School choices in certain areas of Sydney

This article (Sydney Morning Herald, 2013) informs of the many schools that are affected by the recent educational controversy, the Gonski reform. The article even includes a map of the schools around NSW and whether they set to benefit or lose out from the new scheme.

In Sydney, there are a multitude of educational institutions for parents and students to choose from, such as government schools, religious schools and private schools (Universal, 2013). The choices of school in which a parent can choose to send their children to can impact on their future greatly (Colburn, 2012). This blog post will explore how this is so and what may influence school choices. The choice of school may impact on a student’s educational outcomes and motivation towards their future.

Firstly, what influences a child’s school are majorly their parents’ upbringing and how important their child’s education is to them. For example, someone that recognises the importance of education will enforce the ideal upon their children. However what may also affect the school students go to would be family circumstances and also monetary issues. Private schools in Sydney can cost up to $40,000 a year, for many middle class families this is simply unaffordable and impossible to sustain for the course of their high school years. Furthermore, a family’s demographic circumstances may mean that the student has to study in a neighbourhood school whether they like it or not. Rural areas such as Coomealla in NSW would be forced to attend their local school, however, Coomealla high school does not benefit from the Gonski scheme, which brings a point out for debate, is the NSW government focusing too much on schools around the metropolitan area?

Moving on, what may sway a parent’s choice in school would be the websites that display the school’s ATAR achievements and ICSEA levels such as the Australian Curriculum (2013) not only that, there are sources online that display the school’s demographic area, and the number of LBOTE or ESL students, which may then lead to the topic of culture and identity. “How will my children fare amongst these students?” or “What if my children don’t fit in?” are commonly considered when choosing schools, therefore, most parents will want to enrol their children in a school that has good performance but also a school in which they feel their kids are more comfortable in, which would most probably be a school with a majority of their culture, religious background or common interests, this links back to the magnitude of schools up for selection in Sydney which presumably is out there for the diversity of students to accommodate for.

The school choice can also affect students’ perception of self and potentially their identity in society, and ultimately their educational performances. For example, there are sport focused schools that develop and hone student’s athletic performance whilst there are other schools that primarily focus on academics (Mason & McFeetors, 2007). These schools are fundamentally different in the way they teach their students and also the students that attend are different in the way they think and act and perform.

Therefore, putting a child in a school can ultimately shape their identity and their future and I personally feel that it is one of the most important choices a parent can make for their children. 

Reference

1.      Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2013, A note from ACARA, 13 October 2013, ACARA, viewed 23 October 2013, <http://www.myschool.edu.au/>.

2.      Colburn, B 2012, 'Responsibility and school choice in education', Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 207-222.

3.      Mason, R & McFeetors, J 2007, 'Student trajectories in high school mathematics: Issues of choice, support, and identity-making, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, vol. 7, no.4, pp. 291- 316.

4.      Sydney Morning Herald 2013, 200 schools worse off in new scheme, 23 October 2013, Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, viewed 23 October 2013, <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/200-schools-worse-off-in-new-scheme-20131022-2vz9n.html>.

5.      Universal 2013, Sydney Schools, 12 October 2013, School Choice, Australia, viewed 15 October 2013, <http://www.schoolchoice.com.au/sydney-schools.htm>.