We're about to move from Belconnen to the Gunghalin area and are thinking about changing schools next year. Our kids currently go to school in Belconnen, but after seeing how fabulous the new schools are at Amaroo and Harrison, we're thinking about swapping the kids over there next year.

The Amaroo school in particular sounds excellent and seems impressive from their website. Is it really that good? What is their gifted and talented program like? Are the teachers good? Do your kids like going to the school?

Also interested in Harrison even though it won't have a high school until 2013 and we would need one before then.

Thanks!

We are so extraordinarily happy with Harrison it isnt funny . My DS is in Kindergarten and I have nothing bad to report about the school at all . The Principal is spot on and extremely responsive to the needs of the kids (and parents). The staff are all great and all the kids that I know of love going to school.
Also it has now been released that the high school will open before 2013 due to demand. The Principal is pushing for 2011 but it will almost definately be open by 2012.
You also cant get in if not in area as it is very popular (oh except us who get in 3rd term last year before the school opened and I have a daughter that will attend the LSU )

I have heard that people who are "in area" have decided to send their kids to amaroo rather than the private schools, as it is that good....

I have friends with children at Amaroo and they love it. Will also PM you though.

Like Carol I can't fault Harrison! Should get even better now my DH is on the school board Seriously, Shea attended Amaroo preschool last year and is now in the LSU at Harrison doing Kindy, and Talon will be attending the preschool next year. The teachers really are great and the executive amazingly responsive to parents.

I don't know much about the G&T programs, but on the other end of the spectrum Amaroo has an autism support unit, and Harrison on paper has a special education class and a learning support unit, but in reality mainstreams them all, so each class has at least 1 or 2 special needs kids in it for most of the day. Shea spends just 1hpd in the special ed clasroom. There are a heap of staff to cater for them though - there are currently 8 special teachers assistants for the 30 special needs kids there this year, on top of the regular class teachers. It will change as enrolments increase but at the moment there are only an average of about 15 kids in each kindy class.

The architecture is similar at both schools - with open classrooms arranged around a central group time area, with quiet areas, wet (craft) areas etc for each year group. Both have huge libraries, and Harrison is finally getting books on the shelves for borrowing this week after a term of parent working bees to re-cover and label all the books donated by Cook Primary and other closed schools.

Harrison has Smartboards (fully interactive whiteboards) in almost all the classrooms (some are on backorder from the USA apparently), and the latest in technology and climate control architecture .