Revealed: Suburbs where state schools come out on top

State primary schools are regularly outperforming their fee-charging Catholic counterparts in NAPLAN. COMPARE NOW

State primary schools are regularly outperforming their fee-charging counterparts in key suburbs, despite the thousands of dollars difference in costs.

A Sunday Mail analysis of primary school NAPLAN results in the past five years has revealed the Brisbane pockets where the local state school’s Queensland ranking has topped the Catholic school.

Since 2015 state schools in multiple suburbs including Indooroopilly, Annerley, Yeronga, Newmarket, Geebung, Albany Creek, Wishart, Graceville, Nundah and Ashgrove have outperformed their Catholic primary counterparts.

Rainworth State School in Bardon was the third-highest-performing primary school in the state, while Eagle Junction State School in Clayfield and Ironside State School in St Lucia also ranked higher in Queensland than their local suburban Catholic schools.

But the situation was reversed in other suburbs, and beyond Brisbane.

Catholic primary schools in New Farm, Kangaroo Point, Cannon Hill, Camp Hill, Tarragindi and Coorparoo all scored higher in NAPLAN results than their state school equivalent.

Of four major suburbs analysed on the Gold Coast, the Catholic school came out on top each time, and it was a similar story in major regional hubs.

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But while NAPLAN results are a key factor, parents and experts have told the Sunday Mail there are other crucial elements considered.

Maggie Schafer said after initially sending her eldest child Molly, now 9, to Wellers Hill State School, ultimately decided it wasn’t the right fit.

Ms Schafer said she and her husband Matt – who both attended Catholic schools themselves – then looked into switching to the local Catholic school St Elizabeth’s in Tarragindi, however no places were available.

After some searching, Molly has now started Year 4 at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School in Corinda.

“We did look at NAPLAN results for lots of schools, and it was certainly something we took into consideration, but ultimately it was about the school we felt was the right fit,” Ms Schafer said.

However since their younger daughter Emmie, 7, was thriving at Wellers Hill, she has remained at the school.

“Emmie has a really great group of friends, and even though it is a big school, she doesn’t get lost in the crowd,” she said.

Matt and Maggie Schafer have chosen to send their daughters Molly and Emmie to different schools to cater for their individual needs. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“In the end we thought ‘why not just try them at two different schools’ – it’s working out really well, catering to their individual strengths and personalities.”

Another mum, who asked not to be named, said she switched her children from a Catholic primary school to the local state school, after feeling her children were spending too much time on religious practice and not enough on “reading and writing”.

“There’s a perception that if you send your kids to a Catholic school they will automatically get a better academic education, when we were doing our research on schools that was what was important to us,” she said.

“Unfortunately it became apparent it wouldn’t be the case, and we decided paying the fees just wasn’t worth it when we had the option to choose the state school for free.”

Parenting Ideas founder and former primary school teacher Michael Grose said many parents directly compare rankings such NAPLAN results, particularly between local schools.

“Parents have access to a lot of data, they do their homework, and there’s a lot of pressure on parents to make the decision,” he said.

“But parents look at a lot more than reading and writing results – they look at whether this school feels safe, they ask whether their child will reach their full potential, and will my child learn the values I want them to learn.”

Parenting Ideas founder Michael Grose says parents are becoming more savvy while researching schools.

Flinders University Associate Professor David Curtis said he believed there had been a shift from specifically religious motivations to more secular achievement-oriented motivations.

“In short, parents are more likely to seek out schools where they think their children will receive what they perceive as a high-quality education,” he said.

“Parents of school age children, whose real incomes have not grown over the past decade, are finding it increasingly difficult to justify the fees of the non-government sector and may move their children to government schools.

“Those parents who do have the financial resources are becoming more demanding in their expectations and may believe that paying the generally slightly higher fees of the independent sector a worthwhile marginal cost.”

Queensland Catholic Education Commission executive director Lee-Anne Perry said Catholic schools offered a “high-quality, faith-based education that is responsive to the needs and challenges of contemporary society”.

“Catholic schools are focused on educating the whole student and encouraging their academic, spiritual, physical, social and emotional growth,” she said.

“They’re also focused on building strong partnerships with families to support students in their learning and maintain their wellbeing

“NAPLAN results are a point in time picture of each student’s learning that teachers use, along with a wide range of other data, to understand how students are tracking, to plan their teaching going forward and to discuss students’ progress with families.

Dr Perry said 2021 enrolment growth was above the 10-year average, with new schools set to open in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Mackay and Cairns in 2022 due to demand.

“Catholic schools welcome students from a diverse range of cultural, religious, social and economic backgrounds,” she said.