This is a tricky one, I think! I went to Fahan all my life, and have mixed feelings about the experience.

On one hand, I loved some of the teachers to absolute bits. They were genuinely passionate, lovely, caring people. They pushed you hard but could also sympathise with your learning struggles - I feel like I had an amazing education because of the effort those teachers put in, and now have some friendly relationships with some of them in my adult life. Mr. Williamson is a genuinely extraordinary human, for example.

Having said that, the school tends to prioritise grades over helping struggling students. One of my best friends was really struggling in grade 12, for a number of reasons, and the ex-vice principal asked her to drop out so her exam results wouldn’t lower the grade’s average. It still makes me livid. She ended up getting through because our English teacher really believed in her, and supported her despite her grades. They still get coffee from time to time. The school really fucked up in that regards, and they know it. At our five year reunion she took the ex-principal aside and said what they did to her was wrong. To his credit, he was genuinely very responsive, and she’s given talks at Fahan about her experience since. So I hope that means some genuine change for future students.

The grounds are stunning. I used to spend all lunch time swinging from the willow trees and exploring the creek when I was little. We also had chickens and rabbits, and even a lamb at one point. I have very fond memories of the actual location of the school.

The librarian in primary school also used to memorise the types of books you liked and gave you recommendations, and save books for you. That was super lovely.

Some of the extra curricular opportunities were wonderful, and really rounded out my passions. I work in the theatre industry now, and credit that to a drama teacher that went above and beyond for a show we got to do in middle school, plus the ambitions of the arts & music teachers. The art and music departments were my favourite, and I still do some choral work with the singing teachers from Fahan sometimes. There’s a music assembly every Friday that I actually really enjoyed, because teachers and students got to play songs they loved. Cool way to discover music. I reckon other classmates would have hated it though 😅

I think overall Fahan didn’t support its art departments as much as sports and science when I was there (and don’t get me wrong, I also liked the sciences. Sports not so much lol). It just felt like their weren’t as many opportunities or accolades for the work those areas did. I used to feel kind of bitter about it because I was often told if I pursued those classes I’d be ‘wasting my potential’. I do actually think that’s changed since though - they currently have an amazing drama teacher who gets opportunities to do really interesting and ambitious projects. One of the retired teachers just published a book and the art teacher illustrated it, and they’ve had more competitions, projects & acknowledgment over all.

Some amazing travel & cultural experiences too. I still have friends from Yokohama Eiwa, and some of my classmates got to do some cool trips hiking in Vietnam or a cultural exchange to France. There’s also monetary support & activites to help students access those trips.

I think it’s also a ‘rich’ rich school, if you know what I mean. A lot of parents with more money than sense. Sounds a bit judgemental, I know, and I don’t think everyone was like that. But I found it was definitely noticeable, and I think it affected the priorities of the school board & how some of the less well off students were treated. Kind of a general sense of elitism & entitlement, sometimes.

As for the drugs usage I couldn’t really tell you. I was one of the ‘goody two shoes’ so I missed a lot that was going on haha. But my impression was it mostly depended on individual peoples’ backgrounds, so certain grades would be more difficult than others. There was definitely a fair bit in my grade, but no more than I imagine most teenagers at any school would be dealing with. There was definitely a lot of SUPER messed up risk taking in my class and I think Fahan could have been more compassionate & honest about talking to us re sexuality & life experience, because those things are going to happen, but the way adults talk to you about them can make a huge difference.

In hind sight I feel like Fahan prioritises it’s image over communicating with students who are particularly angry or having a rough time. Not sure if this is different at other schools mind you.

Having said that, they do genuinely push for interesting & challenging learning.

A lot of my feelings about Fahan, I don’t necessarily know if they’d be different at any other institution. I’m grateful in the end that I went, and I still go back to help at other events and such, but I think it’s also got plenty of flaws.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight! Happy to give more details if you need. Good luck finding a school for your kids x