Are Private Schools worth it?

Kitikat

I think that all children are individuals and I will be looking at a range of private and state schools when my children leave primary school. One thing that I would have considered to be out of the question until recently is to send one to private school and one to state school, but as my children get older and I can see that their needs differ in many ways, I would now send them to whatever school I believe is best for them as individuals. I was educated in the state system.

Gingham_Ribbon

funky-footprints wrote:

(the primary school my children go to is actually the only one in the area where the children are not coached for thier stats exams, the head teacher believes that the results of the school should be based on the actual academic abilities of the age of the child, something which i didnt know about until talking to a member of the pta)

A school standing up against over testing kids? NOW you're talking! It's time SATS in primarys were done away with. Good for them. Kids need to be taught how to think for themselves not how to pass exams at that age. Too many schools are turning out kids who can pass exams but can do little else.

tomstickland

I went to a private school via a scholarship and the now-defunct assisted places scheme. My parents were not well off and they scrimped to afford to send me there.
If I ever have my own children then I will look very closely at local schools first. I know some people who went to some very average comps but have done very well because they have nous and ability. Personally, looking back, I would have prefered to go to a local school maybe.

Anyway, private schools are as variable as any other school, but they tend to have smaller classes and most have a strong ethos on working hard and getting the most from all pupils. Since the parents are paying good money for this then they tend to take a lot of interest in the school. Having said that, I knew some right idiots during my school years.

barginboyrob

i went to private school and my brother goes to state school. Our mix of friends and now characters are very different........

Penny-Pincher!!

Mumstheword-Sorry, I didnt realise that in some places you didnt have a choice and are given what you are given. I always assumed that everyone filled in forms when their child are going to attend secondary and put down their preferances. Friends Ive spoken with have been through this same procedure and they live all over the place.

Your very lucky that your only option for school is a good one.

In our borough many schools are rubbish and our local one is awful-I would rather home teach her than send her there...LOL The only comprehensive school Ive listed is quite a drive away, but am going to fight tooth and nail to get her in there if she doesnt pass her 11+.

Our 2 local private schools only have 2 less per class than the standard comprehensive school.

PP
xx

funky-footprints

mums the word your education sounds exactly like mine, the only bullying i ever encountered was at the end of every school day fully uniformed up, knee socks, hat blazer etc, we had to wait for our school bus outside school with the comp buses driving by, they used to lob everything chuckable at us out of the bus windows, and cheer delights ........ we had to stand with a teacher supervising us. i did get detention once for wearing over the knee socks to school rather than knee ones, detention wasnt a lark about at lunch time in class, (as it was in my brothers comp) it was at 4pm after school, a whole hour of learning henry iv or something equally as boring, maybe even Latin !!! which meant i either had a delightful hour long journey home from school with my dad in the car, or i could catch the service bus home with the dawdling comp kids and get bullied all the way home, i preferred to ring my dad, and that journey wasnt the greatest, as Id get the we are soo disappointed in you lecture !! certainly taught me discipline !!! also meant i wasnt able to be slack !

bootman

If you are going to do it I say do it from the word go.

I pulled my son out of year 2 to go to a private school. He was in a class of 33 with only 11 girls in the class. I did it because I wanted a smaller class size and for him to have more attention. He was starting to become a handful and messing around and being able to get away with it.

He lasted a couple of weeks at the new school. He hated it. Could not stop crying, waking in the night crying as well. I could not cope with it. I sent him back to regular school.

If I could do it again I would still send him, but from the word go.

black-saturn

I went to a private school and I did really well with my exams but apart from that I rebelled very badly against my parents. I was a goth at about the age of 14 onwards (and still now ), smoked from the age of about 17 and used to hang around with all the wrong people. Never touched drugs in my life though so I suppose that was one thing I had going for me.

raeble

I went to a state school, so called comprehensive mixed ability teaching where everything is rounded down to the lowest common demoninator. It was the worst thing for me. If there is a good state school in your area you should try for it but if there is an equally good private school I would try for that as well. Especially if your child is going to benefit from the academic rigour of the private school. I went to a good state school but you were taught to pass exams, I have no comprehesion of English grammar and my spelling can be quite poor. My social skills weren't exactly improved at school either. Looking at it I think you get more of a rounded education from a private school.

To whomever was speaking about more mixing going on in a state school - well what happened when I was at school was you made your friends in year seven and they didn't really change all the way through your schooling when you left in year eleven.

bobsa1

I went to a comp school and hated it, bullied and called "snobby" for years. DH went to a comprehensive which was appaling. We now both work in fields were we work with collegues who were privately educated.

They have a common past experience, common ethos etc and we have sent our children to private school from the age of 4.

The behaviour in class is excellent, teachers enthusiastic and facilities v.good. Both of the children are happy, polite, well adjusted and mix with a wide cross section of kids.

I don't worry about the children when they are at school, unlike many of my friends who have children at state school.

I don't have anything against state education, just not for my children, sorry if that offends anyone but it is the way I feel.

At the risk of being unpopular, I also want my children to mix with children who also come from families who are keen on education and have aspirations both for themselves and their children.

I agree that some private schools aren't very good. Neither are some state schools.

It is a personal choice but I thought I would give my reasons.