Public or Private School?
We live in between two very highly-regarded public schools, and he will probably attend the local primary school as it is walking distance from our house and many of his friends from day care will be going there too. However, there are also a number of respected private, or independent, schools within easy driving distance, so this is something else for us to consider when planning for our sons’ educational needs. My husband and I both attended public schools. I feel strongly that I had a very good education, but my husband said his was lacking. Neither of us knows much about private education from personal experience, however both of us have met privately-schooled people at university and through work. These people have spoken about opportunities, like sport and music programs, that had not been available to us as public students, and the extra resources available at the private schools because there was more money available. The media is full of reports on the lack of funding for public education, and the number of teachers compared with students in the public system means classes are bigger than we’d like. But for a complete, general education do private schools offer the range of subjects, experiences and environment public schools do? From my school experience, public schools offered more diversity socially, spiritually and ethnically, so I think it provided a more realistic view of the world I would face after school. On the other hand, when your child excels in a particular area, such as music, languages or sports, or you want your child to have a spiritual education, it might be worth considering schools that have a curriculum focusing on those subjects. Most of those are private. When asking friends about whether they preferred public or private schooling for their children I got varied responses: some moved to be near a good public school, others sent their children to private schools because they wanted better discipline and to give them a social and professional head-start for when they left school, and one had tried both and saw pros and cons in each system. Then there are the fees for education. Public schooling is by-and-large free, with voluntary annual fees at around several hundred dollars. Private schooling costs thousands of dollars. Debate constantly rages about public funding of private schools, regardless of the school’s wealth raised from fees and donations. Money will definitely be an issue for us to consider when it comes to deciding which school our sons will attend. When all the evidence for public and private schooling is boiled down, I think the most important factors are sending your children to a school where they are safe, secure and will receive a good education from high calibre teachers. There are schools in both the public and private systems where these factors are paramount, so it is up to us as parents to find the school that ticks as many of our boxes as possible. Please share your thoughts on this blog at our forum. Johanna Baker-Dowdell is mum to two boys – Noah and Ethan – and combines looking after them with her work as a blogger, journalist, writer and public relations consultant. She owns and manages Strawberry Communications which started small in the third bedroom, but has grown into its own office space (in the converted garage). 9 CommentsFeedAdd Comment |
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With our eldest son turning four next year, my partner and I have started discussing when he will go to school - and where.
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Friday, 30 July 2010
you so much!
Friday, 17 June 2011
I got my son assessed by local public school principal who me my sons reading level and I told them that his private school refused to tell me. The look on the Principals face said it all. I moved my son mid term in Year 1 to the public school.In 1st week he was graded as mid Kindergarten with a reading level of 1. He immediately commenced remedial and support programs and within 3 months he is excelling. He went from 2-3/10 on spelling tests to now 10/10. He comes home and says guess what Mum - it all makes sense.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
this article has helped me with my essay on "Public School Pros"
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Thursday, 08 December 2011
But all in all, I think it all depends on the child themselves and the parents. If the parents are very attentive to their kids' development and cares about it, the parents will do something about it just like ReH007.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_state_religions.svg
Friday, 13 April 2012