Public vs Private - Part 1

There's been a bit around facebook lately about private vs public schools, and as Zali is approaching the end of primary school, it's really obvious that Waimea must have one of the highest percentages of kids heading off to private schools after grade 6. I guess it's not that surprising as it's situated in the most affluent part of Sandy Bay which is the most affluent part of Hobart  but it is disappointing as it seems that most of Zali's friends aren't going to Taroona High.

 

I am in the relatively unique position of having attended both a public and a private school in my high school years. Like my brother,  I won an academic scholarship to cover me for grades 7-10 in the local private girls school – Fahan  (well ok Paul actually got a scholarship for Hutchins, the local boys private school). Unlike my brother (who chose to stay with his friends and go to Taroona High), I chose to head to Fahan. I remember that a lot of the attraction was just to do something different to my 2 elder siblings. I'm pretty sure I didn't think much more deeply about it than that although I do remember considering the fact that my best friend at the time was going to a high school a few suburbs away (as her dad was the principal) - so that meant that we were going to be separated no matter what option I chose.

 

Fahan started well, but after a year and a bit, both Mum and I started to question the value of it.  It was a small school and I found it hard to find a group of friends I felt comfortable with, especially since about half of them had been together since kindergarten.   Things like free dress days were a nightmare for me as I just didn't have the same wardrobe or access to funds to upgrade it as everyone else.  I looked enviously at my sister's list of grade 9 subject choices and I think mum and dad found the constant extra expenses (for things like books and uniform) as well as the gap between the scholarship and the term fees (despite the fact I had the top scholarship on offer) enough of a burden to make them reassess the value of the experience. To add to that by grade eight I'd fallen into a friendship with someone who probably wasn't a great influence (but I really liked her because she was fun to be with and a bit more down to earth than everyone else). So  I was hanging out with her, my grades were slipping and I sort of knew that things weren't going well. So when mum and dad decided that I would leave at the end of the year, I decided I wanted to go even earlier and so I found myself at Taroona High for the 2nd term of grade eight.