Private Schools or Public Schools which is better?

[Gabie]

Hello Everyone

I'm moving to Wellington in November'12 and doing a bit of research on the education. My daughter will be 4yrs in this November and we are looking at putting her in Queen Margaret Girls College in Wellington which is a private school. We see that this school has less crowded classes and i personally fee that my kid will have better attention from the teachers.

We are from India and have lived in Australia & Canada before...Education System in India is difference and my kid has been going to kinder Garden for couple of years..

I request your experience and advise on the Private and public school systems. My expectation on the school to be approachable and it should give importance to discipline....

[Otaku]

Our daughter is of almost same age (3.5 years) and she goes to playgroup. The classroom education, as we know in India, starts when kids reach 5 in NZ. So you would be admitting her to a kindy or playgroup, where they play all day. Regarding public vs private debate, most of the friends who have settled here (Auckland) have admitted their kids in Public schools. I do not know of anybody who has opted for private schools. Other forums members will also provide their inputs and you can also use site search, as I am pretty sure this topic is discussed by others too.

[girlwithanewf]

@Gabie - I will send you a private message.

Just to avoid any confusion - 'Public' schools tend to be called 'state schools'.
In the UK at least, public schools are private independent schools.
Here in NZ I would say that there are state schools and fee-paying schools are called private or independent schools.

[Gabie]

Thanks a lot.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I know people who have kids in both state schools and private fee paying schools. The people who I personally know with kids in private schools have made their choices not because of discipine or similar, but based upon the school leaving qualifications their kids will gain and the smaller class sizes. Rather than take the NZ NCEA, they would prefer their kids to gain either Cambridge IGCSE's and A Levels, or take the IB. There are a small number of state schools that do Cambridge Exams alongside the NCEA, but they tend to be very over subscribed with tight enrollement zones. It is, however, possible to gain such qualifications via other methods if desired.