Which is the best primary school in Baulkham Hills?

Matthew Pearce gets all the headlines... it is a good school and, to make my position clear, my kids will go there or have gone there as OC students and my older boy is now in James Ruse selective school.

They are so popular that the school is now expanding at the rate of knots ... building temporary buildings all the time. The School Executive - Principals and Dep and Assistant Principals - as well as the teaching staff are excellent and seem to have things under control. But my worry as it is SUCH a big school, do the kids get lost in the midst of it all. The teachers appear to be of a good quality - the school's reputation helps to get them - and try their best, but serious over 1400 kids and growing??? The government needs a seriously rethink on the school catchment area,

My littlest child is currently in Crestwood Public School, as we actually live just outside the MPPS catchment ....by contrast it is a much smaller and the teaching here is mostly excellent - there are a number of teachers that are spectacular and my son was lucky to get them for most of his stay there, but he had a really crappy teacher in Year 3 from perspective of academic and personal care - but it would have been great if he was really into sports. So, to each their own. Saying that, the school itself is relaxed and seem to really care for their kids. We have been really happy here.

One thing that both Crestwood and Matthew Pearce share is their School Band Master - Gary Clarke. He is ground breaking and manages to get both school's bands to really high standards... winning or achieving well in school band competitions, albeit not the most friendliest guy to meet. But you need to get into the band at ground level - Year 2/3 - if not, it is hard to join later on if your child is a beginner... that is, for Years 4/5/6, your child really needs to be playing a band instrument already otherwise they don't really want to know you.

But to re-iterate what someone else said in this forum... to really give your child a real fighting chance in a tough and competitive educational environment - it is parent involvement in learning...and to a certain extent - good quality tutoring. Schools are too "generic" and cannot really deal with real personalised learning.... even though some of my sons' teachers were exceptional and really encouraged our sons... we realised very early that if we wanted our sons to do really well, we had to work hard as parents and fully take part in their learning too.

Before you criticise/compare, our sons were not "hot housed" and only lived for tutoring or studying. They played multiple musical instruments (voluntarily) and take part in multiple sports outside of school. They have all the usual video games/ phone apps but genuinely enjoy reading - consuming 10 books at a time when we visit the library. We try to balance their lives.

So in summary Baulkham Hills primary schools are good... depends on what you want out of them and how much you put in.

Hope that helps you.

Hi Phil

Do you have any information about Baulkham Hills North Public School?

Thanks
Madhu

I was a student at Crestwood Public School for seven years. I have to say that it was the best experience of my whole life. I am now in year 7 however, I really miss the kind teachers, no bulling and how they taught. The teachers only had 2 priorities. 1. Teach really well so all kids have an amazing future. 2. Make sure all kids are happy and NO BULLING. I knew my whole year group and every single student was a pleasure. If you are looking for a school where your child learns and has an amazing childhood go to Crestwood Public School. I can not recommend it enough. The amount of fun times i had I can not even count plus all the things I learnt. Search up, Crestwood Public School and look at videos. The school tour is what my year group was. Check it out! Any questions comment below

I would not recommend Crestwood Public to anyone. I have repeatedly felt let down by them when we have needed help or some flexibility due to our child needs. They are quite disorganised and you will often speak to multiple people at the front office who will tell you different information. No one seems to know what is going on. Communication is quite poor and the majority of the time you will have no idea how your child is going until you get their report which is quite subjective and not very useful. There is one " goal setting" information evening for parents where you discuss your child goals early in the year but that's it. That said there have been some great teachers but they are also under enormous stress and at the end of the day they can only do so much. Bullying has been an issue and they don't seem to be very proactive about managing it. Quite often teachers are so busy and they don't witness events occurring even while in the same room as the child being bullied. I can't speak for everyone but this has just been my experience. It quite often comes down to management and we are currently on the 3rd principal or acting principal since my child started 4 years ago.

Are there chances of getting into selective school from MP even if u r not in OC? I mean is school good enough for selective without being in OC class?

The reason why Matthew Pearce Public School has a higher rating is because of the OC classes that pushes the school ranking/NAPLAN results up. Personally, I believe any school in Baulkham Hills or for that matter in The Hills area are good.

Without any doubt the primary school that is most highly sought after is the Matthew Pearce Public School in Astoria Park Rd Baulkham Hills. The catchment area for this includes parts of Baulkham Hills close to Baulkham Hills Rd and a large part of Bella Vista. Jasper Rd school has also increased in popularity over the past 2 years and I now understand they also only take a limited number of new students each year. Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any further questions. Regards Phil Holloway - First National Walsh & Sullivan

Hi all, Hope someone can reply to my below queries.
WE are planning to move to the hills side and we have St. Michaels catholic as one of our choice. Would like to know some feedback about this school. We are non catholic and would you think we could get a seat for my kid for primary ?
Besides we do know Mathew Pearce is one of the best schools. But Im afraid will there be too much stress on the kids and is it too focused only on academics ?

Thanks !
Manj

We moved to carlingford this year. However, the CPS has turned out to be a nightmare. We plan to shift to either the hills district or towards the city (like towards Ryde). Which of these places has the best schools and which ones specifically would you suggest. We have planned to rent a house in the catchment of the best school we can find. Pls advise.

Hi, I actually want to know about best primary public school within 10/15 mins drive from BHHS. My son will be going from next yr. I got to get a good school for my daughter (yr2 next yr). I would prefer an non-oc school for her start with.

Guys I have a question related to Bella vista PS and its support class? Any recommendation? Which school do you recommend for a child who needs autism specific support .

Is Castle Hill high school any good now. I have read some really negative reviews about it and Model Farm.
I am looking for schools with good teaching and culture.

Hi
Just stumbled over this thread as we are looking to move in the hills area.
I would like some advice on best primary and secondary Government schools in hills area. My child will be in year 5 next year, looking for good schools in the hill. from the above thread, i got a bit of an idea, looking for jasper (is it not selective?).
Any ideas on Model Farm high school culture and rating as my son is undergoing a lot of bullying in his current catholic school and I need to get him out of there asap.

All responses are highly appreciated.

In compare to all schools, Matthew Pearce Public School has 4.2 ratings from 34 reviewers on Google. I think it is the best one.

https://impactresearch.org/

Crestwood Public is a reasonable school, though sadly the principal lacks professional integrity and refused to do anything about a student, who happened to be class Captain, who stole and damaged some of my daughters belongings and repeatedly grabbed her arm in class to try and press the buttons on her watch because he didn’t admit to it happening.

She should have been pensioned off years ago, it is weak, spineless individuals like her that ensure bullying remain rampant in our schools.

There isn't enough land left for the kids to play on safely as it is taken up by demountable classrooms.
But hey don't ask the principle anything about it as she and i quote ''strategically picks the areas for the classrooms so it dosen't take away any play areas from the kids''.
Parents use the kids toilets whilst small children are using them which is frightening as the big bright yellow signs stating DO NOT USE THEM aren't written in multiple languages.
It's a real worry this school i'm sick of people (6 in total) knocking on the door asking if i will accept a large payment so they can use my address or my granny flat to get there kids and other's in the family into the school it's unheard of. Neighbors on both sides and across the street have also been asked to take payment for there address
The clock is ticking till a student or parent is killed by 1 of many silly/stupid drivers who have no idea on the road rules.
But hey the more students the bigger the salaries which is something that has been on the mids of multiple parents in and around the school
Harold Scruby come visit this school specially in the afternoon pick up time you will have a field day with the way you work.

There isn't enough land left for the kids to play on safely as it is taken up by demountable classrooms.
But hey don't ask the principle anything about it as she and i quote ''strategically picks the areas for the classrooms so it dosen't take away any play areas from the kids''.
Parents use the kids toilets whilst small children are using them which is frightening as the big bright yellow signs stating DO NOT USE THEM aren't written in multiple languages.
It's a real worry this school i'm sick of people (6 in total) knocking on the door asking if i will accept a large payment so they can use my address or my granny flat to get there kids and other's in the family into the school it's unheard of. Neighbors on both sides and across the street have also been asked to take payment for there address
The clock is ticking till a student or parent is killed by 1 of many silly/stupid drivers who have no idea on the road rules.
But hey the more students the bigger the salaries which is something that has been on the mids of multiple parents in and around the school
Harold Scruby come visit this school specially in the afternoon pick up time you will have a field day with the way you work.

How can the new school being built in Bella Vista help when it hasn't been started.
There is no way it is opening in 2019.
MPPS has a good reputation as most incidents regarding bullying and bad treatment of students is swept under the rug and kept quiet. Around 1450 students enrolled when does the duty of care become questioned
It's sickening the stories coming out of that school by parents who have had to endure being treated like rubbish and politely called liars from the principal and her assistant robots.
Kids are nearly killed there everyday in the afternoon pick up as the driving ability of 85% of the parents is frightening.
My kids have to go there as jasper rd wouldn't take them as where in the mpps catchment neither would excelsior ps
Dept of education closes its eyes to the issues at mpps which i found out first hand when trying to get help due to a situation my son went through.

Does anyone know how to find out the zoning for the new school opening in Bella Vista in 2019?

Agree with the fact that Matthew Pearce Public School has OC and quite competitive, however, it losses its balance of student enrollment. Crestwood public school is among the best.

hi phil, we are are just moving in to Baulkham hills, and through your company we found a lovely home thank you, and i would love to know some information in regards to the public schools,how is Jasper road public school? is it a selective school? as we are in their catchment area Yattender cresent .

thanks
samantha

What about Excelsior Primary, St Bernadette's and Our Lady of Lourdes? Any feedback about them?
Thank you in advance :)

The schooling in Baulkham Hills is second to none.
DARREN DOWD RAY WHITE BAULKHAM HILLS