Helena College - Junior School (Darlington Campus) 1 Ryecroft Road, Darlington, Western Australia 6070

"I love my children going there it's a happy place and I hope we have more visitors to join our school"

"I went there from pre-primary and overall great school, great setting and great for outdoorsy kids cause lots of sticks and rocks and great for gangup (chassy) cause lots of places to run and hide and teachers vary in personality a lot so good to make all-rounded kids and teachers also got married while I was there so yeah and didn’t get bullied and good community, and kids dont do drugs and when I was there we buried time capsules (as a class) in year 5 which we still haven’t dug up :( and I put no full stops cause my year 1 teacher likes them and it’s worth paying (despite the other angry mum review)"

"With two kids all I can say is this is not a great school. They over promise and under deliver. At best it’s just as good as one of the average hills local public school, but you fork thousands of dollars here, unlike free public schools. School setting is quaint with Perth views but it feels a bit run down with piles of rubbish seemingly permanently located just down from admin office. The school overall lacks a vibrant school atmosphere. Pre-primary class is great. But that’s about it. Kindy is extremely disappointing. Teacher absenteeism is rife which disrupts continuity. Kids come bored from school from lack of stimulation and care is often questionable. Bad behaviour can go ‘unnoticed’, and with the revolving door of relief teachers, it is an ingrained problem. One assistant teacher looks like the subordinate of the main teacher instead of working as a team. We never see them interact as colleagues. What happens during the day is unknown, but we can only form opinions on what we see at drop offs and pick ups because unlike other schools, updates here are immensely scarce. Sometimes it takes weeks between Seesaw dribbles. One teacher with a history of complaints came across as lazy and uninterested in the kids’ early education. Only the bare minimum seems to be done. Plenty of missed learning opportunities. Parents complain often but response indicates that management is happy to defend mediocrity and poorly performing teachers. Found it bizarre that parents are asked to sympathise with teacher’s own problems while forgetting that this is a business transaction where we pay money for education and not excuses. It’s a parochial small village school with an insular and close minded mentality. Criticism is suppressed and deleted wherever they have access to do so. They recently lowered their fees which makes you wonder why. I guess more people are realising this school is not worth it."