When Susan Ashton-Davies decided to send her daughter Juliette to Mosman High, she was drawn to its high parental involvement, its focus on student well-being and the fact that it offered something for every student, no matter what their interests or ability.
"I wanted to choose a school that would suit her personality and where she would thrive," Ms Ashton-Davies said. "I felt [Mosman High] was the right community for her, where she would learn and do well and be with like-minded souls."
It helped there was an academic stream for her bright daughter, but Ms Ashton-Davies wasn't too concerned about the impact the other students would have on Juliette's own achievements. "Did I think she'd be pulled up by the other kids? I certainly didn't think she'd be pulled down."
When choosing schools parents often take into account the peers their child will be learning with, hoping they will be buoyed by good students and fearing they will be dragged down by poor performers.
However a new study reveals that going to school with bright kids only makes a "small but significant" difference to a child's own academic performance in the short term. Meanwhile, being in a class with low achievers is not detrimental to the child's performance.
Researchers from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research used the NAPLAN literacy results of Victorian public high school students to assess the impact peers have on a student's academic performance. Selective schools were excluded from the study.
They found that the better a child's new high school peers had done in NAPLAN in year 5, the better that child would do in NAPLAN in year 7. In fact, if the peers had done better in reading in Year 5 than in spelling, that pushed the child's Year 7 reading compared to their spelling. However, it was only a "small" boost that peers provided.
If there was a greater proportion of top students at the school, this would push up the child's own NAPLAN results more. Yet a greater proportion of low achieving students made no difference to their results.
"Effects from peer [achievements] imply that parents can improve their child's expected educational achievement by selecting a school with a higher ability intake," the study authors said.
"Our results [show] these effects being very small."
University of Melbourne Associate Professor Chris Ryan said his research showed a child's academic achievement couldn't really be attributed to the fact they were going to school with smart kids.
"While we find an impact, it's really small," Dr Ryan said. "[Parents shouldn't] get too het up about the peer effect and the impact it will have on kids in schools."
The peer effect also dissipates over time. It is not discernible by year 9. "When you start at a new school there is an immediate shot of the peer effect, and then it kind of fades," Dr Ryan said.
