6 Month Project in Melb CBD. Need Advice on Good Public Primary School for My Son (7 Year Old)

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  chumlee on 16/04/2018 - 12:00

  +4

  Try South Melbourne.

  May be best to sort the school out first then accommodation as there's plenty of apartments for rent these days

  • 

    varunynr on 16/04/2018 - 12:08

    Thanks chumlee.

    A bit detailed here. Did you mean calling schools to know if there is a place available in the grade before renting a unit ? :)

    I thought that a school had to provide mandatory admission if you are in catchment area. Not sure if that assumption is correct.

    Regards

    • 

      chumlee on 16/04/2018 - 12:16

      There's big demand for public schooling in inner CBD with so many people moving in so not sure if they still are required to provide admission

      • 

        varunynr on 16/04/2018 - 12:18

        OK thanks. Will check.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 16/04/2018 - 12:40

  Many primary schools in the inner city don't accommodate many students outside their geographic "zone" due to high demand.

  • 

    varunynr on 16/04/2018 - 12:53

    Thanks Okonom. My intention was to look and select a good school and then search for a rental in the school catchment zone.

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  ShannonN on 16/04/2018 - 12:55

  +1

  Just curious are you a single parent with no option to leave child in Tassie so he can still attend school where he is known, has friends etc can't he "Board" with a fellow school mates family?

  • 

    varunynr on 16/04/2018 - 12:58

    +1

    Good question Shannon. No, we are family (wife and 2 kids, other one is 3 years old). Have been thinking of moving to Melb for a long time and I thought this could be a good opportunity for us to explore Melbourne and then make our mind. Good schooling is high on our list (like most parents) and I thought of asking the good network here of public school options.

    Cheers

    • 

      ShannonN on 16/04/2018 - 13:00

      +1

      WoW as you said what a great opportunity to check out a new city, compare cost of living etc.
      Wish you well in all you do

    • 

      Quantumcat on 17/04/2018 - 11:17

      Just some personal experience here, I grew up in Hobart in Fern Tree (on the side of Mt Wellington) and family moved to Canberra when I was around 8. I had the most fantastic childhood there exploring the rain forest everyday and playing in the snow in winter. Every day was an amazing adventure. I never really forgave my dad for getting a job in Canberra and stealing away the 2nd half of the best childhood ever. I would have been perfectly happy to have been poor and continued living there until I was a teenager rather than move and have a bit more money. Before you decide to move to Melbourne permanently, think about how his childhood will change and is that such a good idea. Especially if you have to move to an apartment! Or at least ask his opinion after he has experienced both, I guess he could be a city kid at heart.

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  TheBilly on 16/04/2018 - 14:07

  Now on to my trusted network (of Ozbargainers) for some serious advice.

  I take 2 dumps a day in which I like to login to Ozbargain on my phone and contribute to this great forum.

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  87percent on 16/04/2018 - 15:05

  +1

  what's the bet your "6 month project", turns into "9 months" and then "1 year" and then soon you're living down in Melbourne permantently

  • 

    varunynr on 17/04/2018 - 12:30

    Might well do :)

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  MsBin on 16/04/2018 - 15:17

  +1

  I think Carlton North and Carlton Gardens both get fairly decent NAPLAN results- check out myschool.edu.au
  If you did want to go private, one of the highest ranked schools is the Fitzroy Community School. Has a very hippie-like philosophy that encourages creativity, camping and free play, and yet repeatedly tops the state. Very active parent community that has coffee together each week, which might help your spouse settle in. Trade off of course, IF you can get in, is the $16K a year cost!

  • 

    Fake News on 16/04/2018 - 22:22

    The NAPLAN data on MySchool is mainly an indication of the socio-economic area and which school's teach to the NAPLAN test…
    Make sure you have a tour of the school on a normal school day, you can ring and arrange these directly with the principal.

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  MrHyde on 16/04/2018 - 15:21

  +2

  Hi. I live in Southbank and our sons currently go to Port Melbourne Primary School. We have been very happy with that school and with the teachers my children have got. They have provided individual attention to each of them, especially, my younger one who struggled extremely hard to get used to school. He did not say hello to his Prep teacher till middle of Term 3 and spent most of Term 1 crying. We got a phone call from a very happy teacher when he said hello and then again when he raised his hands in class to answer a question. :) In Grade 1, he only took upto middle of Term 2 to respond to the new teacher and now in Grade 2, his reports are amazing - he is running 2 years ahead of what is expected of Grade 2 level and the teacher is reporting that he is very active in the class and fully takes part in all activities. His Grade 2 teacher is the same one as his Grade 1 teacher, so I think the familiarity would have helped. Without the teachers efforts, he may still be struggling and at one point we were considering holding him back in Kinder for another year.

  South Melbourne Primary School is a new vertical school and we would fall under their catchment zone now as does Docklands. We have been to the school and we liked what we saw. We were skeptical of the vertical school concept, but think they have done a good job and have talked to the Principal a number of times. However, we decided to stay with Port Melbourne Primary as we now know the school, the teachers, the principal and the kids are doing well there - so didn't want to take a chance of uprooting them to go to a new school.

  • 

    MrHyde on 16/04/2018 - 15:27

    +2

    Oh, also, my view is that at primary level, the curriculum between private/public is not much (with exception of certain schools with a different teaching philosophy). When we attended the Open Days at schools like Wesley, the posters on the walls were identical to the posters on the walls of Port Melbourne - what matters is the teachers and how much interest they take in your child's education and the support the school provides. We feel we've been lucky that so far we've only had good teachers and the support from the school has been tremendous. We have friends whose children go to Middle Park and we can see the difference the school support makes. Port Melbourne seems to have more excursions/incursions/events/projects/etc than Middle Park and these do make a difference in building the habit of learning in kids in a way that they enjoy it.

    In secondary, I believe Private has a huge advantage because of the access to facilities that many govt schools just do not have.

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  varunynr on 16/04/2018 - 18:00

  Thanks Mr Hyde and Ms Bin (Nice names both of you :))

  Really appreciate the input. And I also resonate with the comment that its all about teachers (considering we got a not so good one in my son's prep class).

  Cheers