Sydney - Private Schools eastern suburbs

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My husband wants to move back to Sydney. We're thinking of living in Paddington, sending the children to state junior school and then private for senior. Does anyone have any top tips about which school? We are looking at schools for boys and girls.

How old are you DC? What genders? A lot of the top tier private schools lists are full up years in advance. Also a large number is schools are single sex. If you are located in Paddington you can access the schools in the inner west, the city schools. The commute to the Easter sub or North shore schools would be a nightmare!!!!!!!!!! What sort of things were you looking for? there are some top flight GPS and IGSA schools in that area.

Girls: 6 and 5 months, Boy 18 months.

For the girls i was thinking of getting them on the list for SCEGGS but don't know what the others are like. we have been given the impression that Ascham maybe a little too upmarket for us.

For our son, we're thinking Scotts as people seem to prefer it over Cranbrook. However, i don't even know of other boy's schools in the area.

siik what are you talking about - Paddington is in the Eastern Suburbs

Junior (primary) schools are generally all good, you just plonk your child in the nearest one without any of the fuss and drama of the UK (honestly the UK is MAD in this respect) so you are right to save the fees for secondary school.

All private schools have a personality - you need to find the best fit for your child's character. They sound far too young yet to make that decision! Why don't you just enrol them in one of Paddington's lovely primary schools and then start talking to fellow parents about where they're sending their children. You won't have too much trouble if they're still this young.

SCEGGS is excellent for girls. Cranbrook v good but not super academic. Sydney Grammar might be better if boy turns out v bright.

I might just get there names down as SCEGGS and maybe Kambala? Boy for Scotts and pray that he's a genuis!

Friends brother has just been through Scotts and very disappointed with the tuition he received or he may just be thick you never know with these things.

My girls are going to Wenona so that's the best IMO

Meant to have a wink on the end there

Oh no. And where is Wenona? My knowledge of schools in Sydney is pretty tiny. Do know of others that i should look at, or a league table. My eldest DD needs less acedemic and sporty to be utterly honest.

I actually have no clue where wenona is geographically but a bus goes from mosman. My brief is similar without the sport lol but wenona promise me woman of spirit so that'll do for us !

Wenona is North Shore so would be a pain for you.

In the East there are lots of great girls schools- Ascham, SCEGGS, St Catherines, Kambala, Kincoppal - you can't go wrong really. Can't offer too much insight as I have boys, but if I had girls I would go for Ascham or St Caths. SCEGGS is very "urban" and I don't like stepping over syringes to do a school drop-off. Lots of people love it though.

Boys schools are all good too. Cranbrook - quite the "establishment" school with a focus on an all-round education. Cranbrook boys seem to become a very tight-knit group who stay friends forever (not sure if that's good or bad).
Scots tends to be seen as much more of a sporty/blokey school. Didn't use to have a good rep re academics but I believe this has improved. I know a lot of people with boys there who rave about it.
Waverley College is a Catholic boys school and not as up-market as the other two.

Siilk where did you think Paddington was?

If you want co-ed then look at Reddam House. I have a friend who teaches there who has previously taught at Cranbrook and Scots and says she would only send her children to Reddam. They get great results. They have a large jewish/South African contingent which can be a bit cliquey.

When I say "lots of people love it" I'm referring to the school, not stepping over syringes!!

Ha Bubbaluv, i took it you meant the school! I lived around the corner when i was first married so remember the 'urban' chic well.

Thing is I know a load of Cranbrook boys and don't really like their ethos. They are all trustafarians and used to behave abominably when i was there in my 20's. Loads of drugs/ Would regularly trash houses and the like. Their eventual stag dos were revolting. This has put me off the school but it may have changed.

Reddam House looks like another option to look at.

mosman do your girls go to a school that you don't know where it is? That even puts my sloppy parenting to shame

Well I hope you get a better email response than I did from SCEGGS, basically don't hold your breath we have a waiting list

They don't go to the school yet, start in January all things going to plan

I used to live around the corner too! Loved it as a cool area to hang out in my 20s, but it makes me feel a bit uneasy when I see the girls wandering around Kings Cross in their uniforms.

I didn't know too many Cranbrook boys when I was younger, but your description fits perfectly for the Scots boys I knew. My impression was certainly that the Eastern Suburbs kids were a "fast" crowd compared to the Nth Shore kids. But maybe I was just too busy with sport to notice!?

Wenona is in North Sydney. I only know the North Shore schools but in your situation I would look at which bus companies run the school buses in your area then see which schools they serve which will give you an idea of where kids end up (though some private schools will run additional private services if there is demand). Remember high school students often travel quite a long way as people often choose the "right" school for their individual child - I was surprised when I first arrived to see so many families sending their children to different schools, though I guess I shouldn't be as so many are single sex.

bubbaluv you're probably right about the Scots boys too. Lots of moeny in the area and the kids are all rather entitled.

sunny that's an excellent idea. Will look at buses. The problem i have is just not knowing any of the schools.

mosman Aha!

There are good and bad kids at every school - you can't judge them all by the few losers you come across in a particular crowd.

If you're considering out of area schools then I know that Newington College runs as bus from the Eastern Suburbs (it's in Stanmore of thereabouts.)
For girls PLC Sydney is also an excellent school - strong musical focus.

Before we moved back I just put there names down at lots of different places. We will make a decision when the offers come in I guess!?

You're right, have to say though that as they get into their late 30's even the losers seem to have sorted out a career, so there is hope.

Just want the kids to be happy and fit in somewhere!

It does seem to be who you know rather than what you know in Australia unfortunately. I'm not in the slightest bit interested in playing the game but appear to have been sucked in already :-(

Don't worry, i think that's how Sydney is. It's quite village like really and cliquey. Now i fell a little panicked!

Yep - and the Eastern Suburbs are a clique within a clique, but like all cliques you stop noticing it once you're in it! Hopefully!

A friend of mine just pulled a cunning trick with St Catherine's. We all (my mothers group) diligently put our babies' names down for various schools at 6 weeks old (I am on a waiting list at SCEGGS actually because I waited until 6 weeks - should have done it earlier) but she declined to join in and laughed at us.

Fast forward 3 years and she starts to panic that her daughter actually won't get in anywhere. So she approached St Cat's and registered her daughter for kindergarten. Had an interview to get in (which was obviously all about the parents, the daughter played with toys under the table, so not stressful as you don't need to worry about the child having to perform in any way) and got in. She has just called them and deferred the place to Year 7 (senior school). Done and dusted - she's still "in". I don't know if that will work elsewhere, but seemed worth a try.

I'd second bunging their names down at all the places that Bubbaluv listed, except that you have to pay sometimes 100s of dollars just to put them on a list. So it's worth googling all the places she listed for a quick look and picking two or three I'd say. We used to live in the East but have moved North. We always thought that there was an outside chance that we might move, so did Ascham, SCEGGS, St Cat's and Pymble. Ascham and St Cat's are now probably geographically out of reach for us, so that's probably just money down the drain now unfortunately. But that's how it works.

I know it's also possible a moot point, but the other thing is to look at the fees and calculate if you could really afford them. Some of these schools's fees are just crazy. Personally I'm leaning towards the hope that the DCs turn out to be brainy and get into one of the selective public schools!

BelRowley I'm hoping the same for mine, assuming we are still here by then. We would have to do serious budgeting to afford to send all four kids to my preferred private school.

I like that kindy trick. Maybe I should try that with ds3?

Re. the Eastern Suburbs, I have a friend whose ds is at Reddam and she's very happy with it. His current teacher has very high expectations (this poor child keeps getting C's in everything) but overall I get the impression that they really do treat every child as an individual, appreciate their strong points and work hard on improving the weak points.

Re. primary schools, I have been really unimpressed by the public primary school near us (Manly Village) even though it has a fairly good reputation. But maybe we were just very unlucky.

My cousin's daughter went to Queenwood - she was a very academic and hardworking girl, got 43/45 in her IB and went on to ANU and did very well and is soon to start a master's degree.

My cousin's son went to Cranbrook. He is distinctly less academic than his sister, though quite focused. He probably has something of the trustafarian about him!

My DD is at Ascham and I know boys at Cranbook & Scotts.

I can answer any questions about Ascham if you need :)