When Simon Gipson, the principal at St Michael's Grammar School, moved from Perth to Melbourne to take up his new position late in 2000, he quickly discovered Melburnians were obsessed with three topics: the weather, the footy, and, for those who could afford it, independent schools.
"There are more independent schools per square centimetre in Melbourne than anywhere in the universe and there are deepseated allegiances to schools that are both historical and familybased," he says.
This may be overstating it, but his impression of a plethora of independent schools is correct. Thirty per cent of Australian children now attend nongovernment schools (including Catholic schools), but in Melbourne it's closer to 34 per cent, according to the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria.
For those who can consider paying $10,000 to $18,000 a year – the going rate to send a child to an established private secondary school near the city - the choice of schools is dazzling. But, equally, the costs can be daunting.
Parents often underestimate the cost of sending a child to a private school. The tuition fees are just the beginning. The uniform alone can set you back $1000. Allow up to $1000 a year for the private bus service. Books can cost up to $500 extra, and don't forget to allow for extra activities and subjects charges.
And if you budgeted according to last year's school prospectus (the source of fees for this
article), you'll find that some prices are already higher, in some cases rising
by up to 8per cent. Catholic schools are
often, but not always, cheaper than other independent schools.
The executive officer of the Victorian Parents Council, Susan Hughes, says parents quickly figure out whether they can afford a school. "There are independent Catholic schools that cost a few hundred dollars, and then there are schools where you'll need to replace a laptop at several thousand dollars every three years. It comes down to what parents expect from a school and what the cost of those expectations is. If you want your child to have an outdoor education experience, for example, then the fees will be higher."
The first step is to register with the school, and this can cost as little as $25 at Scotch College, rising to $100 at Carey Baptist Grammar and Geelong Grammar. The average charge is $50. It can be a costly exercise to cover your bases and register your child at several schools.
But that's the least of it. Once you decide on a school, you must pay either an enrolment fee or provide the school with an interestfree loan, which is repaid at the end of your child's schooling. Some schools require both.
The chief executive of the Association of Independent Schools in Victoria, Fiona Ogilvy O'Donnell, says schools vary widely on charges for any extras.
"A number of schools offer family discounts and flexible payment methods. You'll find some are allinclusive, while others have a tuition fee and addons for excursions, Internet access, charges for printing and copying, hire of computers and musical instruments. Parents really do have to ask questions and plan."
Don't be confused by the different names for the enrolment fee in the prospectus. At St Catherine's it is a $1750 non refundable "family entrance fee". Xavier College charges a $1100 nonrefundable fee, Caulfield Grammar charges $800, and Melbourne Girls Grammar charges $700. Many schools charge $400 to 500.
Often parents are asked to pay the enrolment fee more than a year before their child is due to start at the school, which means that if no final decision on a school has been made, fees at several schools must be paid just to hold the places.
The concept of an interestfree loan to the school, on top of the tuition fees, also takes many parents by surprise.
At St Kevin's, new families provide a single noninterestbearing loan to the college of $800 for the early secondary years. Camberwell Grammar charges a $1250 loan, which is repaid within three months of the last son leaving the school.
At St Michael's the noninterestbearing loan is almost double, ranging from $2460 at year 7 to $2920 at year 12. Like many schools, St Michael's views the loan as a contribution towards maintenance, upgrading of facilities and new capital development.
Other schools don't expect a loan but do expect parents to pay a compulsory nontaxdeductible building levy. Others may ask for a voluntary taxdeductible contribution.
schools also vary widely on what is included in the tuition fees. If you compare the fees of schools through publications such as The Age Good schools Guide, it can be misleading because some schools include excursions, camps, books, basic music lessons, even laptop ownership in the tuition fees. Other charge extra and these bills can be significant.
For example, the year 12 fee of $14,500 at Wesley College may appear higher than some competitors, but the use of the laptop (costing $3000 extra at some schools) is included.
Parents must also factor in the cost of the special programs offered by some schools. For example, parents paid $25,528 last year to send a child to Geelong Grammar's Timbertop campus. Wesley's year 9 program at the Clunes campus cost an extra $1960 for eight weeks last year, and MLC's eight weeks for year 9 students at its Marshmead campus cost an extra $786.
The fact that there are tangible differences - both in cost and what's on offer - between schools has made parents more discerning. For example, Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College once mostly comprised the sons of old boys, but now just 30 per cent of students have a family connection to the school.
Both schools have strong waiting lists at pivotal entry points such as year 7, but their principals acknowledge they face increased competition from other schools.
Melbourne Grammar principal Paul Sheahan says it is healthy that more people shop around to match their child's personality with a school. "If the child is in the wrong school, it can be a torturous path," he says.
He also urges parents to check the costs involved. "It would be gilding the lily to say that it is not expensive to send a child to an independent school."
An advantage such established boys schools have over newer schools is that they can draw on a wealthy alumni to pay for building projects. For example, Scotch College principal Dr Gordon Donaldson says the new performing arts complex is mostly financed from donations. "Old Scotch Collegians offer support at a level that is hard to equal," he says.
In contrast, Mr Gipson says St Michael's grew out of a girls' school, with few donations from former pupils. This means current parents must finance new projects through fundraising and increased fees.
To compete, schools such as St Michael's have had to be innovative. If they don't have the required number of ovals, they lease them. Similarly, St Michael's has expanded its school grounds by leasing adjacent church buildings. But Mr Gipson says it's the school's unique programs, such as its performing arts program, that is often a deciding factor for parents.
Last year the school offered a new opportunity for year 10 students to complete a VCE unit in biology on Orpheus Island in Queensland at a cost of $3700 on top of tuition fees.
The school fees are higher at Melbourne Girls Grammar than at Melbourne Grammar for similar reasons to St Michael's.
MGGS business manager Ross Congleton says there are no large benefactors, which means the current parents must help pay for the recent building program.
But MGGS principal Christine Briggs urges parents not to focus on a school's facilities. "Parents will not choose this school for its 'interesting' collection of buildings, many of which are 100 years old. They will choose it for its passionate teachers, who will form relationships with girls and be on a learning journey with them that allows them to really fly."
Mrs Briggs says her primary role is to support teachers so that optimal learning takes place. Her emphasis is correct, according to Dr Ken Rowe, principal research fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research. "Local and international research shows the most important thing is a good teacher," he says. "Up to 60 per cent of the residual variance in academic performance is due to the quality of the teacher."
Yet if you read the glossy prospectuses of many private schools, there is lots of information about the stateoftheart gymnasium or music suites but very little about the school's main asset: the teachers and their expertise.
Dr Rowe says parents should not be impressed by grounds or facilities. "Naive people might be, but it doesn't make a hoot of difference to the bottom line, which is academic performance," he says.
Primary school teacher Annette Blight, with two boys at Caulfield Grammar, says it is very hard for parents to judge the quality of teaching in a school until the children get there. "Unless you know a lot of people who have children at the school, how can you assess that? All your peer group have children at the same age. You really need to talk to parents five to six years down the track."
Mrs Blight says a good teacher makes "all the difference in the world" to a child's education, but says when she had to choose a school for her children, she could make judgments only on tangible items such as the sports facilities and programs offered.
She says she did expect class sizes to be lower than average in private schools, but has found that this is not always the case.
Ms Ogilvy O'Donnell, of the Association of Independent Schools in Victoria, confirms that some private schools have bigger class sizes than expected. But she says the average ratio of teachers to pupils is higher in private schools because the schools usually have more support staff than state schools. "I wouldn't say categorically there are no schools with classes over 30. Schools ... may decide to have a class of 30 and then have another support person."
Given that costs have risen, class sizes aren't necessarily smaller and it's hard to assess the quality of the staff, are private schools offering value for money? Ms Ogilvy O'Donnell says: "I think as we continue to see growth in independent schools and increasing enrolments, this would suggest that people do believe they are getting value."
Certainly some parents go to great lengths to send a child to a private school. Dr Donaldson of Scotch College says many parents work very hard. "There are mothers who work purely to pay the fees and some families have moved suburbs to create some more capital to send their children here," he says.
Mrs Briggs says she worries about some of the single parents with children at Melbourne Girls Grammar. "It is a very big stretch. I would never advise anyone to come here if it would mean the breakdown of a family.
"Financial pressures can split families. But people put a value on education within the family and they are very calm about their decision, even when it means the family can't do much else other than pay the school fees."
Susan Hughes, of the Victorian Parents Council, says many families carry a lot of debt to pay fees.
"A lot of women go back to work when the kids go to secondary school to cover those costs. Families tend to have less expensive holidays and they pray their child is going to get a scholarship."
Last week "Counting the costs" looked at education in government schools. You can find that story on our website at theage.com.au/edage/index.html
Doing your homework
Will we or won't we? Parents do the hard yards to decide
Sara Robinson, a mother of three, describes herself as a late starter when it came to choosing a private secondary school for her eldest child.
By that, she means that other parents in her area (and she believes this applies to other eastern and bayside suburbs) seemed to divide into two camps: They either followed family tradition and sent their child to the school that they went to or they endlessly researched the many independent schools on offer.
"When we moved here from Perth in 1990," she says, "everyone said we would find there is a strong private-school ethic in Melbourne and that we would want to think about putting our children into private schools."
Although Sara went to a private school in Perth, she did not necessarily expect that her children would. Shortly afterwards, the family was transferred overseas with her husband's work, so no decision was made.
When the family moved back to Melbourne in 1998, her son Cameron was in grade 3. By this time the parents at the local state school seemed to be constantly discussing which private school their children might go to at secondary level. "There is certainly an impression in this area that if you can afford to, you will send your children to a private school," Sara says.
Sara was surprised to note that very few children from year 6 at the local state school went on to a state secondary college. "It must be difficult for those parents who simply can't afford it," she says.
After making inquiries, Sara attended open days at three private schools. She says other parents did a lot more legwork, often having interviews with the principals and/or registrars of several schools.
Like most parents, she says she found it very hard to compare schools. "There are slight variations but they all have great music facilities, art and drama programs. They all seem to be strong academically, although some may be more sporty."
In the end she and her husband chose Caulfield Grammar for her son Cameron, who has just started in year 7. But because they left it until 2000 to register for a place, his enrolment was not confirmed until late last year.
So far the bills are coming in as she had been led to expect. The school uniform, including sports gear, will cost just over $1000. The books cost more than $500 new, but were $100 less at the second-hand book stall.
The account for the first third of the year came to $4109.
With two children still in primary school, Sara says she is privileged to not have to work at the moment. "But that may change. Can you imagine doubling these fees? All around me I see people who really lay it on the line to get their kids through these schools. I've seen families vacillating about whether they can afford it. Then they decide, 'that's what we really want' and they put everything aside to do it. Some get loans from banks or their families."
So far she is happy with her decision because the school seems to offer "a highly motivating environment".
This story was found at: http://www.moneymanager.com.au/planning/guides/articles/school02.html