[Chiba]

Just curious. I was just looking at school fees at a good private school. They run to about 10 grand per year per child. How the heck does anyone afford them, what with the average wage being less than 50k before tax? Just for the ultra rich? Am I missing some kind of "...but the government grant is 8k" type scheme?

:confused:

[Trigirl]

less than 4% of students in NZ attend private school.

[Carol]

Just for the ultra rich?
:confused:


In a word yes.



And the funniest thing is - there are some excellent High schools around for FREE!!!
(You have to look for them mind..... we moved house to ensure a place at our boys' school. A small price to pay - it's just a house.)

[Chiba]

And the funniest thing is - there are some excellent High schools around for FREE!!!
(You have to look for them mind..... we moved house to ensure a place at our boys' school. A small price to pay - it's just a house.)

OK, so how do I go on from there? I mean, is there a map of (say) Wellington, with schools and their decile rating, with shaded areas for their catchment areas? All I've seen so far are dry lists, which are hard to grasp if you're not familiar with the city.

[Carol]

Start with word of mouth.....
then go visit the schools on their open evenings.......
then request an interview with the principal.....

Go see them on rainy days - always a good indicator of behaviour.....




Sorry - but it simply cant be done thoroughly enough without setting foot in the schools.

[Trigirl]

I mean, is there a map of (say) Wellington, with schools and their decile rating
don't use the decile rating as a way of judging a school - it doesn't tell you how good the school is - only how rich the parents are!

[isv]

Just curious. I was just looking at school fees at a good private school. They run to about 10 grand per year per child. How the heck does anyone afford them, what with the average wage being less than 50k before tax? Just for the ultra rich? Am I missing some kind of "...but the government grant is 8k" type scheme?

:confused:

Well, compared to the UK (where almost 8% of kids go to private schools) fees in NZ are relatively 'cheap' when compared to average salaries.

The fact that state schools in NZ are, on the whole, very good means that the private sector has to try very hard indeed to get people to fund their children's education. The private schools I have visited in NZ have all been incredibly well resourced and appear to be run very professionally.

In the UK state education is, on the whole, terrible and that pushes so many parents down the private route. Unfortunately private schools in the UK don't need to try so hard and are also encumbered with high staff/pension costs and they can be almost three times as expensive as their NZ equivalents.

Private education in NZ is a bargain compared to the UK. I personally know a family who sold up in the UK - bought an equivalent house in NZ - and then invested the money 'left over' to fund private education for all four children. The parents gave up stressful 'city' jobs and now just potter around running a small NZ business safe in the knowledge that their kids will get a first-rate private education paid for by the profits on their UK house.

Alan.

[incredible hulse]

In the UK state education is, on the whole, terrible ,
Alan.

I'm sorry but that is just not true

[dharder]

The fact that state schools in NZ are, on the whole, very good ...

I think this may depend on where you are, though. We've been looking at schools in Auckland, and some of the schools closest to where we will live have ERO reports that sound worse than ours here in East London, which I didn't think possible.

There are good schools and bad schools everywhere. On the whole, I was unpleasantly surprised how similar the system seemed to be to the UK: the more money you have, the better the area you can afford, the better the school... I had somehow been hoping to get away from that a bit, but I guess we won't. The difference for us is that we are moving close to a good school as opposed to here, so the system remains the same, we are just at a different place within it.

Daniela