News Archive
2010
2009
Schools website leads parents to change address
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday February 6, 2010
LEAGUE tables will influence parents to buy homes in suburbs with top-ranking schools, university researchers and real estate agents predict.Academics from the University of Sydney who have researched school choice say parents will consult performance rankings on the Federal Government's My School website when deciding where to live.But those who cannot afford to move to suburbs with better ranking schools may become prone to feeling trapped, said Craig Campbell, an associate professor from the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney.Professor Campbell, who co-wrote a book on school choice, has interviewed parents who bought real estate within the catchment areas of reputable public schools. Popular high schools include Burwood Girls, Cheltenham Girls, Epping Boys, Killara and Cherrybrook Technology High School."It is likely the trends that already exist will get stronger," he said. "The league tables are going to be a powerful new source of information for parents. I have no doubt it will impact on real estate decisions."British research had found that some people who felt they did not have the financial or educational resources to work the education system felt alienated. Others who had the resources had become more engaged in making it work for them."It has been a long-term trend kicked off [in Australia] by the dezoning of government schools," he said. "There are going to be a lot of people who feel more trapped, who can't afford to buy into the areas with good government schools."Professor Campbell said he agreed with commentators such as the academic Michael Pusey who have argued that the rise of neo-liberalism has contributed to undermining confidence in public institutions.The middle classes now felt a need to insure themselves against failing government health and education systems."The collapse of traditional working-class jobs has also put more pressure on people who have been less reliant on schools and education in the past."Those people can't afford the good real estate and, possibly, better schools."Helen Proctor, a fellow lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, co-wrote School Choice, How Parents Negotiate the New School Market in Australia with Professor Campbell and Geoffrey Sherington.She said the new data would contribute to parents thinking more about primary school choice. "In the research we did for the school choice book we were finding parents who had moved right across Sydney because they had identified a good high school," she said."It will be interesting to see whether real estate agents will be saying a primary school has good NAPLAN tests."Virginia Nicoll, of the real estate agency Harris Tripp First in Summer Hill, said good schools in the area, including Summer Hill Public, Trinity Grammar and St Patricks Catholic, were a selling point."We've been experiencing that solidly for the past 10 years, parents moving into the suburb for the schools in the area."Maria Gerber of Elders real estate in Stanmore said she had spoken to parents wanting to buy in the Stanmore area, to be in its school catchment."We are surrounded by a good selection of private and public schools. Parents will be looking at those ... statistics and making decisions based on those as well."SYDNEY'S TOP 221 Sydney Grammar School, Edgecliff Preparatory School3 Sydney Grammar School, St Ives Preparatory School5 St Francis' School Paddington6 St Mary's Preparatory School North Sydney7 Artarmon Public School8 John Colet School Belrose9 Woollahra Public School10 Mosman Church of England Preparatory School11 Abbotsleigh Wahroonga12 SCEGGS Darlinghurst )13 Holy Family Catholic Primary School Lindfield14 Our Lady of the Rosary School Kensington15 Queenwood School for Girls Mosman16 Beaumont Road Public School Killara17 Carlingford West Public School Carlingford18 St Aloysius' College Milsons Point19 St Ives North Public School20 Epping West Public School21 St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School Northbridge22 Summer Hill Public SchoolSource: Herald analysis of data from My Schools website.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald