QLD Southside Brisbane - best suburbs and schools

We are moving from Perth to Brisbane in January and would love some feedback on the best secondary schools and suburbs on the southside of Brisbane. We are flying to Brisbane on Friday for a few days to have a look around and would greatly appreciate any feedback to help us narrow down the search and make the most of our trip over.

We have two teenage sons in secondary school going into year 10 and the all-important year 12, so choosing a great secondary school for the next three years is our top priority. Our eldest son will most likely be going to university in 2020 and it looks like QUT may be best for his chosen course. School wise we would love to know about great state high schools or private/independent schools. Online research seems to point to Brisbane, Mansfield, Mount Gravatt and Cavendish state high schools as being quite good. Feedback from anyone familiar with these school’s reputation would be great, or equally for local private/independent schools.

We are after a leafy suburb to suit a family with teenagers and a great secondary school, easy access to local services/shops and work in the CBD, plus public transport for the boys. We will likely rent for the first 6-12 months and then look to buy a PPOR. At that stage we would be looking at $600k-$800k, with the upper end of the price bracket requiring no major renovations. House wise we require a 4x2x2 and would look at the suburb’s investment potential. Assuming there is a suitable school nearby, suburbs like Mt Gravatt, Mansfield, Holland Park, Greenslopes etc, look like they may fit our needs, but we really are flying blind. Suburbs closer to the CBD look like they are out of our price range.

Any suggestions for schools and suburbs to look at (or avoid) would be hugely appreciated. Thanks.

Angela

P.S. If some of this sounds familiar it’s because I started an initial thread where we were trying to firstly decide between living on the Gold Coast or southside of Brisbane. QLD - Best suburbs - Gold Coast v southside Brisbane The great feedback we received helped us choose southside of Brisbane and hence this subsequent thread.

 

Hi Wylie. Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate the local knowledge.

Our boys are actually in a private secondary college in Perth, but I was struggling a little to find a school that might suit in the areas we could afford and so I was also looking at state high schools also. Only having boys I would prefer them to continue at a co-ed secondary school/college, but any suggestions for good private schools in the suburbs you mentioned would be great.

That's a hard one. Perth is so different because it is just a younger area overall and especially the northern suburbs of Perth where we live. We have been used to homes that are predominantly brick (often double brick) and in relatively young areas (20-40yo). We have realised that Brisbane is very different due to the difference in age of the cities. We really like the renovated Queenslanders, but still like brick also. If we had to do some renovating over time to get into a nice area that would be okay, as hubby has a building background and we have renovated IPs and PPORs before. We were hoping to give the boys a break from living in a home under renovation though.

That's great, thanks.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't looked at Annerley yet, so will be interested to add that one to my research. I can see there is Holland Park West and Holland Park. Is one area preferred over another if we are looking for an area better suited to professionals with teenagers, as opposed to younger families? Same question re Mount Gravatt, Upper Mount Gravatt and Mount Gravatt East. I also realize all suburbs tend to have their nicer areas and this is the sort of local knowledge we unfortunately lack at present.

Excellent. Thanks.

 

Mansfield would be the best purely when rating high schools. Lifestyle wise I would probably rate it lowest out of those. So I guess it depends on how you weight them. Not sure you would get much house for your budget in greenslopes or Holland park.

I'm no south side expert either I must add

 

Another consideration about education is what your boys' interests are. Have a look at each school's website to see what their excellence programs are - Some schools might focus more on STEM and others on Creative Industries or Sports.

There are two QUT campuses with shuttle buses between them. Let your boys research the various schools so they are part of the team.

I went to BSHS and as much as it is a good school, so are the other ones mentioned. Personally I believe there is enough stress in the relocation without the added stress of trying to fit into their catchment area, overcrowding and their high standards.

 

I agree with Angel, it would be good to consider your son's interests, including extra curricular activities.

You might also want to consider if you would like a religious or non-religious school.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss more, I did my schooling here.

 

Wylie has pointed out the public schools you should likely consider.

For private (elite) one of the best schools (probably best on south-side) would be John Paul College.

 

You have a lot of private schools within that catchment ,Annerley would be within your price range ,just don't make the mistake of renting for too long ,as I few people I know who have moved to Brisbane over the pastfew years find out ,if you wait to long they get priced out of the area's they intended to buy..
Homepage | St Laurence's College

 

Multiple of my kids at Cavendish Rd SHS. It is outstanding school and would highly recommend.

 

Hi,
My top picks on the southside are John Paul College, Sheldon College, Ormiston College and Canterbury College. These schools are all located in areas that you would be able to buy a decent place, Sheldon & Ormiston are in the Redlands so your money won't go quite as far but its more expensive for a reason. I've not lived on that side of town so not sure of the public transport for kids wanting to go to QUT after school. Whilst QUT has on site parking (not sure on cost), most students train/bus it in to the city. John Paul College is my old stomping ground, great school at the time but I don't send my kids there because I think I get better value out of Canterbury. JPC puts you in some suburbs with decent bus routes into the city and you will be able to get something in your price range. A bit further out, but that is my own personal preference, my kids go to Canterbury College. I think the principal is brilliant and that is reflected in the programs and staff. Might not be completely your fit if your kids are university focussed, not because Canterbury doesn't excel academically, it does - but in my opinion it offers a lot more other avenues including apprenticeships/trades/agriculture etc. So the other schools are out for me because I don't want my kids to think that the only option they have is uni (they are too young to really know what direction they are going yet). Canterbury is further out then JPC, however if you get something close to the train, you can train it in to Southbank and walk across the bridge and it takes them straight into QUT. Plenty of us do this trip to get into the city from the southside. Your money will go far around Canterbury area and you would get something really nice for $600k. I would say it comes down to who you are as a person, Logan is on the nose for some people and seen as beneath them. So for people who think the postcode of where they live matters and care about what others think I would say Redlands has more prestige associated with it. If you want value for money and aren't concerned about bragging about where you live then I would head towards JPC and Canterbury in Logan. I'm born and bred in Logan and pretty darn proud of our part of the world. I have 6 rental properties in Logan and whilst I have a great PM that deals with the day to day with my tenants, I'm on a first name basis with them all, they come from a diverse socioeconomic background but they are all lovely people that all take pride in their homes and are immaculate in looking after our properties. My only problem is when we do routine inspections we have to allocate an entire day because we have to sit down and have a coffee with each of them. Logan is in the sweet spot between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and most of my tenants are families or couples where one works in Brisbane and the other on the Gold Coast. Employment wise it means you can access both for jobs without moving.

 

snip...

There are so many overlapping considerations that it makes it hard, as there will inevitably be trade offs

I am 50 and have lived on Bne southside (Camp Hill, Holland Park, Tarragindi, Greenslopes, Yeronga) for 37 years, with 13 years on the Gold Coast. Here are my thoughts:

1. All the southern suburbs 5-10 km from the CBD are great and should be within budget (just). But as someone else said, there can be enormous variation within suburbs.
2. If you have ruled out the GC then it makes no sense to rent in Bne. Buy now, or risk a rising market pricing you out. A consequence of that is that you should be more concerned with home location than school location. There is no evidence to suggest it makes much difference where one attends school.
3. Don't underestimate how far it is to Tweed Heads- much further than to Southport. While hubby would be going against the worst of the traffic it is still 90 minutes minimum each way Mon-Fri. He should consider staying at the Tweed 2-3 nights per week. Air BNB is ideal for this. If that is not appealing, then you MUST buy near the Pacific Motorway (M1). Holland Park or Tarragindi for instance.
4. Mansfield, Cav Rd and Yeronga state high schools all have good reputations. I'd avoid Holland Park SHS, and the "top" (most expensive) private schools as they are snob factories. There are plenty of good mid-range privates mentioned by other posters. But you would be crazy to let the schooling determine where you buy.
5. Bne public transport is almost entirely radial, and is very limited once you get beyond 10-15 kms from the CBD (unless you are on a train line). This is a really important consideration- don't ignore it!
6. The unis have good PT links so transport for the boys will be less on an issue then.

PM me if you like.

 

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the great replies, much appreciated. We did our trip over to Brisbane recently and now my head is spinning with all the things we have to organise!

Looking at houses it appears that to meet our needs we may have to increase our budget a little, or consider renovating. We will rent initially (short term), but it looks like with our budget that the Carindale, Mount Gravatt East, Holland Park, Coorparoo areas could be where we would ultimately buy. We need to research further over time to get a feel for the investment potential of these suburbs. (There is a small chance we may also look at the bayside area.)

The more immediate issue remains choosing a school. We did visit Mansfield SHS whilst we were there, but other schools were unable to book a tour on the weekday we were there. We have since decided against Mansfield due to its size (2,600 students). Our youngest son was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of 500+ students in his year (10) and our eldest son said he prefers to complete year 12 in the private system, as this is what he is used to.

Taking into account the areas where we will likely buy a house and our desire for a co-ed secondary school, we have shortlisted four private schools (in no particular order):

- Citipointe Christian College
- Cannon Hill Anglican College
- Clairvaux Mackillop College
- Sheldon College

Our sons are solid mainstream students, so we won't personally need access to gifted or extension programs or learning support. We are after a school with a supportive pastoral care aspect (given the challenge of changing schools from interstate in the senior years) and a warm community feel. A good sports program would also be of interest. We would like to avoid schools that have an elitist attitude or snob factor.

We are not so concerned with attending a religious versus non-religious school, as we have a mix of christian faiths in our household and our sons attend a religious school now. We wouldn't however like a school that is too overpowering with the religious content or focus.

We would also be interested to know if any of these schools are easier (or worse) to access via public transport or school bus from the suburbs mentioned above.

Any feedback positive or negative on these schools would be greatly appreciated. Happy to be contacted by PM if preferred. Thanks in advance.

Angela

 

I am still a massive fan of Cav Rd. CHAC get's great reports from friends whose kids go there, they do share some siblings between CHAC and Cav Rd. I know some that have sports academies at Cav and then Chac for performing arts, but then know others that have got kids in Cav's Music Academy and their sibling is at Cav.

Sheldon I have had some unhappy parents tell me about. BUT, it has the best facilities of the ones you are talking about, they play in club basketball and seem well organised and well behaved in that space.

 

Cav Rd has over 800 applications for 300 places in year 7. They can be extremely picky.