Thanks to those who completed our recent survey…

Last month Balgowlah Boys P&C conducted a survey of the parents with children currently enrolled at the school to better understand current parent views on the single sex offering at Balgowlah Boys and how that impacted decisions to attend the school.  The response rate from parents was pleasing, with a range of views being expressed.

 In summary: 

         - the vast majority of parents (90.4%) were happy with the single sex education currently offered by the school 

         - for most parents the lack of co-educational offering when making high school choices was a small issue (47.8%)

         - academic performance (80%), proximity to home (64%) and the reputation/spirit of Balgowlah Boys (54%) were the leading reasons that parents selected the             school

Full results:

The survey also provided the option for parents to make additional comments. The majority of these indicated a strong bias towards leaving something that is working so well alone. “Don’t mess with a good thing just for the sake of it” and “Great school. Don’t break what does not need fixing” being the predominant views. 

There were also a number of comments about turning the attention and budget towards improving the very substandard facilities and infrastructure at the school.  “The buildings are in a very poor state” was a common comment, as well as disappointment that the promised significant update of the building had been removed by the current government.

Some parents did feel that there could be more offerings of cross-campus social activities with Mackellar on a regular basis, extending the Bally/Macka social nights, music nights, Duke of Ed and rowing currently offered cross campus. 

Other comments focused on extending the catchment to include Forest High which would then give another co-education option for those parents living in the 2093/2095 postcode. 

There was a small number of parents who indicated concerns with single sex schooling. Most, however, indicated that their initial concerns were alleviated once they saw how the Balgowlah Boys model worked for their sons.