Parental reasons for sending children to a rural day and boarding school

Abstract

This article reports results from a survey conducted in 1990 on parental views of various aspects of education in a small independent day and boarding school. While the principal focus of  the research was on attitudes towards specific areas of the curriculum, this article presents data on two inter-related questions: The main reasons for sending a child to the school. The importance of various possible influences and sources of information in choosing the school.  Most previous Australian research on parental reasons for choosing independent schools has focussed on schools located in metropolitan areas with exclusively or primarily day student enrolment. Data from the present study are drawn from a school located in a rural area. Unlike previous research, comparisons can be made between information provided by parents of three groups of children: day students; boarders who could attend a local school; boarders who do not have access to a local school.