For those with kids in the age brackets of year 3 through to year 6, there is the inevitable heavy decision in the background of what are the plans for high school education? There are many pathways to follow, but at the end of the day, you really want to get this right as you only have one opportunity.
The decisions of local vs a regional centre v the city.
Boarding vs buying a house in the city or regional centre and splitting the family.
Public vs private and religion.
I can’t particularly remember what the facilities were like when I went through school in the 90s, but I marvel at what the top schools have available to them now (my teenage self might still be shrugging my shoulders). Pastoral care also seems to be of the highest quality. However, this comes at a substantial cost for each child and of course not everyone can afford this nor necessarily believes it is the right choice
for them.
With this in mind I wanted to bring an alternative route my family has been travelling to your attention. The City Beach Residential College which it seems not many are aware of. The kids are from a mixture of agricultural areas, mining towns, and smaller coastal communities.
The college is located in City Beach, surrounded by the bushland of Bold Park and has impressive views of Perth. the modern facilities cater for the boarding needs of kids going to some of the larger western suburbs public schools such as Perth Modern School, Bob Hawke College, Shenton College, Churchland’s and John Curtin College. Students are housed in a unit of 6 with kitchen and common room, while
also having access to the main office, cafeteria, games room and gym.
There is plenty of freedom (my teenager would dispute this) via trips to the beach (2 min drive), regular shopping trips, and the opportunity to join the local sporting clubs in the area.
View outside of one of the houses (pointing out this is an impressive view also gets lost in translation with my teenager).
To qualify, students do need to be a part of the Gifted and Talented program, of which there are many options, these include:
The Arts or academic options.
• Dance
• Drama
• Media Arts
• Musical Theatre
• Visual Arts
My family’s experience of the Residential college to date has been a positive one, and I would talk up its credentials as an option to explore.
For more information
Gifted and Talented Program https://www.education.wa.edu.au/gifted-and-talented
Please note that for 2025 applications do have a cut-off date of Sunday the 11th February.
City Beach Residential College
https://www.education.wa.edu.au/web/citybeachresidentialcollege/home
