Are Private Schools worth it?

Sofa_Sogood

IMO ... no.

Kids either want to learn, or leave school, realise they've made mistakes, and go back for further education.

I was one of 4 people that passed their 11+ - and it worked out at one a year.

DD however, left school with minimum passes etc, lazy at times, yet went back for better grades, continued at uni and law school, and has just been offered a job worth 80K (which is a hell of a lot of money up here ...)

Yet I'm the cleverer one? I don't think so ...

Keep telling the kids that further education is worth it ...

Sofa_Sogood

Voyager2002 wrote:

Take a look at post #4! A great advertisement for private education -- NOT! Any school system that turns out adults who make so many elementary spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in a short post is really one to avoid.

Took a look and hey they can't spell.

Which means what nowadays?

Sofa_Sogood

Sofa_Sogood wrote:

IMO ... no.

Kids either want to learn, or leave school, realise they've made mistakes, and go back for further education.

I was one of 4 people that passed their 11+ - and it worked out at one a year.

DD however, left school with minimum passes etc, lazy at times, yet went back for better grades, continued at uni and law school, and has just been offered a job worth 80K (which is a hell of a lot of money up here ...)

Yet I'm the cleverer one? I don't think so ...

Keep telling the kids that further education is worth it ...

[Edit ... none of which was private schools]

nodwah

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if I'm repeating things. I experienced 2 years at a private day school 20 years ago (5th and 6th). For one thing I would've gained better marks if I'd stayed at the comp I was at because I made loads of new friends and discovered boys at the new one - former boy's school which started to take girls.
There was a real shock for me going there as you were pushed much harder and if you didn't make good grades one year you had to retake in the next year to bring the published averages up. I feel if I'd been there from 1st year I would have done better than just going for the exam years.
There is a type of person produced by such schools, they have a sort of confidence I feel, which helps them in life, on the other hand there are always the no-hopers and rebels who won't fit the mould.
Another thing i saw was that the kids quickly grade themselves into tribes (as always happens anywhere) there's the super rich, then the moderately rich like children of doctors and small business owners and last the poor relations, scholarships and assisted places kids. You know where you belong and you stay there - is that a lesson for life? My school had a good number of people whose parent lived in council houses and scrimped to send the kids there, but you were marked out if you went your holidays to a caravan rather than daddy's villa on the cote d'azur!
On the subject of teachers, I hope things would've improved by now but my school employed former pupils who couldn't get teaching jobs in the public sector! Some of them were useless and i saw a big contrast between them and the comp teachers I'd had.
Now I'll go and read some of the other posts!

Hapless_2

"It is not just the money. There is no guarantee that you will get better teaching - you don't always need a teaching qualification to teach in a private school. "

Neither are the majority of home educating parents, but we manage just fine.
Private doesn't = boarding either.

sarahlouise210

If I could afford to send my daughters to private school I would in an instant.
It cannot be denied that the level of education is of a higher standard ..the class sizes are smaller, therefore more attention can be given to the children. Private schools do not tolerate the bad behaviour that is ruining my eldest daughters education - she has even written to the headmistess herself as the total lack of respect for teachers and lack of discipline makes learning a constant struggle.
I do not agree that if you send your child to a private school they will be snobby or only mix with upper class children. My brothers were privately educated and the children came from very diverse backgounds - some parents were in high powered jobs..but many were ordinary people with their own businesses or bricklayers and plumbers!! They had the education I would have loved but was not possible for me at the time - not only did they benefit from the smaller class sizes and extended curriculum ...they learned to be all round good citizens (something we all teach our children of course - but they just have "the edge") I absolutely have no doubt that my children would take a different path in life if they were privately educated ...as it is I do my very best at home - but despair at the education they receive. I feel sorry for teachers in state schools who are overworked, undervalued and undermined - I wish they could be given back some sort of powers of discipline.

mike_paterson

I really believe that it is the lack of discipline at school and at home that is causing a lot of the problems in society. If Kids grow up without rules (lawless), then many of them will not be disciplined as adults. This will then pass to their children. If we continue to sow what we are sowing, then we will reap the rewards very soon. Unfortunately this has been going on too long - the politically correct lily-livered liberals have a lot to answer for.

lindens

I think it depends on the child. I went to private school because my dad didn't like the local comp. I hated every minute of it, it was a few miles away from home so I was alienated from my old primary school friends because i went to a posh school, and alienated from the "posh girls with their ponies" because we didn't live near each other. I was bright, and in hindsight now know i work better being a big fish in a small pond. In school I was a small fish in a big pond. Yes I was clever but everyone there was clever and I was not as clever as most.
My son went to the local high school, which being in the south wales valley was quite deprived. He was lucky in that by the time he was 12 they rebuilt a brand new school. That however came with it's own problems which I won't go into as they're not relevent. He is an intelligent boy too and although the school has it's troubles I knew from their reputation that children who try hard and are clever will do well so I sent him there happy.He left last summer with 8 GCSE passes and is now at college doing BTEC Engineering. I don't think he'd have done any better at a private school 20 miles away, and he would have been unhappy at not being with his local friends as thats the type of person he is.

Amanda65

Again I have not read the whole thread so if I am repeating what others have said sincere apologies.

Just to set the scene (lol!) my eldest DD leaves school next week in preparation for her GCSE's from her private secondary school, which she has been at since year 7 having attended state primary schools. Her secondary school is an ex girls grammar school (which I attended as last year of 11 plus pupils). Second DD is in year 9 and DS is about to start at a local boys private school.

IMHO you don't necessarily get better teachers etc. but what I have seen is my very shy eldest DD blossom in a small environment where there is an expectation of hard work and good behaviour. Also generally the pupils have that work ethic instilled into them so there is much less disruption in the classroom meaning that teaching time is used teaching and not sorting out some little s*d whose sole reason d'etre is to ruin the lesson for the majority who want to learn, but that the school can do very little about in terms of punishment etc.

However, what I would say is that in every case, where you are lucky enough to have a choice, pick a school that is right for your child. There are several private schools in the area, some of which are favoured by the uber rich and I knew that my children would never really fit in. Both the schools we have chosen do of course have children with parents who are much better of than us but the majority of the parents just work to pay the fees so my children have never felt particularly deprived compared to their friends.

scubaleopard

Hi I am a teacher and once had a teacher training student working with my class. She was terrible and although it is quite hard to fail because lots of extra support is given etc.etc she failed. I met her in town a few months later and she proudly told me she was fine because she had got a job in the local private school!!!!!!

I do think it depends on the choices available to you and the disposition of your child and also how proactive and supportive you are able to be.

The other factor is the peer group your child mixes with. This makes such a difference to their attitude. I do think some people think because they pay their children are going to mix with a " nicer type" this is so untrue.

I always remember my 2 older brothers used to make a joke if they wanted a girlfriend-- the girls from the local fee paying convent were the best bet for a HOT night out but they actually chose and married girls who had co-education.

Go and visit all the options available to you. Talk to parents at your local pre-school. Look at Ofsted reports gain all the information you can and know your child.

Good Luck