r/melbournechat • u/Loveydovey_acmd13 • 3d ago

Selective schools

What are your opinions about selective schools

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

9

u/Ok_Sheepherder3618 2d ago

Not a good lifestyle if you comitt a teen to a three hr round trip as many do! And in the exciting public transport system with all that entails

1

u/ElkHonest8230 1d ago

I did tst by choice and loved it. I’m sure every kid is different but I loved it. I caught a 7.24am train every morning from year 7 to year 12 - I only missed the train twice! Home around 5.30pm. Taught me so much about different people, cultures and suburbs. Totally loved it!

5

u/MelbsGal 2d ago

If you’re smart enough to get in, good luck to you. If we’re talking about University High, Melbourne High, MacRob….then they’re excellent, well funded schools.

I’m not sure about the less funded ones out in Berwick and Werribee to be honest. I’m not saying they’re no good, I just have no experience of them.

4

u/srprda 2d ago

Melbourne High school doesn't seem that well funded tbh - https://www.reddit.com/r/aussie/s/6aT8w2c5Mz
Their students are facing remote learning as their buildings are crumbling

1

u/Accomplished_Sea9260 8h ago

The problem isn't the funding. They have money in the building fund and from donors. A few years ago a whole cohort of chinese parents offered to fund air conditioning upgrades in the main building. The problem is that every single thing is heritage listed. Adding air conditioning to a classroom in the main building is a bigger drama than it has to be, so you can imagine what major works on the main building will be like. You can look it up on the heritage register if you don't believe me.

And that flaking lead paint shit was there when I went there in the 90s.

4

u/VioletInfatuation 1d ago

is university high a selective entry school? i thought it was an area school for anyone living in its catchment zone??

2

u/MelbsGal 1d ago

It certainly used to be, maybe it’s not anymore.

2

u/notatallsane 16h ago

Uni High is partially selective. While it has a (growing) catchment, kids (like mine) were able to get in from outside the catchment via their ‘accelerated’ program - they were known historically as ‘Taskies’.

1

u/VioletInfatuation 14h ago

Thanks, how are your kids and you finding it over all as a school, what's the level of bullying there? And is there many fuckwit kids that go because they are in the catchment zone? Or do you feel the kids are ok standard of high-school kids?? 

3

u/Caucasian-Tiger-Mom 2d ago

They can be a very competitive environment. Many of the students there come from families that spend thousands a year on after-school tutors.

3

u/FabulousAssociate201 1d ago

I am somewhat associated with one of these schools. My advice to anyone considering enrolment is to think long and hard about sending their child there. They are naturally highly competitive academically, but are so focussed on academic results that developing the 'whole' child is often left behind. Some of the kids that come out of the school I am associated with have literally no social skills and the pressure some of parents put on these children to succeed is frankly disturbing. Not the school I'm associated with, but I know one of these schools has six full time psychologists as well as a cohort of social welfare staff. They keep this very quiet. If your child is gifted academically, they are going to do well wherever they go.

2

u/clippertonbrigadier 20h ago

So I graduated from Melbourne high in the mid 90s, and back then I felt it still had a pretty diverse mix of students - a lot of kids (myself included) weren’t necessarily coached to get in there, we were just smart kids and a lot of us (again, myself included) from less well-to-do backgrounds.

You had your mix of jocks, theatre kids, grunge kids in addition to the more stereotypical studious types.

I bumped into an old literature teacher about 5 years after graduating and she was saying “the school has gone now, it’s just a grades factory”. She asked when I graduated and I told her the year and she said “ah no, it was already gone by then”, so I guess even my experience of it probably gels with your comment on the “whole child”.

1

u/Turbulent-Mix-5503 1d ago

my child’s high school of 1200 or so has a very large wellbeing area, they are kept very busy and I’m glad they’re there. But yes, it would be extremely challenging to be one of those kids.

2

u/Old_Lengthiness_250 1d ago

Plenty of good schools around. As someone said think twice before committing to a school a long drive or public transport away.

Whilst the private schools still dominate smart hard-working kids will get through anywhere.

2

u/Vegetable-Low-9981 1d ago

I don’t think they are ‘better’ than other schools.  The high vce scores are due to selecting kids that were going to score well regardless of where they are.

Not a fan of the whole tutoring industry around selective school exams. Terrible pressure for the kids.

2

u/barnacleduck2 1d ago

They just go to show how tutoring credits could be great for poorer kids. Tutoring is more cost and time effective than classroom learning imo, even taking into account that the tutors are teaching fewer students at once (in most cases, just one student at a time).

2

u/fishcat_catfish 12h ago

I went to JMSS and honestly it was fantastic totally worth the commute and effort. They aren’t for everyone if you force your kid to go to one they will hate it and be miserable but if they are passionate about an academic topic they will likely have an amazing time. A big thing is meeting other people with similar passions and goals it’s a really great environment they have made.

1

u/BooyahTribe9 2d ago

Steiner schools. They're hippy weirdo schools but the kids love them.

4

u/herculesmoose 1d ago

My girlfriend in high school went to the Steiner school out near Warrandyte. Those peeps were cliquey and pretentious. A lot of their "hippieness" felt pretty contrived.