Best feeder schools for Brisbane’s elite high schools revealed

Getting your child into an elite private school requires more than filling in an enrolment form, paying a fee and crossing your fingers – where you sent your child previously can be the decider.

Getting your child into an elite private school requires more than filling in an enrolment form, paying a fee and crossing your fingers.

Where you sent your child previously can be the decider for principals and registrars tackling long wait lists for a capped number of coveted places.

Certain primary schools carry more clout than others, and it’s these feeder schools that parents should tap into to maximise their child’s chance of later enrolment success.

Two of the most in-demand schools, All Hallows’ and St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace (Terrace), both of which start in Year 5, make no secret of preferencing students from Catholic primary schools.

Parents who’ve somehow beaten the system by sending their children to state schools report being “school shamed” by other mothers volunteering in the tuckshop, and say there is “massive snobbery and elitism around religion”.

According to the All Hallows’ website, the primary criterion for prospective parents is “the degree of involvement in a Catholic school, faith community or other church ministry”.

Brisbane Grammar School. (AAP Image/Josh Woning)

‘CASH, LIES AND CELEBS’: INSIDE ‘OBSESSIVE’ ELITE SCHOOL WORLD

This, in turn, demonstrates “a commitment to supporting the Catholic mission and values” of All Hallows’.

Terrace principal Dr Michael Carroll says with wait lists for places in Year 5 (capped at 135 students) and Year 7 (235+) at the Spring Hill college, “priority is given to siblings, sons of old boys and then Catholic families in Catholic schools, in that order” .

Parents at other schools which start from Year 5, such as the centrally located Brisbane Grammar, and Year 7, such as neighbouring Brisbane Girls Grammar, advise choosing the primary school that produces the best academic results, particularly in NAPLAN.

The same applies for schools that begin in Prep or Pre-Prep – including Anglican Church Grammar (Churchie) in East Brisbane, Somerville House in South Brisbane, Brisbane Boys’ College in Toowong and St Margaret’s in Ascot – when parents seek to enrol their children in later primary or for secondary.

A Churchie parent said he chose Mt Gravatt State School for his sons because it was a “proven feeder school”. AAP Image/Steve Pohlner

One Somerville House mother told The Courier-Mail she deliberately sent her daughters to Coorparoo State School because it was strong in maths and music, which she said were two clear focuses at the elite college.

A Churchie parent said he chose Mt Gravatt State School for his sons because it was a “proven feeder school”, while a BBC mother said academic ability and performance were key to enrolment success.

BEST FEEDER SCHOOLS

All Hallows’, Terrace

Holy Spirit, New Farm

St Agatha’s, Clayfield

St Columba’s, Wilston

St Finbarr’s, Ashgrove

St Joseph’s, Bardon

St Joseph’s, Corinda

St Joseph’s Kangaroo Point

St Ignatius, Toowong

St Peter and Paul’s, Balmoral

Brisbane Grammar, Girls Grammar

Ascot State School

Ashgrove State School

Eagle Junction State School

Fig Tree Pocket State School

Indooroopilly State School

Ironside State School, St Lucia

Rainworth State School, Bardon

Sunnybank Hills State School

Churchie, Somerville House

Ascot State School

Coorparoo State School

Eagle Junction State School

Holland Park State School

Kelvin Grove State College

Mt Gravatt State School

Wishart State School

Brisbane Boys’ College

Ashgrove State School

Bardon State School

Brookfield State School

Chapel Hill State School

Fig Tree Pocket State School

Indooroopilly State School

Ironside State School

Kenmore South State School

Rainworth State School

St Margaret’s

Ascot State School

Eagle Junction State School

Newmarket State School

Wilston State School

Windsor State School

Wooloowin State School

‘CASH, LIES AND CELEBS’: INSIDE ‘OBSESSIVE’ ELITE SCHOOL WORLD