This dataset contains 469 surveys of parents in 10 schools in the Sydney metropolitan area on their Year 3 (aged 8/9 years) children's habits of learning. The survey questions include language spoken at home, cultural identity, occupation, educational qualifications, the child's attitude to school, their achievement, aspirations, homework routines, extracurricular pursuits, and attendance at coaching college, etc. The survey aims to gauge if patterns emerged relate to educational achievement and aspirations and ethnicity. In all, a total of 839 surveys were distributed in eight languages: Arabic, English, Korean, Mandarin, Samoan, Spanish, Tongan and Vietnamese. Many more languages were spoken across the ten schools but principals selected these as meeting the language needs of their school populations. Of the 839 survey forms distributed, 469 were returned, representing an overall return rate of 56%. The return rate varied across the schools surveyed, with the highest return rate at one school being 75% and the lowest 28%.