I had a mix of schools throughout my education.
Started out in catholic private, moved to public comprehensive, then moved to private “independent” but it was really just too catholic and culty to be backed by the church as a catholic school.
I think the whole public/vs private debate is difficult. I feel things really depend on the individual school, and the individual going.
I also feel success isn’t dependent on HSC results. Despite getting an atar of ~60something and absolutely hating school, I’d consider myself successful so far in both my personal and proffesional life. And I’m currently studying my grad dip in critical care nursing too!