Catholic Schooling in North Shore

[Ben2008]

Hi. We hv 3 kids , two of whom going into Year 0 and Year 2 in 2011. We plan to arrive in Auckland next year. We hv submitted our forms to St Joseph's Takapuna, in fact we've been on their wait-list for some time. However, they can't confirm a place for us. Our other choices in North Shore would be St Mary's Northcote and St Leo's Devonport.

I've read the ERO reports on these schools. It seems most likely that we'll have to choose between St Mary's or St Leo's since St Joseph's is FULL! Does anyone have any feedback on these schools?

Thank you!

[mgbridges]

Have you considered St John's in Mairangi Bay? Our son goes there and I have ended up as a Teacher Aide at the school. Its highly likely that if you contacted the school you'd get the standard "our roll is full" response as it is a VERY popular school. However, I'd at least get yourself on the waitlist as you just never know. 3yrs ago we dropped lucky as we happened to contact the school just as a child was leaving from the relevant year group and they offered us a place.

The website is; www.stjohnsmairangibay.school.nz
We have just this year had another ERO & Catholic Character inspections with excellent results for both.

Most of the schools on the North Shore are high decile and by all accounts most of them have good reputations. I'm afraid I can only give personal opinion on St John's with which we have been INCREDIBLY happy, as I don't have experience of the others.

Good luck in finding the right school for your children & for your move to NZ.

Anneliese

[Ben2008]

Hi Anneliese,
Thank you for yr feedback. I'm always heartened to hear of parents who are happy with their children's school, as it is so important that the children are happy where they're schooling.

Yes, we did look at St John's but I missed their deadline for enrolment at the end of August. The childrens' names are on the waitlist on St Joseph, so we might still hv a chance. However, just yesterday, St Mary's were able to confirm a place for both the kids, hence, it looks highly likely to be St Mary's.

THanks once again for yr well wishes.

Mrs Ben

[StevieD]

hey Ben,

not everybody is happy with the schooling here, for us with kids in the local catholic schools we can say we are well happy. the kids are flourishing, doing so much in a great environment. I'm sure you will find the difference is very noticeable to schools on planet earth haha.

[Ben2008]

hey Ben,

not everybody is happy with the schooling here, for us with kids in the local catholic schools we can say we are well happy. the kids are flourishing, doing so much in a great environment. I'm sure you will find the difference is very noticeable to schools on planet earth haha.

To give you some colour of our background we are living in a Moslem country in this part of Earth, and catholic schools are non-existent, churches are under attack (physically and politically) frequently. Christians go about their lives quietly and try not to stir up so much trouble. So, that is certainly the big difference compared to NZ! Religious persecution is the primary reason for our move.

[StevieD]

sheessh, can you say where you live??? you won't find anything like that down here of that i'm sure

[Ben2008]

sheessh, can you say where you live??? you won't find anything like that down here of that i'm sure

I'm sure there won't be anything of that sort in NZ, or we wouldn't hv applied!

Will reveal our home country status once we arrive NZ. They hv laws here that allow arrest if they find you a "threat to national security" - which is virtually anything. ppl hv been put away if an anti-muslim book is "found" in their home, or being too outspoken, those agreeing to testify against political scandals hv "disappeared" and many of other unmentionables. The govt is able to tap into internet i.p address and find out who blogs what. We've waited 2yrs for our PR... and until we hv put our feet down in NZ, we're not going to take the risk. Cheers!