Portside Christian College

[Guest pennykate]

Hi there

 

I dont post on here much but was hoping if anyone out there could give some friendly advice.

 

We are currently looking at changing our childrens school as there are a few things which we are not happy about at their current primary school.

 

We live in West Lakes Shore but unfortunately we are out of The Zone for West Lakes Shore, other people have mentioned Grange Primary but again we are out of The Zone for this too.

 

We have looked into Portside Christian College which is a private school as it looks like we dont have any other options of primary schools near by.

 

Just wondered if anyone on here has anyone currently at the school or have they heard anything about it.

 

We have enquired about a meeting with the principle and also to have a look round but any other comments would be most helpful.

 

Thank you

 

Penny

[Hutchy]

What about Westport, our youngest son went there last year, and loved it....

[Guest Kazzarazza]

Hi Pennykate,

 

A member on here, called Laura Girling, used to live in West Lakes Shore then Newport Quays. Send her a Private Message coz I'm sure I read somewhere that at least one of her kids goes to Portside Christian College.

 

Don't have any experience of the school myself but I have a brother who is a teacher and he seems to think it has a very good reputation. West Lakes Shore Primary & Junior is also a very good state school.

 

Best of luck, Kazza

[Guest pennykate]

Hi Kazza

 

Thanks for that I will look her up and PM her and thanks also about mentioning your brothers comments, good to know that a teacher has heard good things too.

 

Yes we also have hear good reports about West Lakes Shore, but unfortunately even though we live in West Lakes Shore and we are in walking distance from the school we are still out of the zone.

 

Thanks again for your comments and advice

 

Penny

[Guest louiesmum]

Hi,

I live in the area my boys go to West Lakes, which I am very happy with. However a few of my friends children go to Portside & they are extremely happy with it, its a very small school, I think about 500 that from R-12. I have looked at possibly sending my children at high school age, I looked around the school & I think it has a nice feel, & I think thats all you can do, what suits one does not necessarily suit another. Good luck with deciding

[Guest pennykate]

Thanks Louiesmum

 

Its good to hear positive comments about the school, its so hard when you dont know much about the area and schooling and all you want is the best for your kids. We are going to contact the principle tomorrow and arrange to have a look round with the kids as we definatley dont want to be doing this AGAIN in 6 months time, my youngest is in Reception and my eldest is year 5 and I want to make sure they are both happy and settled in school as Happy Children = Happy parents.....Thanks again for your comments

[thebowensclan]

Hi, I have just seen your post and wanted to suggest Henley Beach Primary, ours have just started there and we're happy so far, it seems to be a lovely school. Wishing you lots of luck in finding the right school for your family.

[laura girling]

Portside Christian College.

 

My name is mentioned above and I now feel compelled to write in response to this thread again, as at the time I privately messaged PennyKate.

 

My three children all attend Portside and have done since 2009.

My eldest son, was unable to read fluently before attending Portside, he has a short term memory, speech and language difficulty and auditory processing delay with the help of Mr Griesel The Principal of the school and his amazing team especially the special needs teacher Mrs Purdy my son is now a 16 year old B student that I cannot keep away from school even when he has the flu.

My daughter is in one of Mr Griesel's daughters class, and last year my daughter won a trophy for best girl sports 2011 for her class.

Just to mention my third child has lost 65% of her hearing, and is a bright and happy to learn student.

I dont just talk about Portside when In conversation I rave about it.

My children are always keen to attend, hate missing a day, have good reports, participate in all the great sports activities which are great, enjoy participating on the stage when performances happen and when they do they are fantastic.

Portside Christian College has been a complete blessing to the whole of my family.

Edited September 19, 2012 by laura girling

[Rachiegarlo]

I guess as with all schools, what suits one family, will not suit another. People view aspects of education very differently and expect different things. I can only say in the end you have to visit, most private schools will let your child come for a day like a try before you buy day. I know of families that have had their children in 4 different privates in Adelaide, finding fault with each yet others will rave about them. Simply put... a private school which a large amount of people find problems with will develop falling enrolments and become unsustainable and eventually fold. Portside does not look like closing anytime soon so many people find it suits their children. Now I am at the other end of the educating children spectrum I think the best advice is to go with your own impressions of a school and work out exactly what it is that you are looking for and find schools that meet the most important of these.

[Anne B]

My only experience of Portside is when my son's team have played them at soccer. They played them last Saturday and despite the fact that Portside were outplayed and lost 6 (or was it 7?) nil, they played positively the whole time, didn't give up trying, and played the whole match sportingly (not all teams do, especially when they are losing). All in all they seemed a nice bunch of well behaved kids.

[Guest AnneDavis]

Hi,

 

 

We have neighbours who currently have 2 children at Portside. The parents are really stressed and we can't believe the herendous stories that they are telling us. The main issues are bullying from the more influential people on staff if your child does not fit their perfect profile. It really is run like a concentration camp and to some extent suppresses some children's personalities. However, they do have a really strong focus on religion which is good. What is strange is that they have accepted so many students, but they don't appear to have the yard space to accommodate them all?

[Guest brianlynnette]

hi my kids also go to west lakes shore primary, my 6 yr old daughter was getting picked on last year and even tho it got sorted out its left a very bad taste in my mouth, we come from a very small tightknit school in kirkby liverpool and none of my kids ever got picked on, i dont like the school only because of the size of it its huge, i know someone who took their kids out of w.l.shore and put their kids in portside because they werent happy with the school, but like others have said just because its not right for one doesnt mean its not right for another, its just a minefield when picking a school, we will be moving down south in june when our lease ends or possibly may, there'll be 2 places then haha good luck

[Guest brianlynnette]

i forgot to say there is also Hendon primary thats just past the AAMI stadium but depends if you can drive

[Guest Marcus Brody]

Hi,

 

 

We have neighbours who currently have 2 children at Portside. The parents are really stressed and we can't believe the herendous stories that they are telling us. The main issues are bullying from the more influential people on staff if your child does not fit their perfect profile. It really is run like a concentration camp and to some extent suppresses some children's personalities. However, they do have a really strong focus on religion which is good. What is strange is that they have accepted so many students, but they don't appear to have the yard space to accommodate them all?

 

I have a child at Portside, and does not appear not to fit their "image" of a perfect profile as described above. It is now borderline harassment and am thinking of going to the education board and their church council. They call it preparing your child for the future. I call it being a bully. do yourself a favor.....look elsewhere.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Marcus Brody

[laura girling]

I am extremely happy as are my 3 children, they all have fantastic personalities that have always been encouraged never squashed, they have never been bullied or bully targets, and I appreciate this can happen in any school, port side has been amazing for all of us.

never felt the concentration vibe though.

ps, hands down beats the schools in UK.

laura x

[laura girling]

Just to add, it must be difficult for children and parents who are not used to confirming to rules and structure, regulations are set and followed through for a reason, if you child is a non conformist they are going to find it difficult to fit in, my advice if and only if asked would be to find the school that suits your families needs, there are a lot of schools out there, I feel we have discovered the best one for us x

[Guest AnneDavis]

I have also been told by other parents that the school does not "own" the adjacent oval. It is owned by the Council and is supposed to be used for public park lands purposes. However, Portside have fenced it off from the general public and give the impression that they own it. Can anyone confirm this?

[Guest Parent]

If you are considering this school, request a tour when the students are at school, not when the school is empty. Visit the grounds at lunchtime, when the students are there. If you have a young child, check out the playground, will you child get a turn to play on the play equipment?

I recommend doing several mock "pick up & drop offs" during the same hours as other parents.......time yourself. You may only live 5 or 10 minutes from the school, but it may take you 30+ minutes because of traffic in the area. Check your stress levels, are you going to be able to do this for 13 years?

The "school" oval is a public park. Anyone can use this park, it's open to the public to use whenever they wish. Ask questions! is there adequate supervision while my child is using it?, are strangers allowed to take animals on the park while my child is using it?

The "school" playground area has been built over the same public park area, if my child is injured outside of school hours on public land, are they covered? In my opinion this is the reason why the strict "no playground allowed" rule is enforced before & after school, not because of no supervision in the area (as the school will tell you), but because students will not be covered in the event of an injury. Hope your child obeys all rules & is not tempted by the monkey bars because there is no teacher there!

Are kids allowed to kick a football or soccer ball at lunchtime? When my son attended, the answer was a strict NO! Busy main road, busy intersection, too much risk of the ball going over the fence & causing a traffic accident! If this is important to your child, then you need to consider this.

But the most important question you need to ask, is the school going to continue to grow every year? Are they going to continue to build more classrooms on the same size block of land?

Hope this helps x