Jackie
My boy is in a private school. I dont know what is semi private actually. The fees are reasonable. Less than 5k a year.
The 10k a year ones are the top notch and you have to be on their wait list for a few years. These are like MLC,Penhros,Hale,Wesley,Trinity.
As for schools that focus on academic, i am not too sure because that's not in my priority actually. Also if we wanna compare with Sg, no where is the standard anywhere near Sg.
I drive my boy to school because it's in another suburb - abt 10 mins drive away. The other private school near my place is a Catholic one, and it's just next to my house

. I open my door, i see the school.
Campbell primary is within my zone, and it's like 10 mins walking distance from my place.
Actually if you wanna go to public school, you can pick the school first BUT you cant enroll your girl first because you need supporting documents like tenancy agreement, power or water bills to support your address in that zone.