Fairvale hs????? (1 Viewer)

[specificagent1]

Hi guys, i currently attend a rlly low tier partial selective. I’m applying for a high tier selective school(wont say which). My current school does no comps and all the teacher are lazy and i have like no awards, the school i want to go to doesnt have a test so its based on extracurriculars, reports and awards from academic comps. Do u think I should move to fairvale because i checked their website and they have so many opportunities for me to participate in comps and stuff. Also the environment at my current school is like rlly dirty and just not a good work environment, my school isnt well funded, fairvale seems quite good funded as they are even building new classrooms and stuff. Even if I didnt make the high tier selective school i wanted, I’d probably move to a full comprehensive either way bc the selective school i attend now is just so bad and i regret attending it. Please leave ur opinions on wut i should do, thanks a lot!!

take notes on how to get in to the top schools

 

[specificagent1]

is this sarcastic orrrr

yes lmao

 

[Eagle Mum]

I don’t know the schools in your area, so I can’t advise you specifically, but I note that Fairvale has a higher ranking than our local comprehensive high school where my kids are quite happy. If there’s very little on offer at your current school and the prospectus of your local school looks more positive, then if the commute is also shorter to the latter, it sounds that it might be worthwhile to at least make a reconnaissance visit. It’s not necessarily the case that selective schools provide better teaching than comprehensive schools. My kids attended orientation day (sadly these have not been happening due to COVID) at selective & local schools to decide where they wanted to go and for them, the choice was really easy - the local school was just so much more vibrant. Best wishes with your decisions and journey.

 

[wzsmartypants]

School Name	Year	Rank	%	DA	BE Percentile	Exams Sat	Year 12 Students	Category	Region	Locality
Fairvale High School	2015	288	5.4 %	54	1006	173	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2016	229	7.8 %	63	806	128	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2017	307	5.2 %	49	940	152	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2018	268	5.7 %	52	919	141	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2019	340	4.1 %	36	886	169	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2020	359	4.0 %	39	979	208	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165

 

[jimmysmith560]

Even if I didnt make the high tier selective school i wanted, I’d probably move to a full comprehensive either way bc the selective school i attend now is just so bad and i regret attending it.

If that ends up being the case, i.e. you don't receive an offer to study at your chosen selective school, there are better comprehensive schools than Fairvale High School that you should consider. The main examples I can think of are St Marys Senior High School and Cherrybrook Technology High School. Of course, this is not meant to discourage you in any way, your main goal remains the same, which is to ultimately gain entry into your chosen selective school

 

[Eagle Mum]

School Name	Year	Rank	%	DA	BE Percentile	Exams Sat	Year 12 Students	Category	Region	Locality
Fairvale High School	2015	288	5.4 %	54	1006	173	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2016	229	7.8 %	63	806	128	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2017	307	5.2 %	49	940	152	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2018	268	5.7 %	52	919	141	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2019	340	4.1 %	36	886	169	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165
Fairvale High School	2020	359	4.0 %	39	979	208	Government	Metro	Fairfield West,NSW,2165

OK - I see that for the number of students at Fairvale, not many exams were sat. Our local school has fewer students but they’ve sat more exams so that may be why Fairvale ranks above our school.

Still, from the Fairvale newsletter, it seems that the teaching staff are keen supporters of learning so it might be the case that a motivated student will receive the right support to achieve. I have nephews & nieces at CTHS & BHHS and their teachers don’t seem particularly interested in their progress. I’ve known several kids who went to the selective PHS and SMSH schools and returned to our local school as they’ve decided the schools with the better reputation weren’t worth the exhausting commute. We have a mixed bag of teachers at our school - some are exceptional and a handful are at times inept. Amongst the young people I know, individual aptitude & motivation seems to be the biggest determining factor for success.

 

[Eagle Mum]

If that ends up being the case, i.e. you don't receive an offer to study at your chosen selective school, there are better comprehensive schools than Fairvale High School that you should consider. The main examples I can think of are St Marys Senior High School and Cherrybrook Technology High School. Of course, this is not meant to discourage you in any way, your main goal remains the same, which is to ultimately gain entry into your chosen selective school

I don’t think it’s possible to get into CTHS unless one lives in their catchment area and real estate in that area is pretty expensive. I have a relative who deliberately looked for a place in their catchment area but they wanted to live in a suburb like Cherrybrook anyway so they weren’t just spending a fortune on a house for the sake of getting into the school. I‘ve heard good things about SMSH from a couple of their graduated students, but also know of two students who found that the extra commute (total of nearly three hours a day) wasn’t worth their time and they returned to our local school after less than a term.

 

[jimmysmith560]

I don’t think it’s possible to get into CTHS unless one lives in their catchment area and real estate in that area is pretty expensive. I have a relative who deliberately looked for a place in their catchment area but they wanted to live in a suburb like Cherrybrook anyway so they weren’t just spending a fortune on a house for the sake of getting into the school. I‘ve heard good things about SMSH from a couple of their graduated students, but also know of two students who found that the extra commute (total of nearly three hours a day) wasn’t worth their time and they returned to our local school after less than a term.

Thank you for adding this information about CTHS. Of course, the suggestion is based on the event where the student lives in the school's catchment area. If not, then CTHS will definitely not be an option. With SMSHS, the suggestion does not take into account students that have to travel significant distances and for long periods of time each day to get the school. Similarly to CTHS, the suggestion should be taken into consideration if the student lives close to the area where the school is located. As a former SMSHS student, getting to the school wasn't much of a problem, having to catch a 3-minute train and then a 5-minute walk from the station to the school. If OP lives far from the school (similar to the examples of past students that you've mentioned), then SMSHS will likely not be an option either.

Lol problem is i dont rlly want to transfer from a partial to a partial bc I dont want to go thru the trouble of applying for it. I just want to go to a comprehensive that offers many opportunities(fairvale does amc and debating comps, my school does none of these), then dip to the high tier selective school. Also fairvale offers an accelerated math program.

Both the schools I mentioned are comprehensive and the suggestion to apply to and enrol at either one of them is based on the eventuality where you don't make it into your chosen high tier selective school. I was not suggesting that you should enrol at either of those schools and then apply to the selective school.

Also the rank is 305 for st Mary’s which is like nearly double my current one

Rank is not always a good measure to assess a student's potential performance, particularly when considering a school like SMSHS, with historically fluctuating ranks. When I graduated from SMSHS in 2019, the school was ranked 208th, which is significantly higher than FHS's 2019 rank (340). It is also worth mentioning that SMSHS's 2020 rank is still better than that of FHS (359).

Back to the main point, SMSHS is a school that accepts students of different academic backgrounds/capabilities, as long as they can prove to the school that they are a committed student, not necessarily in an academic way (although that would be favourable), it could also be through their involvement in extracurricular activities and such. The rank will thus fluctuate each year considering the differing abilities of the school's cohort each year. Keep in mind that SMSHS's year 12 cohort is a large one, with about 400-450 students, each of which has unique capabilities, academic or otherwise. It is important to mention that this is a school where you can achieve a high ATAR (the school is not new to 99+ ATAR's and state ranks), provided you are determined and are putting in consistent effort throughout your time at the school.

 

[wzsmartypants]

so, the travel distances between fairvale and my current school are pretty similar, but I’d say fairvale might be an extra 15 min or so but I don’t rlly mind. Do u guys think I should transfer to fairvale for the sake of the competitions? Taking into account it doesn’t even guarantee I’ll make it into the high tier selective but I’ll definitely have a much larger chance at fairvale than at my current school.

do u get decent grades at ur current school? are u familiar with the teachers in ur school

 

[jimmysmith560]

It seems that Fairvale High School would be superior to your current school in almost every single aspect. If you don't mind the extra 15 minutes that you'll spend travelling to the school, then you should probably enrol at that school. Regarding the fights and other unwanted occurrences at Fairvale High School of which you have heard, the best option would probably be to ignore and distance yourself from anything and/or anyone that engages in conduct that would be detrimental to you. Instead, ensure your focus is kept on your studies, including your grades and your participation in competitions and extracurricular activities. Making friends is also important at a new school, so you will need to make sure you develop a group of friends that have similar characteristics as you in terms of character and academics and who are not likely to engage in the negative behaviour that you've heard is common at Fairvale High School in any way.

 

[jimmysmith560]

yep defs, also ik someone attends this school which won’t be bad. i’m not rlly planning to stay at fairvale for the entirety of my hs career anyways, just for a year then i hope i can jet to the high tier selective school im just so confused how a comprehensive is superior to a partial selective, but again it’s probs coz most of the good teachers at partial and full selective r snatched away by private’s. but thanks for the advice!!

No worries, this is not necessarily suggesting that comprehensive schools are superior to partially selective schools, especially when considering that partially selective schools may have more academically capable cohorts than comprehensive schools. The suggestion is that some comprehensive schools might provide a better learning environment than partially selective schools, combined with more opportunities to undertake, which you have elaborated on through the comparison between your current school and Fairvale High School, with the latter providing opportunities for competitions and extracurriculars, as well as the schools I mentioned, which provide students (particularly those who aim to perform well) with the appropriate environment that gives them the opportunity to do their best and excel in their studies, particularly when they're in year 12.

 

[Eagle Mum]

It’s very surprising that a partially selective school offers nothing to its selective stream. The whole point of selective schools and OC classes is to provide opportunities to gifted students to extend themselves to help them fulfil some of their potential capabilities. In our comprehensive school, the kids have had opportunities to participate in AMC, AIMO, AMO, science comps, robotics programming comps, debating, athletics & lots of other sports, music and dance comps, workshops & camps. Other students also spend a lot of time on agricultural activities and enter all the competitions at various shows. Doesn’t sound appropriate that your school offers nothing at all.

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

so, the travel distances between fairvale and my current school are pretty similar, but I’d say fairvale might be an extra 15 min or so but I don’t rlly mind. Do u guys think I should transfer to fairvale for the sake of the competitions? Taking into account it doesn’t even guarantee I’ll make it into the high tier selective but I’ll definitely have a much larger chance at fairvale than at my current school.

What year are you in atm? Keep in mind that if you are transferring for the sake of competitions, the number of competitions you'll actually get to do at fairvale depends on how long you are there before applying for the selective school (which is around july of year 10). It also doesn't help that COVID has made it significantly more difficult to participate in extracurriculars and competitions e.g duke of ed. Have you considered applying for selective schools using placement exams instead? That way you'll have to rely less on certs and more on your academic ability (which you seem to be pretty confident in) - and applying to multiple selective schools gives you something to fall back on in case plan A doesnt work.
My worry is if you transfer and don't make it into the selective school of your choice, and end up regretting moving. If you think you'll be able to stretch yourself more than in your current school regardless, then it would be a good option for you, but don't switch schools if its only to make it to the higher tier selective because it isnt guaranteed.

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

thats what i was thinking as well for the last sentence, im still having trouble making me decision on what to do. i could take the risk but risks always have 2 outcomes. im also gonna apply for girra and another school but i mainly want to enter fort street, also i dont think ill do well on the hast, it seems quite hard considering the amount of qs they give u and the amount of time u have. im in year 8 rn btw

(wait is this op? lol)
oh okay if you're year 8 that should be plenty of time, to both build your portfolio and also work towards doing well on the hast! and ig you just need to think about whether moving to fairvale will benefit you at all - which it sounds like it will, given the number of opportunities / quality of teaching / funding etc - and whether you'd be okay with staying at fairvale.

That being said, if you know yourself and your limits, you could also make an educated aim for a lower ranked selective, just as a safety blanket

btw i love ur gon dp hahah

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

yeah "idontevenknow1234" is my 2nd acc XD. yeah lol i didnt do year 8 or 9 entry, so i only have two chances left which is yr 10 and 11. id honestly rather do year 10 entry coz it seems like a hassle to move schools in year 11. thanks alot for the advice, im not sure whether i should take the risk or play it safe coz god knows what will happen if i dont make it to any of my 3 desired schools, even worse they're all the popular schools everyone wants to get into

yeah its always better to move earlier, though schools do typically accept more people in year 11. either way, all the best!!