Comments on: Shopping Around For The Right Edulocation

By: Isaak Kwok

Isaak Kwok — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:38:50 +0000

Well, in Singapore, relocation for the sake of the primary school your child goes to is a very big thing. Once they have children, the parents will start to look at relocating within one kilometer of the ‘good’ schools.

My sister-in-law is in the process of selling her place to move to a more expensive location so that her daughters can go to the school that she wants. And she needs to shift now as she needs to be staying in the new location for at least a year.

By the way, in Singapore, there is a yearly publication ranking both primary and secondary schools. And I guess it also affects the property market in the areas where the top-ranked schools are located.

By: Can you graph a good school? | Learning is Change.

Can you graph a good school? | Learning is Change. — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:56:15 +0000

[...] hadn’t planned on blogging about this again this soon, but this post from Graham Wegner got me thinking about it again. In this post, he talks about “the popular public [...]

By: Pam Thompson

Pam Thompson — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:51:02 +0000

This evolution of relocation doesn’t surprise me too much Graham.As you’re probably aware the school I’ve just left is zoned and has a very good reputation, but I would say mainly based on perceptions. I think at primary level the ‘feel’ of the school has a lot to do with it, and the interactions the parents may have had with the staff. Heaven forbid that we end up with league tables for primary schools!

By: Russel Montgomery

Russel Montgomery — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:20:25 +0000

Graham

Actually, We get the informal stuff here around primary schools. For example, Lathlain is considered better than Carlisle on suburb away. Its all sorts of things like you mention.

Sylvia

For Secondary we have published score tables as well. They are controversial still but have become established practice.

I like your idea about Real Estate agents paying for them. It really is a free ride for them.

By: Graham Wegner

Graham Wegner — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:23:03 +0000

@Russel The secondary school scenario happens a lot here and has for many years but moving house for specific primary schools is a newer occurrence. At least in the high school scenario you are looking at things like subject choices and special programs that will be specific to your child.

@Sylvia Our primary school test scores (which only happen bi-annually from Year 3) are not available for public comparison (although some politicians are working hard to change that) so I have heard reasons around my community that are just merely things like “I hear it’s a good school”, “I’ve heard you have good kids”, “Your school looks nice when I drive past” or “They’ve got interactive whiteboards and a nice gym” as reasons for wanting their child to attend. Teaching methods and curriculum are almost never mentioned. I won’t go into the reasons some friends of ours chose Catholic schools instead but rest assured the academic program was not one of them!

By: sylvia martinez

sylvia martinez — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:56:08 +0000

This is also very common in the USA. It’s also a favorite of real estate agents – since our local newspapers publish test scores for each school in the area. Agents use those lists to steer families to purchase homes in areas with high scoring schools, and prices go up.

Maybe real estate agents should pay for some of costs of testing?

By: Russel Montgomery

Russel Montgomery — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:55:27 +0000

Hi Graham

Sure do. Not so much for Primary schools that I know of, but certainly for Secondary schools.

Being in the right school zone can add plenty to the value of a property (rental or purchase).

Such school also market themselves by providing scholarships for “out of zone” kids. My son benefits from one such scholarship.

I live in Perth West Oz.