You may already know which local elementary school you want to send your child to, but you may not know. Maybe you have just started watching or you are on the verge of making a choice. Wherever you are, it is important to make sure you have all the knowledge to make the right decisions.

So how do you go about choosing and what criteria do local elementary schools use to decide which places to offer?

1. Decision Makers – Local primary schools do not themselves decide who attends their school and who does not. This decision is taken at the local authority level, so the school will have little to no impact on their intake other than trying to attract local children through open days and parent meetings. If you want, you can also check the best primary schools in Toowoomba through www.fairholme.qld.edu.au/fairholme-junior-school.

2. Religion – Many local primary schools are communal. That is, they follow a faith, usually because they are next to a church or in the parish of a church. As a result, these local elementary schools will use a belief as a significant part of their admissions requirements the number one item on the list for a faith school is acceptance in that belief.

3. Locality – This may seem obvious, but local primary schools want local kids. Next on the agenda for decision-making local officials are their home addresses. If two children with similar backgrounds are competing for the same school location, the one who lives in the school's catchment area will get a place ahead of one. This is important to local primary schools because they are concentrated in residential areas to serve the needs of a community, in contrast to secondary schools which are less concentrated and serve a wider community because children are much older and more independent. and have the ability to travel. 

So whatever local elementary school you are considering for your child, it is important to always remember that their chances of being accepted to go there will be influenced by many different factors, not just the road from your home. down or not. It's always worth talking to the school first and getting some input into how their selection criteria work. Each school will have a list of criteria that you can refer to help you make the right choice.