NSW School catchment zones shrinking

Same thing happened to me, bought in West Penno in 2013, rezoned in 2015 and now my house is no longer in the Murray Farm catchment grrrrrrr.

 

if it's of any consolation, I don't think it's a brilliant school.
The lesson is if you want to guarantee enrolment and your kids are not of an age to enrol soon is buy very close to the school.... (check the catchment maps first though)

 

My grrrrrrr emotion is purely based on prospective buyers in the area might be put off by the property is no longer within the catchment as it's very important for some buyers.

We've spent plenty of time writing letters/preparing portfolio then door knock at Murray Farm, North Rocks, Beecroft and Murray Farm trying to get an out of area enrolment. I personally think those schools are overrated anyway but the other half disagrees. If you look at the NAPLAN stats, the schools didn't exactly get the kids those grades but the afterhours/weekend coaching. Speaking of which, I'm off...shuffling kids to more classes.

 

Actually, I heard pretty good things about Murray Farm, and people do buy houses to get into Murray Farm.

 

North Rocks and Beecroft has OC. That's why parents wants to get their kids in there, even though to get into OC it is exam based anyway.

 

Yeah it all goes back to the argument between send to private or buy within catchment. Buy within catchment could be cheaper than private, I've done the maths for PLC for my daughter some years ago, I won't be getting much change from $300k if she's there from kindy to year 12. The maths got a whole lot worse when I did the sum for my son if I enrol him at, for argument's sake, King's. 2 kids = $600k without taking CPI into consideration and/or price hike, fed govco subsidy changes etc. The more kids you have, the bigger the savings.

 

Hi @Gockie,
Haven't read all the posts (only your opening one) but as a schoolie, Im pretty confident school's cannot fine anyone for moving out of their catchment zone. People move in and out of zone all the time and the policy says you cant just kick someone out because they change addresses. We have people staying in the caravan park for a week or 2, come to our school and then move out of area and we're stuck with them... We threaten that we wont be able to reserve their place if they're only in short term accommodation, but we don't have a leg to stand on, policy wise.

 

Yup, the swelling demand for high-ranking schools has necessitated both catchment-ring schrinkages, and verification audits to weed out those pretending to claim they live/their child lives within the zone.


Sometimes I laugh on the trains. I see carraigeloads of schoolboys in "North Sydney PUBLIC boys high school" uniforms.
I laugh because these boys are on their wayhome to their 'real' home location: far out west. These boys are in no way living in the real catchment zone. probably registered the address of a family friend or cousin/relative in North Sydney instead of their real address...

 

has something changed?

i previously went to one of the "elite" selective high schools, the only requirement was to do well in the entrance exam - where you lived didnt matter at all and I had a 1.5hr commute to school

 

Selective schools that is correct.

Well ranked public schools, it is all about catchment zones versus entrance exams.

See, the selective and private schools fill their quotas very quickly. In fact, some have waiting lists years and years long. If you cant afford private school fees OR your child just misses out on being one of 120 students selected based on entrance exam/qualification that year, your next best bet is to ensure you live in the catchment zone for the best-ranking public schools that are not selective.

 

To my knowledge selective schools enrolment is based on an entrance exam which determines your schooling based on your preferences - it doesn't matter where you reside... majority of them also take in y8-12 enrolments also (although for only a couple of spots each year)

I think NSW got the concept right in having 45 selective schools from a geographical perspective as opposed to 4 in VIC ...

Also regarding the thread - definitely agree, not just high school catchment zones shrinking but primary school ones also!

 

Epping Boys offers everything Kings offers with the exception of a rifle range. Carlingford has a poorer standing academically for the locals.

 

& 8 kindies. yikes.

 

Reviving this thread in the wake of just out HSC results...

 

Yep, the usual suspects of fully selective high schools and private schools scores the top 10. The following is for NSW only:

One school has topped the list for 21 years

TOP 10 SCHOOLS:

1. James Ruse Agricultural High (selective)
2. Baulkham Hills High School (selective)
3. North Sydney Boys (selective)
4. North Sydney Girls (selective)
5. Hornsby Girls High School (selective)
6. Sydney Grammar School (private)
7. Sydney Boys High School (selective)
8. Reddam House School (private)
9. Northern Beaches Secondary College (Manly campus) (selective)
10. Conservatorium High School (selective)

Enrolment to these schools are either exam only (selective) or pay a lot of money per year (private).

For non-selective government high schools (i.e. enrolment by living in catchment area):

1. Cheltenham Girls High School
2. Cherrybrook Technology High School
3. Killara High School
4. Willoughby Girls High School
5. Newtown High School of Performing Arts
6. Carlingford High School
7. Castle Hill High School
8. Epping Boys High School
9. Turramurra High School

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...t/news-story/d39feb2762286a6bace067d9538645e8

 

And thats driving the property prices up around here.... (With the Chinese, who are also interested in good schools)...

 

And just to show why people want to move into good school zones. Quote from news.com:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...t/news-story/d39feb2762286a6bace067d9538645e8

Wealthy private schools like Trinity Grammar School were outperformed by government comprehensives such as Cheltenham Girls, Cherrybrook Technology and Killara.

Trinity ranked 113th, well down the list with only 15 per cent making the highest achievers.

The prestigious boys school charges $31,000 for HSC students, but even Newtown High School of Performing Arts achieved a better ranking at 89th, after not making the top 100 last year.

Cheltenham leapfrogged Killara this year, ranking 55th and being the best public non-selective school.

It had 22 per cent of students on the distinguished achievers list scoring marks of 90 or more. Killara was 63rd.

 

That's inspiring. I hope our apartment in Beecroft will quickly find a tenant when is complete end of next year.

 

Sign of the times with school catchment zones shrinking in these areas. Just goes to show you the demand for reputable free public schools. Naturally, however, much of the outcome of a child's HSC result is going to come from their own effort, attitude and diligence not necessarily the resources or reputation of a school. (spoken like a true ex-teacher ) For every rule, there's an exception and I'm sure there's many on here (besides my own personal experiences) who've been high achievers, despite their less-than-salubrious educations and attended institutions