 - 09:43
      +40

      It depends on what public schools are available. Around here all the public high schools are garbage, and you need to send them to a private school if you don't want them with peers who are 99% eshays.

      • crazycalm1991 on 30/01/2025 - 15:49
        -1

        Are you a Sydney person? What area has all the Eshays?
        I really want to balance crap schools with crap housing prices in Sydney.

        • brendanm on 31/01/2025 - 09:16
          +8

          Not in Sydney, I'm on the gold coast so it's eshay central.

          • Neeerrk on 31/01/2025 - 10:03

            @brendanm: Our catholic school (not my choice, literal deal with the devil) is over-ran cool kids with rich parents that moved up from Melb/Syd post-covid, all the year 6 girls we're all about their Drunk Elephants and Bum Bum Creams. I'm sure there will be drug problems in the higher grades.

            I don't think mine would last a week at Keebra
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srFGNBSOKk

            • brendanm on 31/01/2025 - 15:13
              +1

              @Neeerrk: We found that you have the spend a decent amount to get rid of the eshays. Had our son in livingstone and CAC. Cac was amazing, livongston was no better/possibly worse than public. Daughter will probably go to Lords of we are still here when she goes to highschool. The gold coast is a cesspit of morons. Which school are you at?

              • Neeerrk on 01/02/2025 - 09:50

                @brendanm: Marymount down at Burleigh, we've had two in these from prep to high school and it has always been good and I feel comfortable with what we pay. Pretty tight school rules and only on Friday morning did I see the principal hassling some girls with rolled up skirts before moving onto a kid riding an eBike on the ground, great to have rules, even better to have them enforced.

                Also we had a couple go though Trinity Lutheran at Molendinar. Twice the expense, half the subject selection, over crowded classes, very little support. Avoid that one.

      • BadGiraffe on 30/01/2025 - 18:39
        +14

        Same. We did school visits to our zoned public and Catholic schools. The difference in students was night and day.

        If you happen to have a child that is too friendly and easily influenced, these things might matter.

        • brendanm on 31/01/2025 - 09:17
          +2

          If you happen to have a child that is too friendly and easily influenced, these things might matter.

          Unfortunately those little shits disturb class as well, so they affect the learning everyone else is receiving.

      • yellowfever on 31/01/2025 - 08:57

        What is eshays?

        • brendanm on 31/01/2025 - 09:15
          +3

          Try hard bogan gangsta type things.

        • supersabroso on 31/01/2025 - 14:22

          Wikipedia - Eshay (/ˈɛʃeɪ/) is a slang expression associated with an Australian urban youth subculture that originated from Western Sydney in the late 1980s, but has brought into the mainstream since the late 2010s and the 2020s. In New Zealand, "hoodrats" are a similar subculture.

      • Binchicken22 on 31/01/2025 - 17:43
        +3

        Yeah it's actually kind of funny isn't it, if you live in the "rich" inner city suburbs, then yeah you'll probably be just as happy going to public school.

        If you live in the "poor" putter suburbs, then I'm sure you'd see the benefit in going to a private school…

        • dyziplen on 31/01/2025 - 22:14
          +1

          This is why school zones significantly affects house prices. Good zone, good public school, and you save on private school fees.

    • The Wololo Wombat on 30/01/2025 - 10:07
      +18

      There are a few good state schools. But, as a teacher, you'd be honestly be shocked to see what happens in the classrooms of some schools.

      • BadGiraffe on 31/01/2025 - 09:55
        +1

        Story time?

        Also… and this is second hand information… my friend's husband, who is a teacher, told this friend of mine that school rankings are somewhat rigged. Apparently, they send the weaker kids home on test days so they don't bring scores down.

        This sounds like an urban legend.

        • The Wololo Wombat on 31/01/2025 - 10:29
          +11

          In many schools, especially State Schools, Principals and DPs report on (and are judged on) the levels reported of behaviour in their schools. This has led to a culture of disruptive, and even dangerous high-level behaviours being played down and, or not dealt with by school management, as any suspension or explosion can negatively affect their career progression and perception of senior leadership. There is also a prevailing 'hyper-empathy' culture in many schools where students are not always held accountable for their actions, based on their home (or other) circumstances, which negatively affects other students who have to put up with constant disruptive behaviours.

          Put this all together and you get a crisis where teachers are burned out, and students who are willing to learn are negatively affected by ineffective classrooms due to poor behaviour management. This has led to a recent senate inquiry and increasingly more dangerous conditions for teachers.

          Take a look at the Australian teacher's subreddit if you want to know more (though not all will list/agree with the same cause I've outlined here… but certainly the same effects!). Independent schools are usually not subject to the same pressures and can make their own choices around behavioural consequences without State/bureaucratic intervention, thus, are often completely different learning environments. This is the reason why parents are increasingly choosing independent schools over alternatives

          Responding to your 'school rankings are rigged' comment myschool.com.au shows the average NAPLAN attendance by school. You will find, again, it is the State Schools with much lower (aggregate average) attendance for these tests than Independent Schools. As a teacher, I'd 100% be looking at these statistics to determine the best (academic) school for my child, noting that academics are not the only metric by which to judge a school. I'm not joking, a local state school in my area has their Year 9s performing worse than the Year 3s at the top school in the State.

          • BadGiraffe on 31/01/2025 - 11:12

            @The Wololo Wombat: Good read. The myschool thing has .edu.au domain though. But I took a look, and it seems my kid's school is 💩. If they're fudging the numbers, they're doing a bad job of it.

            At least the public school has better scores, so if they're fudging numbers, they're doing it right.

            I think I'll leave him where he is. It feels like a better environment to me. Got to trust my gut. Even if the scores are crap and the fees are higher than I would like.

            • The Wololo Wombat on 31/01/2025 - 11:30
              +4

              @BadGiraffe: Trusting your gut can be good too, as not everything about a school is academics :)

              • Ulysses31 on 02/02/2025 - 12:18

                @The Wololo Wombat: Maybe a strange concept, but as a student… I wondered why no one asked me. BBQ's with conversations all around, about the school I went to. I could've told them anything they wanted to know, and let them decide how much weight to give it.

    • Foggy Fluoride Stare on 30/01/2025 - 12:11
      -1

      Enrolling in a GPS school confers the advantage of access to the social networks of influential families. It is not sufficient to attend just any private school; it must be one of the elite institutions. Otherwise, your investment in your child will be fruitless.

      Provided you are not a toxic individual, you should have cultivated lifelong connections with your peers that should have proved advantageous in both your personal and professional life.

      I am aware of peers who were recruited into well-known startups, particularly one focused on generating artwork with AI, where the founders and investors chose individuals from their school network.

      Should one have failed to capitalise on these invaluable connections, it would suggest a lack of initiative.

      • mskeggs on 30/01/2025 - 13:21
        +14

        I am well aware of the old boys network in the most expensive private schools. Never heard it described as a lack of initiative to succeed without the nepo-baby and "jobs for the boys" free ride.

        Also worth remembering the school fee is just the ticket to the dance. If the parents were born in the wrong country, or they are hoping to gain access to the aristocracy for the child from a humble background, it rarely works out.

        • outlander on 30/01/2025 - 16:16
          +7

          Also worth remembering the school fee is just the ticket to the dance.

          Totally. Whatever you plan to spend on school fees, budget that again for clothing, trips and toys. The idea that you can scrimp and save and just manage to eek in is a fallacy. If your kid can't keep up with the standard of living the other kids have, they are just going to be an outcast.

          • Binchicken22 on 31/01/2025 - 17:46
            +3

            @outlander: I feel like this is just Reddit level hyperbole…

            I went to several private schools and this wasn't my experience at all. Did you experience these things or is this just how you imagine "private schools" to be?

            For the record I came from a single income household and my dad was a technician for telecom/Telstra in the late 90s/2000s. We weren't exactly flush with cash and I don't recall my belongings ever being a factor, at all, in anything.

            • outlander on 01/02/2025 - 03:44
              +2

              @Binchicken22: I had a few friends that transferred to private schools.

              I'm always talking out of my ass in some respect, but in this case you're not going to get anything else. The group is too wide, the experiences too narrow. Private schools range from small rural schools that are the only option for the area and cost a few grand, to exclusive glitzy inner suburbs schools that are a world into themselves and cost more per year a minimum wage job pays. The two aren't comparable.

              Things also change with time. Late 90's was 25 years ago, and so much has changed.

              My comment was really to point out the flaws in the strategy of "I will pay extra to send my kid to a rich school, even though it will be a large financial strain. I acknowledge that the education won't be better, but I want her to make friends with the rich kids so later in life they will help her become rich too"

        • niggardly on 30/01/2025 - 17:54
          -1

          Its better than not going and having no chance at all

      • Jackson on 30/01/2025 - 13:21

        sad but true, it's a club mentality. In some cases, they actually teach the wrong thing

      • A Banana4scale on 30/01/2025 - 14:11
        +16

        Why does this sound ChatGPT generated

        • Foggy Fluoride Stare on 03/02/2025 - 09:30

          I'm uncertain whether I should mention this, but could it be that ChatGPT is based on the writings of a private school graduate. Afterall, look at who is on the board of OpenAI.

          You could say that I am acquainted with an individual who had a role in developing the language model. Friend of a friend. I contributed a significant number of examples which undoubtedly could have been used to train the model.

          This is not the first time I have been accused of being an Artificial Intelligence, if you look at my comments history.

      • May4th on 30/01/2025 - 16:54
        -1

        I need a crash course in GPS history - it's an interesting mix with Sydney High the only non-private school there. Is there a subjective/objective benefit of being in the GPS? I understand it's more for sporting and ?more networking? I note a lot of top tier private schools like Knox/Cranbrook isn't there

      • andyfc on 30/01/2025 - 19:03
        +17

        Theory: Your mate from school gets you a job at a lucrative AI start up because 10 years ago you played four square and went to a few house parties, you have no experience in AI but he still remembers the jokes you told in highschool.

        Reality: the chance of this happening is near zero, your private school friends get a range of normal jobs (doctor, accountant, engineer), all of which are obtained without nepotism. You see an old highschool friend make it big in tech, and you smile because you think, good for them, but you would never ask them or be asked for a job because that was over a decade ago and that's ridiculous.

        The chance of you obtaining a lucrative job through nepotism in 2024 may be marginally increased over a public school, but it's hilarious to think people go in to private schools with the hope that it will happen.

        I literally know no one that this has happened to and have a network of many many friends all put through the tier 1 private school network, and no, it's not because we have failed to capitalise on these connections, we all have good jobs.

        I always doubt the people who write posts like these actually went to a private school and know what it's like..

        • bp2000 on 31/01/2025 - 08:41
          +14

          This is how it is.

          I have a pretty good network of friends from schools. They are all somewhat successful professionals. None of them have ever been given or gotten a job. We actually joke about it and the old boy net.

          Like some are successful doctors but they aren't gonna give me a leg up, cause I'm not a doctor, they aren't gonna give their other mate a leg up cause he's not the same type of doctor. They can't really give anyone a leg up cause their business is small. Yes in theory if I happened to have a friend who picked the same career it might get me an interview but they'd probably be working at a large corporation and that is it. A group also seem to be just existing in parents money so that group is unlikely to help you out either.

          The actual benefits of private school:
          - Get surrounded by people who are somewhat more focussed on study and less drop kicks. So less chance of dodgy friends and drugs presumably. Though there are still drugs.
          - Have more say in what you want done with your childs education. This is 90% of it to me. If you want to have the opportunity to go and ask the teacher what the hell is going on and have them somewhat engaged I feel private school is more likely to do that.
          - Sports and extra curricular activities are pushed and incorporated more, meaning you as a parent can be a little more lazy setting things up yourself.

          Private schools probably has a more positive effect I imagine on below average students. Though I think most people who go to private school undervalue it cause they don't recognise all the 1% things that actually help them and know the public opinion of you get in the right school you're set up for life thing is a complete lie.

          • DemocracyManifest on 31/01/2025 - 09:07
            +2

            @bp2000: they definitely do drugs just better ones :D

            • bp2000 on 31/01/2025 - 11:24
              +1

              @DemocracyManifest: Yeah for sure. I never really was exposed to it, guess I was a good kid. Not sure if it would be more prevalent and in your face at public schools. The way people fear monger it sounds like it would be.

          • vshek on 02/02/2025 - 08:48

            @bp2000: BTW, what drugs are we taling about? is it Weed or serious stuff like meth?

            • May4th on 02/02/2025 - 10:13

              @vshek: coke

            • bp2000 on 02/02/2025 - 12:33

              @vshek: Idk not my bag. Never got involved. Ask democracy manifest, seems to be his scene.

        • Foggy Fluoride Stare on 03/02/2025 - 09:42

          The issue with replies like this, by andyfc, is that they introduce biases that were not present in my original message.

          Clearly, one would not secure a job purely through nepotism.

          While nepotism may no longer be as prevalent, your network you cultivate during your private school years can still provide valuable opportunities. For one, look at who sits on the boards of venture capital firms… Venture capital firms may be more inclined to approve funding for your projects simply because the board member is your friend from high school, but success ultimately depends on your abilities.

          However, if you possess the skills but lack such connections, it can be significantly more challenging which is what I was alluding to. This is often the reality for many individuals who attended public schools.

          Your post just reeks of bias. Sorry my friend.

      • DemocracyManifest on 31/01/2025 - 09:06

        nepotism lol

        • Foggy Fluoride Stare on 03/02/2025 - 09:49

          Surely, the notion of nepotism is no longer taken seriously by anyone, is it?

          Initiative remains essential, and a GPS school fosters this type of initiative in their students. No offence but many on this forum still hold biases regarding the private schooling system.

          Maybe I should simplify my vocabulary a bit:

          I never said explicitly you just turn up, go to private school, and then get a job. No. That's what andyfc thought and his bias comes through in his writings.

          No it doesn't guarantee you a job, but it undoubtedly sets in motion a series of events that would enhance your professional life. When I mean "enhance", if further clarification is needed, I refer to the example provided above involving the venture capital firm.

      • faricity on 31/01/2025 - 13:37
        +1

        Yeap agreed about social networks and clubs or any other meanings. I worked for a business that preferred anyone from a private school.
        There were exceptions every now and again.

    • altomic on 30/01/2025 - 12:13
      +15

      I see I have 4 negs.

      to clarify, I actively encouraged my kids to study by setting an example for them by doing post grad when they were in primary school.
      also I actively assist them with their school work by being open to helping them and guiding them with school work (e.g. how to approach assignments, write papers, how to look for solutions for maths - i.e. how to google.
      also giving them a dedicated space to study at - i.e. a desk.

      being active with your children and their study is paramount. - encourage and assist

      leaving your kids to self-pace/ self-learn, and waiting for "the teachers to do their job and teach my kids" is lazy parenting.

    • bargaino on 30/01/2025 - 12:20
      +1

      OzBargain way is to spend the money moving to a nice area, with good local school, even if have to rent :)
      Or be smart and go to selective school.

      • mskeggs on 30/01/2025 - 13:22
        -2

        No mention of volunteering at the school, actively helping to make it a better place for the community?

        • bargaino on 30/01/2025 - 15:33
          +3

          Eh? I didn't mention sunscreen or brushing your teeth either.
          But going to a local school makes it easier to participate. Especially important for primary school. That could be private or public.

      • pn09 on 31/01/2025 - 09:27
        +1

        This is the way.

        Better areas tend to have better quality public schools and more parents who give a toss about schooling which affects the mentality of the students.

        Different people have different priorities - no right or wrong - but most of us need to compromise as we can't afford everything.

        We moved to a better area to make sure our kids were in the zone for a good school - that was our choice.

    • justworld on 30/01/2025 - 13:17
      -1

      Selective school or private school on scholarship is the way to go

      • bargaino on 30/01/2025 - 15:36
        +2

        Full scholarship is extremely rare, unless you have an indigenous ancestor. Half scholarship at a good private is still a lot.

        • athuntershill on 31/01/2025 - 16:03
          +1

          why offer full scolarship when you can get two equally smart kids in at 50% or four at 25% to bring up the school ATAR average.

      • morse on 30/01/2025 - 22:36
        -1

        Not everyone is going to be able to do that.

    • iDroid on 30/01/2025 - 14:28
      +2

      There is absolutely no way you could measure that.

      What I do know as a public school student myself is that when I went to UNI to study, there were very few of my fellow students that did not go to a private school.

      Make of that what you will - it was just an observation.

      • DemocracyManifest on 31/01/2025 - 09:10
        +1

        yeah and the private school boys don't have jobs either, struggle to pay rent and go to europe in the holidays. mostly end up drinking uni away and then daddy gets them a job at a law firm as a penpusher.
        uni is incredibly classist, but you have to run your own race

        • iDroid on 31/01/2025 - 12:00
          +2

          Ok, cool story..

          Perhaps in arts etc, but every single person I know that studied at uni (comsci, eng, etc ) has a full-time career and are doing well - and all got jobs in their field immediately after completing their degree.

          I'm not sure about the classist comment - I went to uni and am from a standard working class family, I felt zero class difference while studying.

          Not all private schools are for the uber rich. I send my kids to private school because I feel it does make a difference, and the cost is not trivial for me - but something I'm willing to pay for.

          Excellent username BTW.

    • squaredonut on 30/01/2025 - 15:22
      +6

      I think this depends. I'm against having to pay for better education but…

      If you live in a bad/rough area, private school fees is basically paying the bogan tax and not being able to afford to live in an area where there's more ordinary people - I do believe it's very important to be around decent people, i.e. kids who have parents that have an interest in their education and upbringing

      • WillKillfor5Cents on 30/01/2025 - 20:20

        So much this +1

        Who they are around will influence a great deal on your kids' behaviour and outlook in life.

        Otherwise, if you can't afford to live in a nice area with good public school, then do the rentvesting thing. Buy the area u can afford and rent the good school area. No brainer. U'll still be ahead financially, especially if you have two kids or more!

    • Excelsior on 30/01/2025 - 15:40
      +2

      Real world answer is "it depends".

      Private school vs. good performing public school = negligible benefit.

      Private school (as the only option in the area) vs. below average public school = self explanatory.

    • morse on 30/01/2025 - 22:34

      You don’t know it was of no benefit. You might have had better (or worse academic, social or overall life outcomes either way). Regardless, things have shifted, it certainly wasn’t the playing field it was for me when I went to public school. And it depends on which state and part of the state you live in. In some areas private school is a no brainer for those who can afford it.

    • faricity on 31/01/2025 - 13:18

      I worked for a small/medium business that would "prefer" to hire people out of private schools. Anyway there is some businesses or owners that are bias out there

    • tessel on 31/01/2025 - 13:41
      +3

      I disagree. As an ex-teacher I would not send any children I had to a public school. Obviously I am not not talking about the elite public schools that are out there. It's also not about expecting them to become doctors or doing "better" or "prestige". Public schools and teachers are under resourced and over worked. I hate to say this but if you have never taught you have no (profanity) idea. You also have children coming from homes that shouldn't have children. They expect teachers and schools to feed and raise their children. I wish this wasn't the case but it is and society has become so politically correct that teachers and schools are essentially powerless when it comes to discipline and getting parents to even try to be parents. Private schools are cheap, yes thank you tax payer/government, and well worth it. How Australian culture and society views education and teaching is shocking and it will only continue to get worse.

  • bemybubble on 30/01/2025 - 08:30
    +4

    Pay less pay cash

  • djones145 on 30/01/2025 - 08:33
    -3

    buy amex, reduce fees for a day when pay school fees
    savings!

  • Ryanek on 30/01/2025 - 08:45
    -1

    There is usually a building levy included in your school fees. This is often tax deductible.

    • loulou1 on 30/01/2025 - 08:54
      +4

      It is not deductible where it reduces school fees because there is a benefit obtained

      • Ryanek on 30/01/2025 - 09:01
        +2

        If the building has a DGR status, the payment is considered a 'voluntary' donation.

        You can check the DGR status of the school here https://abr.business.gov.au/

        • loulou1 on 30/01/2025 - 09:14
          +11

          If it is truly voluntary, OP can reduce their costs by just not paying it

          You can’t claim payments to school building funds made in return for a benefit or advantage – for example, as an alternative to an increase in school fees or placement on a waiting list https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/income-deduc…

  • sticky8anana on 30/01/2025 - 08:46
    +8

    move to public, problem solved.

    • AustriaBargain on 30/01/2025 - 10:19
      +7

      Yeah, spend the money you would have spent on private school fees on sports clubs and tutors instead.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 30/01/2025 - 08:48
    +6

    Begrudge paying credit card annual fees, but OK to pay private school fees.

    I like it the other way round.

  • capslock janitor on 30/01/2025 - 09:00
    +4

    my way is to go public school and hire private tutoring seshes

  • singlemalt72 on 30/01/2025 - 09:04
    +18

    State school is not always an option - where I live the Government, in all their infinite wisdom combined, our two high schools into a single "Super School" without any consideration to the very high level of indigenous kids who live here and (through little fault of their own) have difficulty in schooling. previously there were two options in schooling and a fit could be found, since the new school was opened there is considerable violence in the school, teachers are scared, the management was woeful and in most bullying cases, the aggressor is protected as there is no option to move them elsewhere.
    As a result home schooling and private schooling has exploded.

      • singlemalt72 on 31/01/2025 - 08:28
        +1

        Doesn't worry me - my wife wants kids in the Catholic system anyway. Rural NSW means finding new jobs, moving hundreds of kilometers at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars … why take the loss?

      • JakeyJooJoo on 31/01/2025 - 08:34
        +1

        It's not that simple mate. A lot of the dumb big mergers are in areas where you can't just move 5 minutes down the road, country cities like Griffith. Suggesting that the whole city is a bad area isn't really fair. Only need a dozen lemons to spoil a school.

        It's ridiculous that families should have to completely leave their life and city because of a dumb school merger that shouldn't have happened and is probably going to be unwound.

        • trapper on 31/01/2025 - 11:29
          -2

          considerable violence in the school, teachers are scared

          Zero chance I would raise my kids anywhere near this…

          • JakeyJooJoo on 31/01/2025 - 12:29
            -1

            @trapper: Singlemalt said there were 2 state schools, 1 which was good until the gov forced a merger. The city must be ok enough, and. 1 school was good till it merged.

            I grew up in a country city, had 3 public high schools, 2 were good, 1 was rough. The city was good. If the gov merged the 3 schools, then I guess the only school would then be rough.

            Basically just need to have options in a city, so that kids can be appropriately filtered in the public system.

    • Bigfellaborham on 01/02/2025 - 20:28
      -1

      Armidale hey.

      • singlemalt72 on 03/02/2025 - 15:14

        Yep - but heaps of private school options for those of us with money

  • holdenmg on 30/01/2025 - 09:06
    -1

    Hi,

    I read with some interest that a limited number of people can salary sacrifice if employed by:
    private or public not-for-profit hospital
    charity or other not-for-profit organisation
    private school, club, association or religious institution
    and their employer offers this as part of the workplace benefits program.

    Otherwise, look @ Sniip that seems to charge Amex Personal @ 1.29%

    This isn't financial advice.
    Good luck!

  • FoxJump on 30/01/2025 - 09:27
    +1

    we went half way through, and picked catholic school.

    • jv on 30/01/2025 - 09:34
      +2

      😲

      • FoxJump on 30/01/2025 - 10:07
        +1

        bcos catholic secondary is closer to our home than state secondary.
        so we signed up to catholic primary to make easier to transition.

        • plague69 on 30/01/2025 - 11:19
          -1

          Catholic primary school teaches good non-religous values as well like not eating junk food, being kind and not swearing.

          I'm sure other schools do as well

          • BadGiraffe on 31/01/2025 - 10:27

            @plague69: Plus… I'm not sure how Catholic these Catholic schools are anyway. I keep asking them about when they Catholic kids do the different sacrements like reconciliation, first communion, confirmation, etc. The teachers don't even know. 🤷

  • AustriaBargain on 30/01/2025 - 10:18
    -5

    A selective public school is surely the ozb dream? Religious schools are pretty weird. You really want your child hobnobbing with the next generation of (profanity)?

    • JimB on 30/01/2025 - 11:05
      -1

      Yes for sure.

      Win/Win.

      However if your kid is smart enough to get into selective school, I'm sure they will do very well at any state school.

      • Foggy Fluoride Stare on 30/01/2025 - 12:26
        -2

        Regarding gifted students, I would also note that, in most cases, a child is likely to outperform when granted a scholarship at a GPS school. This is largely due to the valuable connections cultivated through interactions with influential families.

        Furthermore, the teachers are less likely to foster a narrative that money is inherently negative, as may be found in the public school environment.

        Students often misinterpret the phrase "Not everything is about money" to mean that money is unnecessary, which can lead to a naive understanding of the world. It is only after a few years in the workforce that they come to realisation of the importance of money, especially when they find they require a mortgage. At that point, their world view shaped by the public education system can unravel, and they often find themselves bitter at the lies they have been told.

        For one, public school teachers often convey the idea that the government is there to help, when, in reality, this is far from the truth.

        The government functions more like a cartel, where individuals vote to spend other people's tax contributions. How can it be fair to implement a policy that just under 50% of the population disagrees with but since we vote that the percentage just over 50% gets to decide how tax dollars are spent?

        Think hard about this. Do we really need a nuclear power plant?

        This is not a productive system…

        • Muppet Detector on 01/02/2025 - 21:22
          -2

          Gifted students learn differently than non gifted students.

          The school curriculum caters to the average child - that being with IQ's between 80 and 120. (Where standardised tests peak at 160 and 100 is true average). The students who tend to shine in this setting are those situated about the 115 - 120 IQ. It is more than likely that a gifted learner has/will disengage with the curriculum and be known as the disruptive class clown instead, frequently dropping out of school without completing grade 12 (average age is 15).

          Gifted learners rarely thrive in mainstream schooling and engagement with pull out gifted classes is a poor substitute as gifted learners are gifted all day, not just the odd lesson here and there.

          Gifted learners need immersion with other gifted learners so they can not only engage with like minded peers but benefit from a curriculum developed specifically to how their brain engages with learning.

          Note, gifted does not mean talented. Even gifted kids can struggle with stuff and are not immune to other contributing factors which affect how they engage with the curriculum.

  • sumyungguy on 30/01/2025 - 10:26

    I get >3% yield from my Amex points/spend so would be fine with 1.5%

    • askbargain on 30/01/2025 - 11:05

      Don’t tell merchants that

    • plague69 on 30/01/2025 - 11:20
      +1

      Until the next time they devalue their points

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