Which is the best private school? have your say. (1 Viewer)

[Jenjen]

Cos Barker treats the girls like crap and then we are the top academically
and even when girls do top they usually rig it so a boy gets it

And from what experience would you base your comment on "barker is so overrated"
you could say that about any school
but compare it to a state school and barker is sweet

I personally think selective schools are overrated

 

[Weisy]

Jenjen does have a point there, about selective schools being overrated. Although, come on - Barker isn't significantly better than any other good school out there (imho).

 

[Jenjen]

I dont think Barker is that much better than any other good school out there either. Its the same as any- you pay for what you get.
I just dont think you can say its overrated. It' like saying that private schools are overrated (cos Barker is a pretty standard private school) and compared to a school like Baulko- state selective school with crappy facilities it is way better
And cos of that I'll defend it to the ground

I also think that you'll see Barker perform quite well academically this year. Its a pretty good year

Selective schools are shit- they teach people to think and assume they are smarter than other people. They teach people that study is more important than a social conscience and I just think that they produce people that tend to be self-centred to some extent.

 

[Weisy]

Originally posted by Jenjen
Selective schools are shit- they teach people to think and assume they are smarter than other people. They teach people that study is more important than a social conscience and I just think that they produce people that tend to be self-centred to some extent.

ok, it's not fair to say that either. You just said all this stuff about it not being fair to generalise about private schools, why do you do so for selective schools?

Selective schools are not all the same. They definitely do not produce people who are self-centred to ANY extent above that of what is present in any ordinary person who has been brought up in our society. And I don't nevcessarily think they teach that study is more important, they probably just recognise the need for many students to focus on study in their final year in order to meet the outcomes of the HSC.

The only reason I think some selective schools are overrated is because they profess to be extraordinary in their methods, whereas I believe that having brilliant hardworking students in the first place is actually the main contributing factor.

And why is a school 'shit' for teaching people how to think? And I suppose just for the record, people in selective schoolas are generally smarter, that's why they're there.

 

[Ollz San]

Students in selective schools are generally more competitive i guess. Though I can also say that for some of the top private schools.
I suppose selective schools provide the right study environment for those who achieve better in a competitive system. Definitely not for those who gets demotivated when everyone else is just as smart or smarter.

 

[Jenjen]

I did not say it was unfair to generalise about private schools
I said that to say Barker was overrated would be to say all private schools are overrated because Barker is pretty representative of most private schools, and unless you've been in a private school or been at Barker you're not really in a position to say anything about it

On the other hand, I went to a selective school so I have something to base my opinion (and it is an opinion) on.

think selective schools are bad because it is an unnatural environment. In every other part of our lives we are going to be confronted with a wide range of people, some who care about marks and some who care more about who is going to win the rugby world cup. Alot of students in selective schools (and this is an observation of teachers who work there- I did a study on this for geography) tend to be less accustomed to dealing with people who do not have the same level of intelligence as them- and this gets progressively worse each year as the next cohort has to get more coaching, and thus learn less social skills as they are not participating in a wider variety of co-curricular activities.
I think it is uhealthy to put young kids (some starting year 7 at 10 years old) in a situation where they are pushed in one direction, spoon-fed and encouraged to succeed more academically than in any other way.

I apologise if I have offended anyone. I'm not a snob or a bitch. I just feel sorry for those kids whose parents feel getting into a selective school is everything and as a result dont let them do things that normal kids do- like try soccer or ballet or whatever. I'm not trying to attack anyone that goes there- 1/2 my friends do and they're great people, its more I think the institution is wrong. Theres a totally different world outside selective schools. It took me a year at barker to adjust to being with people in class that were not interested in school at all.

All I'm trying to say is that selective schools dont really teach tolerance of different types of people, particularly those of lesser intelligence. There are so many amazing people out there that won't get 90 + for their UAI and all I'm saying is that had I not gotten out of the selective school when I did, I would not be as well equipped to meet any of these people or accept them.

But yeah again sorry if I pissed anyone off

 

[SPX]

Selective kids aren't smarter than everyone else, there are at least 40 guys in my school who can compete and beat them in the HSC and at schools like Knox, PLC, Abbotsleigh, Ravo and Killara are just the same as they produce some of the most talented well rounded people. Meanwhile we have selective schools mostly about academic and are beatable and they end up like Sydney High in the GPS Rugby when they had the crappest rugby team by far but a school which is a "HSC factory". So I think we're better then most or the typical selective kid.

 

[flyin']

the sydney high rugby/sport dilemma was based on the fact that alot of their school was made of asian ... and asians being asians are smaller ... so its not hard to figure out why they had a crap rugby team ...

 

[Jenjen]

In any case wouldnt you all agree that it is better to be well grounded with a range of interests etc and a higher tolerance to different types of people, rather than only concerned with what mark you get in a few exams??

 

[Weisy]

Originally posted by Jenjen
Barker is pretty representative of most private schools, and unless you've been in a private school or been at Barker you're not really in a position to say anything about it.

Actually, I did go to a private school, and I chose it over a selective school because I'm really into music and I felt that a private school could give me a more rounded education. I am not a barker hater, nor am I a selective school lover, I just felt that you were generalising before, so I'm glad you cleared it up.

And of course I agree - so many people tend to lose their perspective during the HSC, and feel that they have to lose much of what they enjoyed doing, and what made them an interesting, well-rounded individual for the sake of a few marks. I don't exclude myself from this group, to a certain extent either. I am prone to being paranoid and stressed.

And it's important to remember that not all private school kids turn out to be well-grounded, just as not all selective shool kids end up with a lesser tolerance of many different types of people.

 

[utopian731]

Originally posted by Weisy


And of course I agree - so many people tend to lose their perspective during the HSC, and feel that they have to lose much of what they enjoyed doing, and what made them an interesting, well-rounded individual for the sake of a few marks.

Everyone seems to talk about how that happened, but I really didnt notice a hell of a lot of it, in my broader circle of friends anyway. Maybe trintiy was just layed back or sumthin

 

[chait]

Originally posted by Weisy


The only reason I think some selective schools are overrated is because they profess to be extraordinary in their methods, whereas I believe that having brilliant hardworking students in the first place is actually the main contributing factor.

i agree.

a selective school might perform well in the HSC, but it doesn't mean that the school itself has contributed anything significant to that success. If a student in a selective school student were placed at another school, they'd still perform relatively well, given their natural abilities.

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by chait


i agree.

a selective school might perform well in the HSC, but it doesn't mean that the school itself has contributed anything significant to that success. If a student in a selective school student were placed at another school, they'd still perform relatively well, given their natural abilities.

but a selective school environment allows an 'acedemic' student to achieve their absolute best, if they wanted to ... likewise there are ample opportunities for extra-curricula activities such as in field of music (bands, musicals ...) and sports (rugby, soccer, tennis ...) ... people at selective schools dont just study ... and yes natural ability counts for alot but the student still needs to put in the hard yards ... which is where strong competition comes into play ...

 

[utopian731]

Originally posted by flyin'


but a selective school environment allows an 'acedemic' student to achieve their absolute best, if they wanted to

Im not sure, i went to a non-selective private school and i think it was the perfect environment to achieve my best if i wanted to. For instance, the subject choice was much more broad than any selective school (apart from Sydney Grammar) could have offered, eg Latin.I think an environment such as JRAHS would have been emotionally destructive and drainig on me, even though im confident that the academic side wouldnt have been the problem. I tihnk james ruse has the completely wrong idea baout education.

 

[Jenjen]

I totally agree wth Utopian
Selective schools provide a totally unnatural environment for people to spend the most tumultuous period of their lives in.
I am so glad I changed schools.
It was the best decision I ever made.

 

[chait]

all of the hype about selective schools is unjustified. they don't have great facilities or as you've said great choice in terms of subs and extra curricular. i wouldn't go to one either.

 

[Dumbarse]

the best private skool would have to be St. James Ruse cathedral college in wagga on the north shore

 

[utopian731]

Since when is wagga on the north shore

 

[chait]

Originally posted by Dumbarse
wagga on the north shore

how does that work?????

 

[chait]

hey check this site out... http://www.schoolfriends.com.au it's free to sign up.. good to keep track of friends