14 year old son( Latin, German and French). Anybody know schools that offer these?

[Erin]

We have just arrived, timing is not planned but as best as could be done. Have started to look seriously at secondary schools for my 14 yr old son. He currently studies and loves German, French and Latin. But I so far can't see these on offer - apart from some schools doing French. Also he is in the G&T set so has been top settings for Maths, English, Science and Languages. We have decided to try and find the best fit school for him and then look at houses.

 

I don't care if they are private or state schools as it seems the inflated price of a house in the catchment area of a good State school is almost the same extra that we would pay for school fees.

 

I know everyone has their own preferences but I am looking to visit schools that can do these languages if possible and then excellent (ha ha) on all the academics.He is not so impressed by vast sports fields or extensive drama facilities etc. but is impressed by curriculum ( and guitar and music).

 

So any language clues and a share of your experiences with schools - there is no such thing as a perfect school and one persons poison is another's joy BUT I would value some of the expert knowledge out there. Please.

 

Worried Mum

[Scot01]

According to the Curriculum Council (http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/), there are 9 schools in WA that do German. I know one of these is Christ Church Grammar school in Claremont. That is also one of the most expensive boys schools in Perth. If you ring the Curriculum council they may be tell you the other schools but there's a good chance they may be mainly girls private schools. There's only one school listed as performing well in German and that is a girls school.

No schools do Latin so you'll have no luck there.

40 schools do French - the top ones with best performance in exams last year being - Christchurch, Churchlands (good Govt school), John XXIII College - the top performing co-ed Catholic school in WA - takes non Catholics and much cheaper than Christchurch - in Mt Claremont - very strong music programme with good guitar teaching - I've seen their guitar ensemble perform, Mt Lawley Senior High (Govt) and Shenton College - very good Govt school.

Depending how bright he is there is also the Perth Modern School which is the only academic selective Govt school in WA - they have entrance exams and take the top students - however they don't do German. I think the cut-off for the entrance exam is March for the following Feb but you'd have to contact the school to find out.

[Erin]

According to the Curriculum Council (http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/), there are 9 schools in WA that do German. I know one of these is Christ Church Grammar school in Claremont. That is also one of the most expensive boys schools in Perth. If you ring the Curriculum council they may be tell you the other schools but there's a good chance they may be mainly girls private schools. There's only one school listed as performing well in German and that is a girls school.

No schools do Latin so you'll have no luck there.

40 schools do French - the top ones with best performance in exams last year being - Christchurch, Churchlands (good Govt school), John XXIII College - the top performing co-ed Catholic school in WA - takes non Catholics and much cheaper than Christchurch - in Mt Claremont - very strong music programme with good guitar teaching - I've seen their guitar ensemble perform, Mt Lawley Senior High (Govt) and Shenton College - very good Govt school.

Depending how bright he is there is also the Perth Modern School which is the only academic selective Govt school in WA - they have entrance exams and take the top students - however they don't do German. I think the cut-off for the entrance exam is March for the following Feb but you'd have to contact the school to find out.

 

Hello and thanks. Languages certainly don't seem to carry a lot of weight. I thought that maybe some of the Private schools may do Latin I came across a couple when we were considering Adelaide. Geman is the fastest growing in demand languages for business in Europe ( I quote) so thought that it may have appeared in curriculum more. I will have a look at the curriculum council, thank you for that idea. I have registered him for the G&T exams. He is in the top 2% in UK (across all the curriculum subjects)so hopefully will be ok in the exams. BUT it appears to my small amount of knowledge even assuming that he would get into Perth Modern, then that would not be until the following year (2014) so that still leaves a year somewhere else .

 

I will have to try and find another avenue for the Latin as he his eyes set on things that like to see Latin.

 

He won't be pleased - dragging him from his old school to where his choices are more limited. Will see how I get on with the Curriculum council.

[ali]

Hello and thanks. Languages certainly don't seem to carry a lot of weight. I thought that maybe some of the Private schools may do Latin I came across a couple when we were considering Adelaide. Geman is the fastest growing in demand languages for business in Europe ( I quote) so thought that it may have appeared in curriculum more. I will have a look at the curriculum council, thank you for that idea. I have registered him for the G&T exams. He is in the top 2% in UK (across all the curriculum subjects)so hopefully will be ok in the exams. BUT it appears to my small amount of knowledge even assuming that he would get into Perth Modern, then that would not be until the following year (2014) so that still leaves a year somewhere else .

 

I will have to try and find another avenue for the Latin as he his eyes set on things that like to see Latin.

 

He won't be pleased - dragging him from his old school to where his choices are more limited. Will see how I get on with the Curriculum council.

 

Asian languages feature heavily in school due to our close proximity and trade links (rather than European languages)

[Scot01]

Exactly! learning languages is still highly valued but most primary schools will offer Indonesian or Japanese and some Chinese. Then I think Italian might come next and then French. If you are planning to settle in Oz and for him to study here then suggest he switches to Japanese! I don't think he'd be able to study three languages in high school anyway - maximum would be two purely due to timetabling constraints and in some schools they may just allow one - that would be something checking.

[Scot01]

Also - worth mentioning - not sure how much you know of the University entrance system here but it is done by a ranking score - they take the score of your top 4 subjects then rank you against everyone elses - so if you get 90 then you performed in the top 10% of every student sitting the exams in WA (you don't get e.g A, B. C like the A levels). The University of Western Australia and Curtin University in Perth add extra points to your rank if you studied a language. You need a rank of 80 to get into UWA - if you only got 76 but had studied Japanese then they'd take you. So languages carry a lot of weight and they want to encourage more students to study them. There are far more courses for Asian languages at Uni than European ones.

[Erin]

Also - worth mentioning - not sure how much you know of the University entrance system here but it is done by a ranking score - they take the score of your top 4 subjects then rank you against everyone elses - so if you get 90 then you performed in the top 10% of every student sitting the exams in WA (you don't get e.g A, B. C like the A levels). The University of Western Australia and Curtin University in Perth add extra points to your rank if you studied a language. You need a rank of 80 to get into UWA - if you only got 76 but had studied Japanese then they'd take you. So languages carry a lot of weight and they want to encourage more students to study them. There are far more courses for Asian languages at Uni than European ones.

 

I can understand the logical benefits of the emphasis on Asian languages. Given that I would have thought Mandarin might be useful more than Japanese even. The European languages are still valid in commerce though which is why German is unexpectedly on the rise , particularly alongside technical skills.

 

Because my son was already in a G&T programme in UK, he was offered the opportunity to study Latin alongside 2 other languages. He also took Spanish as an after school option. He was already streamed in G&T in Maths, English, Science . The programme was more talk than action but there were still some opportunities such as some maths and science activities at the local university.

 

We plan to visit a number of schools as there are "lies, damned lies and statistics" as they say. The ranking system for schools is well entrenched in the UK so Australia possibly should have seen some of the less than positive outcomes of that experience. The manipulation of the numbers is very creative and provide only a small piece of the whole picture. It has helped to create a stampede to some and a desertion of other schools and their staff . My son is a very mature 14 year old so has a good idea of what matters to him in a school so he has to have a vote in school selection. Ultimately it is a "complete" experience that counts - academic and the school experience and attitude.

 

I really value the input - helps to clear some of the fog. I think we will see quite a few of the schools and ask the questions and see which seem the best fit for my son. Other Languages will have to be found somewhere else outside of school.