School decile ratings
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Topic: School decile ratings
Posted By: AzzaNZ
Subject: School decile ratings
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 4:13pm
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Do you take school decile ratings into account when choosing one for your child?
We're looking at a house we love but all the schools its zoned for are decile 5 and lower. I dont know if this should influence our decision? Do schools accept children from outside of their zone? ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: snooze
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 4:19pm
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I am house hunting too and have taken into account school zones already and he is only 5 months. I think they do take kids from outside the zone but you have to go on a waiting list or something. Houses close to good school zones are usually a bit dearer in my experience. I am looking at moving from Forrest Hil to Albany potentially. Better house but school zones not as good so still deciding.....decisions decisions!!! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: snooze
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 4:20pm
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Having said that there is nothing wrong with the schools nearby to the new place but I have just heard more postive feedback for Campbells Bay primary,,,, ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: lemongirl
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 4:21pm
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Decile ratings say absolutely nothing about the quality of the school, just how much money is in the neighbourhood. Please don't automatically assume wealthier parents = better school.
The best thing to do is go and visit the school yourself to get a 'feel' for the vibe of the place and the teachers. And in answer to your question some schools accept out of zone enrolments. Siblings of current and former students get 'first' dibs then after that it is a ballot. |
Posted By: AzzaNZ
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 4:26pm
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We cant afford a home in an area with higher decile rating schools, so she'll either have to go to one with a lower decile rating or be accepted into a school thats out of zone.
We're in Birkenhead at the moment but cant afford to buy here so are looking at Birkdale. She's not quite 3 yet so we still have time to get her into a school. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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http://intermittentblogger.wordpress.com |
Posted By: arohanui
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 4:31pm
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Not all schools accept children out of zone, would be worth a quick call to the school office and they'll be able to tell you. The school I teach at has a closed zone.
Higher decile doesn't mean better school at all. In fact, the lower the decile the more funding they get lol.
It'd be worth checking out the ERO reports of the schools around you, just do a google search. Also word of mouth is generally a good indicator - of people who've actually been involved there though, not just "reputation" (my highschool had a bad reputation but was a brilliant school.... it just had the bad rep cos it was lower decile and we had kids from 'poor' areas and lots of islanders and maori). ------------- Mama to DS1 (5 years), DS2 (3 years) and... http://alterna-tickers.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 5:22pm
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Yeah check out the ERO reports.
I went to a primary school that had a decile rating of 6 and a high school with a rating of 4 yet I managed to get into vet school at uni. Lower decile schools aren't all bad. |
Posted By: Snappy
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 5:33pm
This post has prompted me to check Janaya's schools decile rating. I read the schools info and it said that the school has a high decile rating (9) and that the students mainly come from 2 parent familys and are able to pay for their childs education. (obviously something they pride themselves on ) I had no idea! I didnt even look at the decile rating when I enroled her, but I knew it was a really good school and that it was hard to get into.
Does a high decile mean that the parents pay more towards their childs education? Does anyone know? Sorry to thread hi-jack azza! |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 7:20pm
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We had DSD at a Decile 3 school, and Maya is at a Decile 8, the big difference I've noticed is that at DSD's school there wasn't a lot of "extracurricular" fees like sports etc. whereas at Maya's school they seem to constantly have their hands out for trips, plays at school etc. I don't know if that's coz the lower decile schools get more funding for these things, or just coz at a higher decile school there is the expectation that parents can "afford" these things.
I agree with Lemongirl tho that decile rating isn't always an accurate gauge of how good a school is, a bit like the Plunket "dep" areas that define how many contacts you are funded for - it's based average incomes in the area. We live in a lower decile area (Maya is at school out of zone) but it's not a 'bad' area, there's just a lot of pensioners living here who are on fixed incomes which skews the average. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: lemongirl
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 9:09pm
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Also remember kids bring their own talents to the table.
I went to a decile 3 high school with a bad reputation, my sister a so-so decile 9 while my brother got to go to a swanky private school. I was the only one to make it to university and graduate with an honours degree while my brother failed his final year in high school. |
Posted By: crakars
Date Posted: 19 November 2009 at 9:20pm
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dont go by the decile - often they are not that accurate anyway - done by the census (which is only every 5 years?)
visit the school and see if it feels right if a school is zoned - they very rarely will take others -------------  http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: busybee
Date Posted: 20 November 2009 at 8:16am
| I have to be honest, decile ratings was one thing I looked at when we bought our place. It wasn't the only thing I looked at but it was definately a big factor. We ended up buying a much smaller house in what I concidered a good school zone, we are sacrificing a nicer house for a better school. Friends of ours didn't want to live in a smaller house for a better school zone and they now have a really nice house in a not so hot area. I suppose it is a personal matter. |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 20 November 2009 at 11:23am
what she said ...  ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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lizandtheboys wrote:Posted By: myonlineself
Date Posted: 20 November 2009 at 12:31pm
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This might be a helpful webpage to provide further information on the whole decile rating thing..
http://www.kiwifamilies.co.nz/Topics/Education/Education+Overview/Deciles.html ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 20 November 2009 at 4:45pm
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what i based a lot of my decision around was teachers telling me about the schools, we bought a house this year. so a lot of our decision where to buy was based around area.
Teachers were telling me about staff turnover, how the staff treated relief workers, and these two things made me confident about the school I chose. decile rating was the least of my worries to be honest. i checked the ERO report, but I talked to a lot of other parents and that was more helpful I thought |