Choosing schools ... already.

How does a parent choose the school in which their child will attend as soon as they are born? Do you choose because that is the suburb you live in? Because that is the school their Dad went to? Or because that is what you can afford?

I was raised as a practicing Catholic. Yes, when I turned 16 I stopped attending Church. I still held onto my beliefs, yes OK some of my values went out the window as my teenage-self experienced the life of a teenager but my upbringing and my faith was always in the back of my mind.

My parents enrolled me into a Catholic Primary School in which all of my older siblings had attended. Unfortunately when I was in year 2, my sister who was in year 4 was bullied so my Mum pulled us both out and moved us to the other Catholic Primary School in the area, only for me to then be bullied at our new school.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

When it came time for us to attend high school, my parents made the decision to send us to a public school. This decision was made as my parents had paid for my 3 older siblings to attend Catholic high schools and believed that my sister and I would still be on the receiving end of a good education and the religious side of things, we would be taught enough by them at home and through Church each Sunday.

I loved my school; well I loved my friends at this school. The socialising aspect was wonderful. I did really well until I ended up in a serious relationship in year 11. All of a sudden I wasn’t doing so well. I scraped through a few of my exams to then make the decision I would leave school without graduating from year 12.

I believe that if I had have attended an all-girls school I would have excelled.

There is that hindsight again.

Now that I am a Mother, I get to make that all important decision of where Sophie should be educated.

How are you supposed to know what school will best suit her when she is only 3 months old?

Rob and I have decided to enrol her into the local Catholic Primary School. I like the idea of Sophie learning the same values that I did. I know that we will try to instil as many good qualities as possible but having a school assisting with our upbringing is reassuring.

As for high school, there are so many things to consider. Will she cope better in an all girls school, will she gain more confidence and life skills from mixing with boys during these years, will she strive to succeed if the teachers have a more relaxed approach.

These are all things that cannot be answered whilst Sophie is only 3 months of age. 

At the moment we are basing our decision off our own personal high school experiences and our budget.

Rob was fortunate enough to attend an elite all boys private school, unfortunately he doesn’t see it like that. Rob suffers from dyslexia and believes that he wasn’t given the support that he should have been given from his teachers. He was even laughed at by a teacher in front of his class for his writing.

I on the other hand attended a public school, I wasn’t provided the discipline and attention that my personality should have been given.

Budget is a whole other consideration. The school that Rob attended 18 years ago now costs $22,000 per year to attend. $22,000 … definitely not an amount that we are willing to pay especially when you add a second child into the mix.

At present we are leaning towards a Catholic co-ed high school. One can only hope that we are making the right choice.

Are you sending your children to a private school because that’s where you attended? Have you found a school within your area that has a good feel?

Is this not the hardest decision that we as Mothers will have to make?