Pick 'n Pay

Parenting

The short answer to the question whether you should worry about getting your kids into school is.... yes.

Maybe I should qualify the question with..... getting your kid into a GOOD school. Or make that a 'RELATIVELY GOOD' school.

My daughter's currently in a private school, and pretty happy there. She gets good grades and has a healthy social life. However, her best friend is moving to a local non-private school with much better sporting facilities, and - I suspect - many more boys.

I was only too happy to support the proposed move and application - less stress on the old wallet.

'Done deal', I thought.
Not.

More than 800 kids applied for 100 places. And most were strong candidates. After having a chat with the principal, he showed me some of the applications. Provincial sports colors, straight A's, leadership positions galore - sheesh. Is there still such a thing as an ordinary kid?

After this jolt to the comfort zone, I set about the task of getting my two-year old boy's application sorted for primary school (in four years' time - FOUR YEARS).

The first school I phoned for an application form, laughed at me. 'Way too early,' said the kindly secretary. 'Try again in two years or so.' Phew, I thought. Sanity prevails.

But then I phoned the second school. 'Just in time', said the harried secretary. 'We're about to close applications for 2009. I'm afraid however, that if you weren't in the school, or if he hasn't got any siblings in the school, that he will have to go onto the waiting list.'

How many kids on the waiting list? More than 50. Are you kidding me?

So there you go. My boy's application is in, and we're holding thumbs that he'll nail the interview (yes, interview) and get into the pre-school of the same excellent primary school that his brother's attending. But who knows?

A bit of informal nosing around, and I found out that there's a thriving industry, coaching kids to get into the schools of their choice.

I spoke to one of these coaches, Gloria Sunderland, who seems to run a pretty exclusive business. She says it's time for parents to catch a wake-up call.
"I don't advertise," she says. "I don't need to. I coach more kids than I can handle, and word-of-mouth works well for me."

So I guess one would need a pre-coach coach for your kid, right?
"It's not as bad as that," she laughs. "But it is getting pretty competitive for kids nowadays. The strange thing is that it's harder to get into good government schools than it is getting into most private schools. I know of a school where more than 2 000 children compete annually for 200 places.

"A lot of primary schools have an interview process in place which helps with selection. Some secondary schools also require an interview, and in some instances the kids have to sit an entrance exam.

"I help prepare the kids, and I give parents' guidance with regards to their kids' preparation."

Getting into a good primary school is tough, but getting into high school is even tougher. A good strategy is to ensure that the same school offers both primary and secondary school.

So... people of my generation. Nowadays, it's a different ball game out there for our kids. Things have changed, and I guess if we want the best for our kids, that we'll have to change too.


	Parenting The short answer to the question whether you should worry about getting your kids into school is.... yes. Maybe I should qualify the question with..... getting your kid into a GOOD school. Or make that a 'RELATIVELY GOOD' school. My daughter's currently in a private school, and pretty happy there. She gets good grades and has a healthy social life. However, her best friend is moving to a local non-private school with much better sporting facilities, and - I suspect - many more boys. I was only too happy to support the proposed move and application - less stress on the old wallet. 'Done deal', I thought. Not. More than 800 kids applied for 100 places. And most were strong candidates. After having a chat with the principal, he showed me some of the applications. Provincial sports colors, straight A's, leadership positions galore - sheesh. Is there still such a thing as an ordinary kid? After this jolt to the comfort zone, I set about the task of getting my two-year old boy's application sorted for primary school (in four years' time - FOUR YEARS). The first school I phoned for an application form, laughed at me. 'Way too early,' said the kindly secretary. 'Try again in two years or so.' Phew, I thought. Sanity prevails. But then I phoned the second school. 'Just in time', said the harried secretary. 'We're about to close applications for 2009. I'm afraid however, that if you weren't in the school, or if he hasn't got any siblings in the school, that he will have to go onto the waiting list.' How many kids on the waiting list? More than 50. Are you kidding me? So there you go. My boy's application is in, and we're holding thumbs that he'll nail the interview (yes, interview) and get into the pre-school of the same excellent primary school that his brother's attending. But who knows? A bit of informal nosing around, and I found out that there's a thriving industry, coaching kids to get into the schools of their choice. I spoke to one of these coaches, Gloria Sunderland, who seems to run a pretty exclusive business. She says it's time for parents to catch a wake-up call. "I don't advertise," she says. "I don't need to. I coach more kids than I can handle, and word-of-mouth works well for me." So I guess one would need a pre-coach coach for your kid, right? "It's not as bad as that," she laughs. "But it is getting pretty competitive for kids nowadays. The strange thing is that it's harder to get into good government schools than it is getting into most private schools. I know of a school where more than 2 000 children compete annually for 200 places. "A lot of primary schools have an interview process in place which helps with selection. Some secondary schools also require an interview, and in some instances the kids have to sit an entrance exam. "I help prepare the kids, and I give parents' guidance with regards to their kids' preparation." Getting into a good primary school is tough, but getting into high school is even tougher. A good strategy is to ensure that the same school offers both primary and secondary school. So... people of my generation. Nowadays, it's a different ball game out there for our kids. Things have changed, and I guess if we want the best for our kids, that we'll have to change too.