Why Parents want their children to attend Selective Schools

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Hi, my name is John and today I will be teaching you so many parents in Australia want their children get into a selective school. Is it because of the prestige? The fame? Or something else entirely?

1. Being surrounded by ambitious and smart peers can increase the likelihood of attending university

So one of the main reasons why people want to attend selective schools is because the students who attend are smart and driven. And when you surround yourself in that supportive environment, it naturally stimulates a lot of growth because everyone around you is trying to be better and better. This created lots of opportunities and actually helped me get into university because honestly, going to uni was the norm for everyone in Selective High Schools. And I know that some people who did not attend selective schools and just went to regular public schools didn’t even consider attending university because of their marks and the people they hanged around with. This is actually supported by a study done in the UK by Damon Clark which suggests that ‘selective schools had large impacts on your exams such as the HSC and will help you attend university’. This clearly shows that parents want their children to attend a selective school because of the much higher likelihood of them attending university with the degree they want after they graduate year 12.

2. The difficult of the content being taught

Selective High Schools have a stronger grasp of concepts and content taught here in the syllabus where teachers go through more ‘difficult’ questions. The benefit of this is that students are challenged from a younger age as the benchmark is already set higher compared to lower selective schools. This is evidenced in both Penrith and Girraween High School where they have accelerated classes for students who are well beyond their year level ( students in this class do their Maths HSC exam in year 11 as opposed to year 12 which allows them to study for one less exam in their final year - a huge advantage!). This is also reinforced in the initial subject selection in senior high school where students did not have the option to choose General Maths or Standard Standard. Instead, the 'lowest’ or easiest level of maths was 2U Advanced Maths and 2U Advanced English which undoubtedly helped with our ATAR result since it scales better compared to their easier counterparts.

3. Networking opportunities

There is not much textual or quantitative evidence that I can use to support this besides my own personal experiences and the students that I have taught who made it into Selective high schools. Although I believe it is a huge reason why parents want their children to attend this type of school as you interact with other Selective schools. The Quad School Tournament is an example of an event where Selective schools had the chance to mingle with each other in a competitive sport setting. It involves 4 top selective schools in Western Sydney - Baulkham Hills, James Ruse, Penrith and Girraween High school to participate in 4 distinct sports to crown an annual champion. The benefit of this is seen when you can attend university and you already know people who attended a Selective high school that you have interacted with. Even if you do not do the same course, as most students end up going to university - chances are you will know a few graduates who will end up in all sorts of professions. You never know where it can be convenient to know people who become a Doctor, Dentist, Optometrist and more!

There are so many other reasons why parents have their children attend university every single year however I believe the ones above summarise the main 3 that I have personally noticed.

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