Chch girl’s high schools??

Your parents will have to move "in zone" for most schools and you will have to have a private board contract written up as most schools in ChCh require that now.

I teach at an boys secondary school so we have a lot to do with the Girls schools round town.

Are you interested in private or state?

All these are only my personal opinions etc:

Girls High has a very good rep and a really good staff in most subject areas. Sports wise they achieve well and push top students to keep striving. Can be quite "white middle class" at times. It is similar to the school I teach at but the girl version. Often you find lots of working parents who buy their kids lots and tend to think the school is there to parent not them - this is a very general statement though.

Villa - Headmistress is an interesting character but senior managemnt and deans are great. Your child will do well here if they are self motivated and willing to work. The shcool is small so tends to stick to the good old basic subjects rather than dumbing down the system with lots of little irrelevents subjects. Really good mix and make up of kids. Great sporting school. Is catholic so only take 10% non-preference a year.

Marian - catholic school. High staff turn over and can be unsettled at times. Not sure of too much as staff never stay the same for long so never get a "true" idea of the school etc.

Avonside - know very little about it.

That kinda covers your state schools.

Then theres Rangi and St Margarets (both do boarding). St Margarets would be my pick of the two. Excellent, caring staff. Amazing subject choices. Great Head and senior management etc etc.

Unfortunately all the open days for high schools have been and gone and lots of applications for out of zone is closing soon. Obviously if in zone its not an issue as they are obliged to take you - that is where the boarding contract needs to be written up etc though as they can exclude you from the school.

ERO reports are good but often confusing and really only show major defects in the school. Talking to parents is your best bet and often stopping people at malls etc if you see them in uniform is the best way to get a real opinion on teh school.

Avonside has mixed results...I personally would avoid it but that is just me. I shoul dhave said also about Marian that they have "dumbed" down alot of their subjects and choices which is not so good for their intelligent students but a great school if your child is below average and probably not going to reach too much about average even with constant monitoring and tutoring.

I am hearing you on St Margarets - fantastic school but bloody expensive and if you were looking at priavte I would highly recommend looking at STAC although it is co-ed but is a really good well rounded school.

Feel free to PM me as I am happy to help with an info you need. Just remember that these are my opinions only and may not be what you find/think. I think my biggest advice fro secondary school is def look for a school that suits your childs needs!!!

peanut - thanks again it's great to get opinions from someone in the job! I worked for the MOE for years but in special needs so my knowledge of schools is from that perspective which ain't much help! Yeah I was planning on having a look at the ero reports.... I do have huge reservations with avonside after my experiences there, although, I was a bit of a distracted kid back then... My daughter is much more focused than me and is generally up the top of the class so I want to ensure I send her somewhere which will meet her needs.... Marion doesn't sound like it would be a good fit either.... I would consider Co-Ed and I have heard great things about STAC but we'd all have to go without food for a few years

RachandJack - wow must have been tough changing in 7th form! I kinda got that impression of CGHS but then again I guess it's better to head out into the world thinking your amazing that thinking your useless which is what happens to lots of kids eh... I had never heard of unlimited - just looked it up, it looks awesome but like ya say it wouldn't suit everyone... Nice to see schools catering for different ways of learning ...

I went to CGHS and I AM amazing

I finished there in '99 so the year before the zoning requirements came in there and I would have to say (for back then) Peanut is pretty spot on, doesn't sound like much has changed.

There ARE nice girls there though (would like to think I was one of them!) and TBH I think it is an asset that the school has high expectations of its students. There is definitely an expectation that you will carry on to further education, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Good luck choosing, I'm glad it's still a long way off for us yet!!!

Yeah I was sorta thinking it would be either villa or CGHS... I know she will encounter cattiness at any girl's school but she's a pretty strong kid and I know she can handle it. I really want her to go to a school which she is pushed to acheive - where she is now she is not extended at all... in fact it took me complaining 3 times before they would provide her with Maths work at her level rather than her just helping all the other kids...
Kiwisj- I think that is awesome that they expect you to carry on with further education - I would absolutely hope that she goes onto university - when I was at school it was kinda rare that kids were... hence me not going until I was 22...
surfergirl - your 3rd sister sounds like me! I was the hell child and went to avonside then hagley which was far to much freedom for me! Got my sh*t together eventually But I do think most kids at that age still need lots of boundaries and I can imagine even though my daughter is a good kid she would lose focus without being pushed a bit IYGWIM...

Thanks for the opinions guys!! It's great to hear first hand experiences!!

yeah I'm gonna ring the school on monday and suss out what we need to do in terms of the board arrangement...I would have had no idea about it so thanks heaps peanut!!!