Should I Move My Son to a Private School in Grade 5 Instead of Grade 7

wuds on 16/11/2023 - 23:46

Hi All,

Seeking an opinion on a dilemma I'm going through at the moment.

My son goes to a public school closer to where I live in South East Queensland. He is currently in grade 4.

I was thinking of moving him to a private school or a good public school through ACER exam or school entrance exams.

I've submitted an application to a private school for Grade 7 entry just incase if we miss out on the Tests. I've got an email from this school asking If we are interested in year 5 enrolment. I've just said yes and they sent me an enrolment offer today.

I had no intention of sending my son to a private school in Grade 5, but I think the enrolment offer could be a rare opportunity given a lot of people are on the waitlists. I don't want to miss out on the opportunity as well.

Part of me is still thinking of putting my son to ACER exam and trying to get a scholarship in Grade 7. I could complety miss out if my son doesn't perform well In the exam.

What's your thoughts..

Education & Work Private School

Comments

  • iforgotmysocks on 16/11/2023 - 23:49
    +7

    What does your son want to do

    • EightImmortals on 17/11/2023 - 07:03
      +10

      He's 4. Either astronaut, fireman or army guy.

      • holdenmg on 17/11/2023 - 07:22

        All of the above? :+)

      • onetwothreefour on 17/11/2023 - 07:33
        +4

        He's in grade 4, not 4 years old…but the same answer is still applicable.

        • EightImmortals on 17/11/2023 - 07:36

          OK cheers, so he's 8 or nine then?

          • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 08:04

            @EightImmortals: Yeah, he is 9. He probably have no idea what he wants to do

            • EightImmortals on 17/11/2023 - 08:50
              +4

              @wuds: Then just send him to a school with the highest proportion of well balanced kids that has a holistic approach to 'education' and doesn't merely force feed 'facts' and reward kids on the basis of who can parrot those 'facts' back the best. :)

              • CrowReally on 17/11/2023 - 12:50
                +1

                @EightImmortals: I like this advice, but I don't understand how you would practically follow it.

                Do you ask the school leading questions like:

                "so, do you guys go for general education holistic "vibe", or are you just programming brainless robots with so-called "facts" like 6x7=42 or that Mercury is the closet planet to the sun??? Are you just cloning a future generation of SHEEPLE by giving them TESTS to find out if they learned some of these "alleged facts"?????? I know you can't see it because I'm saying these words out loud but I'm using the word "facts" in scare quotes, that's important to this discussion. Why yes, I do dabble in conspiracy theories, how did you guess?"

      • iforgotmysocks on 18/11/2023 - 00:20
        +1

        Maybe he just wants to play catch

  • sumyungguy on 17/11/2023 - 00:13
    +1

    An offer for Year 5 corresponds with a place in Year 7. Private schools are clever marketers.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 08:24
      +2

      I know, very clever. I've heard some old boys are struggling to enrol their kids to these schools. No idea how the offer landed on us anyway

      • angywoo on 17/11/2023 - 13:48

        You looked like you could pay the fees and that you have a child who could bring their future ATAR sores up. Simple.

        • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 15:23

          I have no clue. This is a Catholic school though, not sure if they have quota for non-Catholics

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 17/11/2023 - 00:19
    +6

    Don’t know what everyone has against public schools? Public schools are perfectly fine and don’t charge an arm and a leg.

    • Some Human on 17/11/2023 - 01:25

      Private school = bragging rights

    • foxmulder on 17/11/2023 - 01:39

      Hopefully op knows the cost of private school. Heard it should be around $35k per year?

      • nephilim on 17/11/2023 - 01:44

        35k for year 5? That's year 12 money

      • USER DC on 17/11/2023 - 01:49

        I dont even make that much rn LoL 😂

      • Che0063 on 17/11/2023 - 06:59
        +1

        Melbourne Grammar is about 31K for Year 5 already - going up to 40K for the last few years. And that's now, nevermind in 6 years

      • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 08:13
        +3

        Yeah understand the costs.. this one is around 20K per year.. doesn't fluctuate a lot when he goes to year 12.

        I've only got one kid. We are not super rich but willing to make the sacrifice to save some money if we have to do this.

        We don't have a good public high school in the area, so the only option is to move to a new suburb or private school

        • Matt P on 27/11/2023 - 00:44

          Add 20k a year to your mortgage repayment. Where does that get you?

          For me, that gets me from the bottom of the barrel to the #1 high school in the state.. Its worth considering.

          Luckily, my son was accepted in a new public school not far from the top so we will stay where we are.

          • wuds on 27/11/2023 - 10:04

            @Matt P: Agree Mate. I've thought of not considering the offer. I figured out it's not worth scraping the barrel for a top school.

            I've found a not-so-expensive private school, which is costing me 10-12K for the moment.

    • scotty on 17/11/2023 - 09:39
      +2

      Maybe not public schools in general, but specific public school where you happen in live in its catchment area? Yes you can also choose where to live (in catchment of a good public school), but sometimes that costs more than private school's tuition fees.

      • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 11:29

        Exactly scotty.. if i want to move to the city to go in a good catchment such as Brisbane State High, it would definitely cost me closer to $1000 a week on rent plus have to downsize from 4 bed house to a 2 bed apartment (unless you buy an apartment which is a nightmare in this market)

        I can probably use the same money to pay for the school and conveniently live where i am

      • mantra on 17/11/2023 - 12:34

        geoblocked isn't in any ozbargainers dictionary we just happen to live at a hotel or friend/family place in the catchment area

        • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 12:43

          Is that acceptable to the school ? :O

          • mantra on 17/11/2023 - 12:46

            @wuds: unlikely, but im curious if even possible? i wrote it more as a joke, lol

          • sumyungguy on 17/11/2023 - 15:49

            @wuds: If you're talking BSHS catchment area enrolment they do require some substantiation

        • scotty on 17/11/2023 - 13:50

          Last time I checked there wasn't a "helicopter app" that fakes GPS data when you apply for school.

    • rumblytangara on 17/11/2023 - 10:21
      -1

      My kids moved into the public system here from overseas and my older one was complaining that the stuff they were covering maths he had already done at least a year ago in his old school. Never mind the stuff that he's progressed onto by himself outside school. This is in primary school.

      I was speaking to a high schooler who transferred over from one of the Scandinavian countries, and she said the same- they were covering material from 6-24(!) months ago for some subjects.

      I'm not sure if private schools would be any better as there is a state-standard curriculum, but my kids' primary school (which all the local parents say is great) has sweet FA ability to provide challenging material for him or a couple other kids in his class even though they have been asking for it. Repeatedly.

      So public schools seem to be 'perfectly fine' if you are 'perfectly average'. If you are way ahead they are dead boring, if you are behind they probably can't help you much. And if you're special needs in some way, there doesn't seem much support for that either.

    • Cheaplikethebird on 17/11/2023 - 10:22

      I don't know, I went from a private school to a public school in senior year and I found public school curriculum was on easy mode.

    • teacherer on 17/11/2023 - 15:50
      +2

      Public schools are perfectly fine

      I've taught in 6 public schools throughout SEQ and CQ and in my limited experience your statement is demonstrably false

  • angywoo on 17/11/2023 - 00:47

    Ask them if you can defer the offer until Year 7. If you have met the entry criteria now, you would have met it for Year 7 too.

    Personally, I would wait until Year 7 intake. He may even be successful for the school scholarships on offer.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 08:16
      +2

      I've already asked them and they said no. Talking to people, they say it's very hard to get an enrolment at this school (some say even the old boys struggle).

      My original plan was to send him in grade 7. We are preparing him for the school entrance exams. I don't want to force him too much on the preparation as well.. There is still a possibility that he may not do well and I will regret missing this opportunity.

      Can go either way

    • rumblytangara on 17/11/2023 - 15:29

      Ask them if you can defer the offer until Year 7. If you have met the entry criteria now, you would have met it for Year 7 too.

      The entry criteria includes "you can funnel money to us asap"

      This is a very, very common tactic used by the combination primary/high schools. I've seen it in Oz, I've seen it overseas. The schools encourage entry into their expensive primary as a guarantee to the high school, because many parents will otherwise see the primary school years as the time to save money by sending them to public.

  • altomic on 17/11/2023 - 01:30
    +8

    I went to a private school. I send my kids to a state school.

    unless your child has some sort of special ability that can't be met by public then go private.

    or if you have money to burn.

    at the end of the day it is the effort that your child puts into their school work that gets them further in life.

    also, your actions as a parent and the impact on the child and their desire to learn / work hard.

    • USER DC on 17/11/2023 - 01:48

      i personally cannot imagine the costs of paying private schooling for kids man If I had any. I've only been to public school, (and I can also say some public schools can be bad but others can be really good too)

    • nephilim on 17/11/2023 - 01:52
      +8

      My boss told my the same thing, then found out he lived in a upmarket area with a top public school.

      Mean while local high school kids rob my local bws once a fortnight. Totally different world.

    • EightImmortals on 17/11/2023 - 07:07

      I did the opposite, went to public school but sent kids private. No regrets. And there are good private schools out there that don't cost the Earth. For those paying 30-40K are paying for the connections not the 'education', but given what passes for education these days, especially in public schools I'd definitely be stumping up the extra cash. It isn't all about 'grades'.

      • altomic on 17/11/2023 - 11:28

        The upshot is that if your child goes to a "crappy" public school -and they are a good student- then the under performance of the other students will push your childs marks up. Something to do averaging/standardising

        Good student = motivated, selfdriven, desire to learn and apply themselves.

        I'm not against private schools, i just believe that a good student will achieve in any reasonable learning environment (especially when learning is encouraged at home).

        • EightImmortals on 17/11/2023 - 11:46

          Assumes that education is simply about 'grades'. There is a whole socio/economic dynamic at play as well, being around the wrong crowd can drag the academically gifted down to their level too. That's not limited to schools of course. Not trying to be snobbish and we were defiantly lower class growing up. We're able to give our kids a decent middle class private education, not too expensive but didn't get to rub shoulders with the hoi-polloi either.

          But then if the individual is not built to thrive in that environment then they wont and many a millionaire has been minted after dropping out of school early. It's like the old saying goes, "Everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, then the fish will believe they are stupid and inferior for their whole life."

        • rumblytangara on 17/11/2023 - 15:34

          The upshot is that if your child goes to a "crappy" public school -and they are a good student- then the under performance of the other students will push your childs marks up. Something to do averaging/standardising

          I started at a 'crappy' public school out the countryside and ended up in a fancy school later.

          The crappy school encouraged us to be bad students- for the first 3 years at least, we (anyone with half a brain) could breeze through all the schoolwork doing the bare minimum of study. It set up some very bad study and work habits for people on the far right hand side of the curve. Why bother studying when you're going to top the local exams without trying.

          A load of us got sent out to better schools and for the first time in our lives we had to start studying seriously. It was a big shock to the system, but it was also good for us. I hated the school that I ended up being sent to- it was full of privileged rich twats, but it certainly made me study harder.

          The kids that ended up doing well at that original school were not as naturally 'bright' but they put in the work over multiple years because they found from the start that they had to put in the work to do even moderately well.

        • DingoBilly on 19/11/2023 - 10:13

          This can harm your kid though as well.

          Kid isn't getting the best education they can. My family friend was the dux of their school and received an OP 2 (OP 1 is the one you need to receive entry into any uni course) because their school standards were too low for any OP 1s.

  • Eeples on 17/11/2023 - 02:26
    +2

    Pretty major dilemma.

    I suggest smashed avo to help you get through it all.

  • PlanetGreed on 17/11/2023 - 02:35
    +2

    I am not quite sure what you are trying to achieve.

    Here's another strategy.
    Stay with the public schooling system.
    Research Kumon programs and benefits. Then immediately enroll your son and do the whole program.
    Do the ACER test.
    Put in the time with your son, find and participate in stuff with him - be his best friend.
    athletics club, swimming club, debating club, self defence club, chess club, music club.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 08:29

      Thank you.. I'm actually doing these and preparing him for the entrance exams.

      I'm worried that if I miss this opportunity, we may not get a similar opportunity in Grade 7.

      I don't want to push the little one too hard on studies, he does a fair bit of sports and arts as well..

      Given all the efforts we put, there is still a possibility for the kids to not get what we want inACER and other exams.

      • PlanetGreed on 18/11/2023 - 03:42
        -1

        Storm in a tea cup - Private Ed from grade 5 OR grade 7.
        Stay with the plan & go the distance.
        I believe everyone's concern should be the "Covid vaxx".

    • rumblytangara on 17/11/2023 - 15:43

      Does Kumon move beyond rote memorisation?

      One of my kids started this in primary, and one of her friends continued it. The maths part was simply amazing amounts of rote repetition of arithmetic… I can see that might work for some kids, but certainly not all.

      I am wondering if there is more to it than rote work.

  • Muzeeb on 17/11/2023 - 04:19
    +1

    This is the OG dilemma OP

  • Ocker on 17/11/2023 - 07:47

    All depends on the child, what is OP opinion of what is best suited for the child? OP has not addressed this issue in the post.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 08:21
      +1

      He is still 9 and doesn't have a clue what he wants to be (says he wants to be a YouTuber like most kids these days)

      I've only got one kid. We are not super rich but willing to make the sacrifice to save some money if we have to do this.

      We don't have a good public high school in the area, so the only option is to move to a new suburb or private school.

      My problem is, should I send him to the primary public school for next 2 years and try to send him in Grade 7 or accept this offer at Grade5.

      I'm not pushing him just on studies, he does a fair bit of sports too

      • EightImmortals on 17/11/2023 - 09:03
        +1

        Just do it now, he's going to have to move anyway so the sooner the better and by the time he hits year 7 he will already be acclimatised to the new school.

  • TVC889 on 17/11/2023 - 09:29

    He can go to the private school in Year 5. This does not change the fact that he can sit for the ACER exam or school entrance exams. If he does well in those exams you can move him to another school. If not just stay in the private school so you will not lose the placement for Year 7.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 11:24

      That is exactly what my thoughts are. Then again, I feel I should save that 40K and try the ACER exam at grade 7…

  • Boioioioi on 17/11/2023 - 09:45
    +1

    I suggest not to do it. Having strong relationships and friends is more beneficial than whatever happens between grade 5-7. If you change schools halfway through the year you will mess up all his friendships.

    Also have you asked him? I would say he should get the choice of what school he goes to…. Not you

    • Pcosmic on 17/11/2023 - 10:34

      Does a 9 year old get to vote? Thought so.

      • Boioioioi on 17/11/2023 - 11:16

        Why not?

      • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 11:23
        +1

        well.. i honour his opinion but kids at this stage is very subjective. We went for a school tour of another school with him which had a pool and he wanted to move to that school just because of the pool as the one he goes to now doesn't have a pool.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 11:21

      I understand the friendships are important, and having said that, he will study with the same kinds from Grade 5 onwards in his new school. It's not that we are changing schools halfway through the year.

      • Boioioioi on 17/11/2023 - 11:59

        ahh that makes sense, in that case that is maybe better, so he will be from grade 5 -12 in the new school?

  • Protractor on 17/11/2023 - 10:39

    Dead Poets Society.

  • jugsy on 17/11/2023 - 12:05
    +1

    Private schools are just for status or religious desires, not necessarily better education or experience. Do with this info what you will

    • Protractor on 17/11/2023 - 12:19

      Bless you.

    • rumblytangara on 17/11/2023 - 16:34

      not necessarily better education or experience.

      Have you ever attended, or sent children to, a private school?

      I've experienced both systems, sent kids to both, have good friends who are teachers at some of the top private schools in my previous country. And as a result believe that your comment is 100% incorrect.

      The amount of training the teachers have for special needs, the availability of remedial tutoring or counselling, the facilities, occasional school-organised international trips leaves anything public in the dust. One of the schools has a 40' sailboat that they take the kids out for marine biology classes and camping trips.

      I'm not keen on even the existence of the private system, but the education and experience they offer is correlated with the silly amounts of money it costs.

      • Eeples on 26/11/2023 - 19:23

        I would have argued that public schools do a better job regarding students with special needs.

  • doctordv8 on 17/11/2023 - 14:19

    Public System v Private System.

    This is Ozbargain…isn't it? Public with Tutors as required please.

    • wuds on 17/11/2023 - 15:06

      The local school has a terrible reputation. We either have to move to a catchment or private school

      • Eeples on 26/11/2023 - 19:28

        I would suggest if your son is in the top classes at public school it might not be too bad as long as he finds an academic orientated group of peers.

        You could enquire, even now, if your local public school streams or grades Maths, English and Science classes specifically in Year 7. Or not until Years 8,9 and 10, if indeed they do stream or grade at all.

  • lainey13 on 18/11/2023 - 00:17

    If you were going to try and send him anyway, can you afford the 40k to guarantee his spot? If so then just send him earlier. Longer time to make friends, younger will be more flexible when it comes to change like a new school and friends.

  • mini2 on 29/11/2023 - 11:39

    Getting a spot in primary years is easier than in year 7. If your finance can stretch it, do it.

    • wuds on 29/11/2023 - 11:43

      yeah, that might be the case.. Financing 20K+ for 7 years is not that easy though

      • mini2 on 30/11/2023 - 13:40

        It really comes down to how confident are ya with your child. The pool of candidate for Year 5 vs Year 7…

  • rumblytangara on 29/11/2023 - 13:08

    What's the ACER exam comment in your OP about- is this for selective school entry or is this something else?

    I just had a quick look and it appears that QLD only has 4 selective schools for the state. If this is the case, your kid's chances of getting in are close to zero (unless he's incredibly gifted and has spent the past several years already cramming for the test).

    • wuds on 29/11/2023 - 13:09

      ACER is for private school merit entry

      • rumblytangara on 29/11/2023 - 13:12

        Would you be able to enrol him now in private, and still have him sit the ACER for potential scholarships for high school? That way you've got guaranteed entry for Year 7, and the potential for a scholarship. Got to ask- is he really that good that a scholarship is on the cards? Couple of my nephews/nieces are on private scholarships but they are very, very easily one percentile students in multiple areas of study.

        I totally understand not being wildly enthused with paying 40K fees over the next couple years of primary though.

        • wuds on 29/11/2023 - 13:51

          I guess there is a possibility, but I have yet to check with the school (I'm pretty sure I've asked them but can't remember what the response was). But, if you look from the side of school, do they want to give you a good scholarship (may be more than 50%) to attract you? You are already in the school and they would assume we will continue regardless of the scholarship.

          The kid is good, though he doesn't want to put the effort into his studies (understandable being in grade 4). May be not in one percentile though, which is part of my worries. If we say no now and he doesn't do well in the exams, i would have lost the opportunity.

          yeah, totally not with spending 40K on primary for 2 years

          • rumblytangara on 29/11/2023 - 14:01

            @wuds:

            But, if you look from the side of school, do they want to give you a good scholarship (may be more than 50%) to attract you? You are already in the school and they would assume we will continue regardless of the scholarship.

            Regardless of the school's motivations: If he's good enough to get a scholarship at that school, then the same could be said of other private schools in the area if you're in a city with other options around.

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