#PrivateSchools #Education #PrimarySchools
Hey there! š¬ Do you think private schools are worth the money? š¤ I know everyone will have their own opinions on this, but I’m curious to hear what you think about sending your child/ren to a private school for their primary years.
Here are some things to consider:
Pros of Private Schools:
– Smaller class sizes
– Often have more resources and facilities
– Can offer specialized programs or focus areas
– The potential for higher academic achievement
Cons of Private Schools:
– Expensive tuition fees
– Less diversity compared to public schools
– Might not be accessible for all families due to financial constraints
I live in a low socioeconomic area and there are 4 primary schools within a 10-minute radius of my house. I’ve seen fees ranging from $4K – $6K just for kindergarten in private schools. It makes me wonder, what are they offering that isn’t happening in public schools? Personally, I find $6K for kindergarten to be outrageous.
One possible solution could be to look into scholarships or financial aid options that some private schools offer. It might be worth exploring those avenues to make private school education more affordable for your family. š
So, what are your thoughts on this topic? Feel free to share your opinions and experiences! Let’s have a constructive discussion. š
I flip the question – how good is your local public school. Some are feral, so forced to go private (obviously if money isn’t an issue). But if the local is good, I’d keep them in there just fine.
No. 6 years of private schooling from ages 13-18 should be enough. Then itās off to University.
If money isnāt an issue. Then the answer is yes.
If you have a preferred private high school you want them to go to which is difficult to get into, sending them to an affiliated private primary school makes getting into the high school more certain.
Other than that, private primary not worth it unless the public option is really, really bad.
Seen this question multiple times and the general consensus is no itās not worth from a financial point of view, but thatās hardly surprising given this is a financial sub.
Theyāll be a tonne of people advocating investing the money instead or gifting a house deposit or the like.
IMO For some kids itās a total waste of money and for some kids it will be the best first investment you can make for them.
Itās not a one size fits all. We are all just trying to to do what we think is the best for our own kids.
As others have said, it depends on where you live and how good the local schools are. Everyoneās answer will be different based on those circumstances.
Our local PS is not great. Therefore itāll be private for us. But if we upgraded to a better suburb with quality public schools, then we would be happy to send him there.
You do sometimes get school-snobbery in job markets. Yes, itās elitism and favoritism but something to consider. Not what you know but who you know.. that sort of thing
I used to live 3 minutes from a high school where cop cars would be a regular fixture and a private school 15 minutes away that cost $12k per year. Guess which one I chose.
Since this is a finance sub, private school is anywhere between 6k and 30k a year. Assume average of two kids from grd 0-12 if you invest those fees at 6 percent (post tax) you have between 229k and 572k cost associated with the āprivilegeā of private school. From a financial perspective I believe a deposit for your kids to give them a leg up will pay off much greater dividends than a ābetterā education. The networking part, well your kids have to be wired to take advantage of that.
I think it very much depends on the schools near you, and your own child. Ā That said Iām philosophically opposed to wealthy private schools getting the govt funding that they do – that money should go to public schools and then this wouldnāt even be a question.
Personally Iāve chosen public school for mine. Ā Our zoned primary school is pretty ordinary, so they went to an out of zone primary school that is excellent.
We are zoned to a good public high school, so thatās a no brainer. Ā If that had not been the case I would have rented in a better zone for a year or two rather than pay for private school.
If you’re most interested in education, then public or private schools make little difference. The biggest factor in how well a child does academically is the parents’ active involvement in their child’s education.
There are other factors in the choice to consider but depends on what’s actually important to you and what you’re trying to achieve by sending them to school.
Private schools are less about the content being taught, and more about who the other students are.
It can be a networking jumpstart for both parents and students.
How much that is value, will depend entirely on the family.
The fees aren’t for the education of your child.
They’re to keep out those families who can’t afford to pay the fees.
For some people, this is important. If it’s important to you, then the fees are worth it.
I donāt really get the just save the money for a house deposit comments. I believe education is much more important and can lead to a solid career and open so many doors, and potentially lead to more meaningful careers.
It depends on where you grew up, I went to a public primary school. But then went to a private highschool because the public highschools around me were terrible in terms of drug issues etc. it was probably the best thing that happened for me and Iām glad my parents did it. At the time I was against it because I wanted to follow where my primary school friends were going. when I look back at some of my old friends groups and see the different paths we have taken in life, I think going to a school more focused on results and the people around me really led me on the right path
Some private schools have intakes in year 5
I went to one of Sydneyās most prestigious private schools. In my opinion, no. Itās not worth it.
Private schools will have better facilities but that doesnāt necessarily translate into better learning outcomes. There is also the risk of a toxic social environment, which for me on top of the forced religion, the aggressive and quite toxic chauvinism was rampant. I have friends that still struggle to relate properly with females many years later.
Private school did nothing to shield my classmates and I from drug use and to top it off there was an engrained elitist attitude to almost everything that happened at the school.
I work in finance these days (via science and engineering) and my schooling contacts and relationships did exactly nothing to get me a job in this industry. The brightest colleagues and leaders in the bank Iām working at were not private schooled.
If youāre earning too much for childcare subsidy youāre likely paying near $30k per year for each kid with both parents working and the kid being in there 5 days. Many people in that situation simply see private school fees as an extension of that expense. Personally Iām redirecting those funds into investments to secure my childrenās financial future instead.
As far as I understand, it’s not so much whether private or public that matters, but it’s the peers/socio-economics that determine value for the kid. You will get similar outcome in a public school in a higher socio-economic area as you would a private school, but shitty area will be reflected in poor performance and outcomes. So, spend money in a private school, or spend money on a house in a high socio-economic area and send kid to school there, pick your poison
Weāre currently looking at our local private Catholic school as they offer a robust speech pathology support program and our son (currently 3.5) is very delayed in his speech.
Tuition is about $2,000-$2,500/year so affordable for us. Weāll make the decision closer to the time, our local public school does not make the list of the best public schools in the state, but the consensus is itās fine.
The $2,000/year will likely have an impact of the extra-curricular activities we can offer our kids, but the Catholic school also has a strong music program where the public school doesnāt so itās a balance.
Iām broadly not in favour of private schools, and we may only send our son who requires the additional speech support. If we live where we do now, we also wonāt consider the affiliated high school as itās ~30 minutes away (versus the public high school thatās about 4km away)
We live in a low socioeconomic area. Had a look at all the local public and private schools. Ended up in a private school 20 minutes away that had exactly what we wanted. Plus my wife did prac there which helped.
It’s really only for the networking, but if you aren’t from the right family then the kid isn’t likely to be accepted into the inner circle anyway. I definitely don’t think they’re worth the money I’ve spent on them as a tax payer. If they want to be private then they get to be private and pay for everything, especially if religion is involved.
I went through the public system but when I entered uni I was surrounded by kids who had went to the top private schools in Sydney. Made it funny to think how much their parents spent for them to end up doing the same degrees and becoming my coworkers even with how much more money they spent on them.
My girls attend a top Sydney private school, which their mother chose. All things being equal I would much rather see them attend a public school, non-religious and studying alongside boys. When I do the school drop there is a line of Maseratis, Porsches and Bentleys, driven by heavily botoxed stay at home mums dripping with diamonds and active wear – or driven by the nanny.
These are not my people.
My in laws pay the fees, which at $80k for 2 children, would represent about 1/3 of my net income. If it was my money I would much rather invest this or take the girls traveling.
The teaching is objectively good, but my daughters are not learning any grit or self sufficiency. My oldest daughter doesn’t do her homework, refuses to read books and doesn’t care about her grades. Some of their peers have had birthday celebrations on yachts, and one hired out a theatre for a private matinee. They are starting to adopt snobbish views, vacuous appearance shaming, and materialism and their friends I have met are worse.
Sydney has a bizarre fixation with private school, which is odd for a country that does not actually have a class system. I used to work with a guy who wore RM Williams to work and namedropped his North Shore private school into any conversation, but what really struck me was his inability to use an apostrophe.
Yes. The expense is worth it, in my experience.
What are they doing there that isnāt happening in a public school? Teaching without behaviour disruptions and desks being thrown at them. The kids get through so much more work because the teacher doesnāt have to stop the lesson constantly to get them back on track.
Also, smaller class sizes means that the teacher knows your child as a learner, rather than a number.
As I said, this is in MY experience. Everyoneās experience will be different. You may have a brilliant local public school with small class sizes and few discipline issues. Of course that would be the better financial decision. That wasnāt the case for me locally.Ā
Preparing myself for the downvotes š¬
I went to private and public in high school. Private made me want to kill myself. The school only cared about the richest families and the largest families with lots of younger siblings. If you were bullied by one of those families it was your fault. The teaching quality was non existent. Literally at the start of each week each teacher would just drop a stack of 40-100 page photocopied workbook on your desk and that was your work for the rest of the week, put your hand up if you have an issue, but then anyone who did would be bullied as stupid.
Public school was way way way way better. More social. Better teachers that cared. And my parents had more money to take me and my siblings on more holidays together during holidays, and other more expensive extra curricular activities we all enjoyed.
Apparently Private school averages out at around $300k per student, if you send them there for their whole schooling career.
Put that money somewhere useful and you’ll hand them a house deposit when they’re in their early 20s. That is going to set them up way more than any private school would.
Anecdotally, I went to public school, 5 of my cousins went to prestigious private schools in Sydney. Our mothers all debated it constantly growing up.
10 years later looking at my cousins, 2 are drug addicts, one is an NDIS scammer and 2 work in hospitality after getting arts degrees.
I just finished my masters in economics (after finishing my bachelors/honours) and now work a really nice $100K job at a big 4.
I liked public school and hated the prestige of private schools.
I would echo the sentiments in here: sending a smart kid to public school wonāt make them dumb and conversely, sending a dumb kid to a private school wonāt make them successful.
>What are they doing there that isn’t happening in a public school.
They’re keeping out the people that can’t afford the $4k-$6k Kindergarten; as intended.
Use that money for them to do extra curricular activities outside of school, with as many different types of people as possible. They will thank you later with their world view.
My daughter is in Year 1 and I pay $26,000 a year.
She has been at the school since pre-k, so this is her third year there.
I believe itās worth it. I would do anything for her and this seems like the most valuable investment.
Just ensure your involved in raising your kids and I’m sure they’ll be fine. My wife is private school educated and I’m public school. I’m in a well paying envious job. My coworkers are varied, including one boofhead who went to Australia’s most expensive private school. My parents struggled to pay the public school fees and would only dream about private school for us. But they installed good values and a hard working attitude in us and I’ve used their life lessons to learn from as well.Ā I honestly think save your money, and invest in time with your kids to establish a good relationship and that will guide them through life better than having the privilege of private school
It depends on the public schools. If I was in a high socioeconomic area Iād send our kids to a public school. Iām not, so private it will be for our kids.
From my own experience (public primary, private high – both in low-mid socioeconomic areas) the peers influencing you were significantly better on the private route. I know this because I could swap notes with friends who went to public high schools as we stay in touch.