White Hill State College’s French program draws young family to Coorparoo
A young family from Melbourne has migrated to the Sunshine State for a new bilingual French program in Brisbane’s southeast. FIND OUT WHERE
A young family has found their pièce de résistance in the Sunshine State through a new bilingual program in the city’s inner southeast.
Leah Mosel and Clement Lege and their two children, Hugo, 7 and Olivia, 3, purchased in Coorparoo due to the French program at White Hill State College and other strong state schools in the area.
The couple moved from Melbourne to be closer to their family and were pleasantly surprised to discover White Hill State College’s French bilingual program on offer.
“It’s a huge thing for my partner, who is French, to make sure our children can speak and be fluent in French,” Ms Mosel said.
“It enables them to have so many different opportunities on offer to them as they get older.
“If they have passports, they could attend France’s university and speak fluently with family members. The long-term gain gives Hugo and Olivia much more life flexibility.”
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Ms Mosel said that moving to Coorparoo was bang for the buck in value compared to other median prices in surrounding areas, but the housing market across Brisbane was still tight and expensive.
“It will be interesting to see how these catchments grow. We plan on being here for at least ten years or so,” she said.
“We almost purchased in Holland Park but feel we got good value in Coorparoo. We are close to White Hill, Hugo can go to secondary school, and later down the track, if we want the option, he could also go to Cavendish Road. We’ve also got an excellent primary school options.
“Quite a few families we know have lived overseas and are astounded that they’re getting bilingual education at a state school in Queensland. That is something that is fantastic and is unique.”
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Place Bulimba agent Julia Doyle said the French bilingual program, introduced in 2023, is a very exciting opportunity for the school and will draw in more demand for buyers in the area.
“If you look at buyers’ attitudes historically, when there is a great school in a catchment, a school becomes more popular,” Ms Doyle said.
“The White Hill State College catchment is only going to increase, and with the opportunity of the French program, it adds something extra to a local state school rather than a private school.
“I’ve been to more open homes in the catchment that have had more French-speaking families wanting to move into the area, as they’ve heard the program has come to Brisbane. A lot are moving from Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore and other places internationally.”
Ms Doyle said many buyers in her patch want to upsize their first homebuyer asset to the next big step in their property endeavours.
“Buyers are keen to take advantage of the current market conditions and upsize before prices increase further,” she said.
“You’ve got the buyers that are coming from the interstate, too, but it’s mostly Brisbane buyers who are moving from surrounding suburbs to break into the market here.”
Originally published as White Hill State College’s French program draws young family to Coorparoo