What you said about Madonna King’s column claiming it doesn’t matter which school you went to

Does the school you attended point to your intelligence, value system, or success? Is Brisbane too fixated on schooling history? Our readers seem divided. Here’s what you said.

Does it matter which school you went to? Picture: Kevin Farmer

• Why no one cares where you went to school
• What your private school says about you

Does the school you attended point to your intelligence, value system, or success?

Is Brisbane too fixated on schooling history?

Those questions were raised by columnist Madonna King who argued being a private school graduate is not a golden ticket to wealth and social status.

Anglican Church Grammar School AKA Churchie, East Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston

“Once upon a time, back when dinosaurs roamed freely, schools (particularly private ones) might have delivered friends and networks and career paths - particularly for men,” Ms King wrote.

“But that’s whittled away, both as the public system has grown in stature and alumni, and as private schools struggle just as much as others to deal with the unsettling stories of some of their graduates.

“A good school, however you define it, is not a golden ticket to wealth and social status, as it might have been in the dark ages.”

In a poll asking whether being a private school graduate holds the same gravitas as it once did, 55 per cent of readers declared “no”.

We asked for your thoughts. See what you had to say below and join the conversation >>>

WHAT YOU SAID

I ask the question to find common ground

Michael

If I’m talking to someone around my age and they grew up in Brisbane I’ll ask them at some point where they went to school only because we might have a mutual connection. It doesn’t matter if it’s a private or state school.

Robyn

I ask about schools. I also ask people where they come from, what sport they like to play, where they go on holidays and what their hobbies are. It’s just interesting to get to know people.

John from Northgate

I think it’s just finding common ground in most cases and genuine interest and conversation starters. Outsiders find it different, but outsiders seem hell-bent on making us like where they came from. I didn’t go to a GPS school, but it doesn’t bother me.

Robert

I ask which school because when I find someone who went to school in Bris in the 60s we may have something in common and know someone because we are a rarity now. Secondly the private school I went to had no acres of sporting facilities only a rocky running track, tennis courts and a small pool. What they have now is worlds apart from the 60s.

Tiffany

Brisbane is a small place, with far less than six degrees of separation between many. It’s a really easy way to identify mutual friends. Sure there are those who pigeonhole, but many are just finding common ground.

Brian

It is a Brisbane thing and yes I went to a Catholic school. I can still ask at every event “Where did you go to school!” and if they’re from Brisbane - there is an instant connection, as we are proud of the values, connections and careers from our time there. Forty five years later my whole year cohort are still in touch and gather to catch up on children, now grandchildren and fly in from all over the world. It’s unique to our Brisbane DNA. I’m proud of my private education, as my parents sacrificed so much for my siblings and myself to have the best education they could not afford. My parents were both from country Queensland and sent their 12 year olds boarding. Please let Brisbane be Brisbane. We all just want good global citizens who volunteer, think of others and have the best chance at academic success and networking, to follow any career path.

Mark

Asking people what school they went to is a way to get to know them. Simple as that.

Where you went to school does not matter

Natalie

Having not grown up in Brisbane, I don’t care where you went to school. It does seem to matter to some who went to so called “Elite Brisbane Private Schools”. A blazer and an expensive hat doesn’t automatically make you a better human.

Richard

Private schools are more about the parents’ ego than anything.

Joanne1

Darken the door of any uni and nobody cares where you went to school. It only matters if you are an independent learner and are prepared to work hard and cope with the rigours of the course you are studying.

Jill

The great myth: a private school education produces better results for students. However if you follow many of these students who have such “great results”, their general lack of self discipline and an inflated sense of entitlement, mean that they fail miserably when left to fend for themselves in the real world. How is this a good result for these kids?

Elite schools can lead to good outcomes

Anthony

Going to a private school is not about choosing elitism. It is a rational decision by parents to provide their child the best possible chance to receive a quality education. The ATAR averages do not lie. It is rare to find a public school in the top 20 ranked schools in Brisbane. That is a fact that no one can argue.

Lisa

We send our kids to private schools these days because the public schools have huge classes with a lot of disruptive children and are grossly under-performing.

Paul

As someone who works across private and public schools, I can confirm that the difference is very noticeable, in most cases, both in the students and the teachers.

Dan2

Parents slave away to be able to afford a private school education for the network, and some semblance of control their kids won’t have a socialist indoctrination not for the status.

Jen

Having attended two state high schools and two private schools you can succeed at either. But parents who pay school fees often place a higher value on education at home. The quality of teachers was also better at private schools. The better high school was in a reasonably middle class regional town and the far western high school failed at every level - poor facilities, staff were the bottom of the barrel (mostly) and kids ran wild including being stoned. There is a difference and I’m grateful to my parents for being given an alternative.

Terry

It’s a real Brisbane thing and shows how insecure they are in asking the question. The simple answer is who cares. Either you are good or not at what you do and who you are. It has nothing to do with the school you went to.

Private

Professional sites like LinkedIn make the school connectivity even stronger. My brother’s just landed a job in New York, thanks to his Brisbane private school ties, it does work & is worth the money.

Originally published as What you said about Madonna King’s column claiming it doesn’t matter which school you went to