Secondary Schools

[evojoan]

Please could anyone offer their advice on the best secondary schools in and around Adelaide ? Our son was 14 years old on 2 September and in year 9 in the uk. What year would he be in when the new term starts in February in Australia ?

 

Any other help and advice would be much appreciated, thanks

[Diane]

Do you want state school or private? Does your son have any particular talents (music, sport etc) that he would like a school to specialise in, or are you looking for somewhere particularly academic? Do you have a preference for mixed or single sex school? Do you have any strong feelings regarding religion in schools? What sort of jobs do you and your husband do, which will determine to some extent where you might be living?

 

Probably the most vital of those questions is the state vs private one as the best state schools tend to have strict catchment zones, whereas the best private ones just care about you being able to afford the fees! If you go private then the mixed/single sex and religious/secular questions are the ones that need consideration - bearing in mind that secular schools tend to have higher fees, and you don't necessarily have to be religious for the religion-based ones, as long as you don't have an issue with your child getting some religion as part of his curriculum.

 

We chose private for our two for high school - mainly because of the way Adelaide is very much about 'who you know' when you live and work here, but there are plenty of excellent state high schools as well.