"School catchment" - makes no sense

from "catchment" property related to Asian parenting. LOL.
I'm Asian, with 2 kids. One in a selective high school and the younger going to another selective high school next year. No tutoring. Never believed in it. My view is that unless they fall so far behind their peers, tutoring is just teaching you next year's topics.

One found dancing enjoyable and has been doing it since 4 years old and will continue to do so until HSC. The younger one was into sports and a lot of time taken up in sports. He also does music (jazz) and not doing it to pass music exams, just a leisure thing.

The young one read Rich Dad Poor Dad and asked me some great questions. I told them Uni is not the only option and they shouldn't fall into the herd mentality. Got them thinking. Will they be disadvantaged if they don't go to Uni? I doubt it.

 

My volleball teammate is doing year 12 right now. She topped Hornsby girl in 4 year 11 subjects last year, including an English class and Chemistry. No small feat as the school is selective. She wants to do Medicine. But she was also keeping up and still playing sport! And she's a talented volleyballer too.
And... she's a nice person to boot too!!!
Impressive. Hope she smashes the HSC. Her mum says she is really focussed.

It is totally possible she could have done as well living elsewhere, but where she is living and what she is doing seems to be working out really well for her.

 

No, not any more you cant. School Admins are onto that strategy and they cross check addresses regularly.

 

I live in Lilli Pilli.
Its a nice arear.

We moved from the eastern suburbs.

It was driven by children and desire to have a house and be close to the water.

Its not an area for singles very much a family suburb.

It is fairly expensive and has no apartments so their is a barrier to entry which would be upper 1s close to 2 Million.

Lilli Pilli public school is excellent. Not from educational perspective alone just a good school teachers that actually care and class rooms that have space for kids.

 

Comparing Epping to the entire Sutherland shire is like comparing a shopping basket full of items to a product.

Its silly

Ganamatta Bay,Burraneer ,Dollans Bay and Miranda have about as much in common as Epping and Hillsdale

 

okay i agree we disagreed

 

I know the areas well enough that's why my reply to the other poster was that the comparison was not comparable

I do not where Hillsdale is nor Ganamatta Bay,Burraneer ,Dollans Bay so if you say those places have about as much in common as Epping then I agree we disagreed

 

I am comparing the Sutherland Shire, against other suburbs centering around Ryde, and Strathfield. They all have trains and are quite close to Sydney CBD, however the Shire is not actively chased after because the Shire "has no good schools".....

In terms of living standard I believe the Shire is better.

Bundeena and Sandy point is not the Shire...IMO.

 

Yes many private schools have own buses in area round morning pick ups. So those that can definitely send kids to private schools out of area.

Although we choose lifestyle beaches, boating ,parks space over inner city average accomodation With overcrowded schools that merely do we in the HSC.

I went to a good school my wife no so . When we met she was in far better position than me .

school academically smart does not guarantee success.

 

My personal opinion on this (having seen many suburbs and schooling aspects in those) is slightly different. For children, the foundation of 'science' 'maths' and 'english' is laid during primary education years (not secondary). It is very very important to ensure the foundations are very good to ensure success in many aspects of life ahead. Be it through a good primary school or good tutors, this can be achieved. However, what a lot of people miss out is the fact beyond studies - discipline in life, respect for peers, the exposure to multi-cultural appreciation, understanding what value other cultures can bring to society are the key soft skills required to success in jobs, business and life for that matter. These are learnt through good parenting and good schooling in primary years. Not through a single good tutor.

 

The difficulty with this debate lies with the inability to accurately measure the alternative outcomes. I.e. how does one measure the benefit of attending the one school over another and does stretching ones budget to get a kid into a good school mean more time at work and greater stress etc.

End of the day it all seems to dwindle down to what the parents decide to do. Should the equation be tilted towards parenting style as opposed to schooling (which is a subset of parental style).

I watched a fascinating doco '3 identical strangers' which really explores the age old question of nature vs nuture.

But taking it back to investing. There will always be parents who value education and target school zones. They will not be primarily driven by investment returns or yields and do whatever it takes to stay put for a long long time. In which case the opportunity to achieve asymmetric returns are a real possibility.

Compare that to a suburb primarily driven by lifestyle factors which can change on a whim.

 

I'm a big supporter of the nature over nurture scenario. Two kids (small sample), same primary school, different schools yrs 5 onwards.

In the years/subjects that they enjoyed their teachers, they thrived. In the years that they didn't like their teachers they suffered. Didn't matter whether it was primary or later schooling.

 

We spend 1 hour per day with our kids in Primary we make sure they do there home work and all online additional works school provides. Our kids are in the top 2/3 kids at school in there repetitive classes..

Kids may need additional help if they have special needs or parents who dont have the time.

From what im seeing keeping your kids well placed and on top of the curriculum is just a matter of an hour or two and night and making sure kids do the home work and online activities.

 

An honest question,

What is your kids are simply NOT academical?

 

I don't know if my kids are that academic (both in selective schools). They are not brilliant. One of them is a Mensan. I agree that it doesn't translate into future success. So for us, we are encouraging them to think broadly and not feel like they have to in a certain profession. I even suggested that learning a trade and start a business should not be excluded, an university degree is not necessary.

 

Good question. It is tough to know who would decide that and when. Is it unfair to pigeonhole a kid into such a category at such a young age?

But on that point, I am not sure most purchases in "good" school zones are purely driven by the desire for their kids to get a top enter score anymore. There is now a big focus on schools that also develop the person as opposed to just their NAPLAN scores! Plus the desire by some parents to be close to other like minded people creates a strong network effect. Whats the old saying? Show me your friends and I can tell you who you are.

 

So that axe & knapsack are a dead giveaway then?

 

exactly my point... a good school + good tutoring / coaching strategy from year 1 can be as good, or better than private schools / spend extra buying in "good school catchment" areas.