Are Private Schools worth it?

nearlyrich

ReportInvestor wrote:

In London 20% of children attend private schools, against a national average of 7%.

I have colleagues in London and the South East with small children who they are sending or planning to send to private school " because there are no decent schools in the area". I find that sweeping statement quite hard to believe but it's their choice. Sadly they are struggling to pay their high costs of living already so the extra burden of school fees is not going to help.

Whilst there is a concentration of wealth in some of these areas there are also lots of ordinary people who are living well beyond their means because they feel they are expected to provide the best of everything for their little darlings.

ReportInvestor

Guardian - Is it worth up to £23K? Pros and Cons

Guardian - High fees "force parents to abandon private shools"

Guardian - 25% of state sector teachers would educate their children privately if they could afford it

What do MSErs think about the Chris Woodhead initiative to provide cheaper private education with "no frills"? This would mean larger classes and few extra-curricular activitives. Does anyone have experience of such schools in their neighbourhood?

ReportInvestor

nearlyrich wrote:

there are lots of ordinary people [in London and the South East] who are living well beyond their means because they feel they are expected to provide the best of everything for their little darlings.

Totally agree with that.

SallyD

What an interesting thread. I have enjoyed reading all perspectives on this topic. My son attended one term of of London state Infant School, I was totally unhappy with the school for a variety of reasons. He had previously spent two years at a state nursery. I was recommended a very small private school that boasted classes of no more than 15 children. I was a single parent on a very limited income. After much deliberation decided to enrol him. What a wonderful time both he and I had until he won an assisted place in a public school out of London, which he attended as a day boy. Parents paid a great part in the running of the school and out of hours activities. I firmly believe whether he had gone to public or state senior school he would have done well, as he had a good grounding at junior level. All the lads were treated as individuals but punishment was firm. Now he is looking into schooling his 4 year old and going Private is an option. I do not for one minute regret paying the fees, although the going was tough at times.

gingerdad

Just to post my 2p's worth, I did a year in comp followed by 4 years private followed by 2 years a college.

The if i had stayed at the comp i would have failed completely as they did seem to care if people were in school or not, and not being the most enthustic pupil didn't help.

went to a private school. a huge mix of kids from farmers to rich kids. I went to a school in ireland and the range of backgrounds was massive, my brother went to private school in england a top selective one i would also say there was a hugh range of backgrounds.

At private school i was pushed and also able to excel in lots of sport and othe hobbies not offered at the state school i went to. The disapline was very good, the out of school activites were excellent. we learnt alot of things about life i just don't think you would get (or i didn't get) at a state school.

I did okay and i am doing well know the two years a college was a complete waste of my life.

as for my kids, the two localish state secondary schools i wouldn't send them to both crap, we would have to move to get into the catchment area of a very good fee free grammer school or i need a better job, but we have a long time till that point, but i will do the best for my kids.

But the state system need lots of work simple thing like my wife (who is a teacher) having a computer to power her interactive white board!

We may well move back to the Isle of Man before our kids get to secondary school.

hobo28

here are also lots of ordinary people who are living well beyond their means because they feel they are expected to provide the best of everything for their little darlings.

Yep and thats why I worry about the state of the economy. Long term this trend cannot be sustained.

Anyway, back to the point. Of those who are adamant they'd only send their kids to a state school so they can learn to mix with all walks of life or qualifications aren't everything brigade etc. I wonder how many of those people would feel the same way if they suddenly won the lottery? Would their cherubs still go to a comp?

tiggertoo_3

I wonder whether the Heads will allow you to look around the school while lessons are taking place rather than during special open days/evenings

As someone who works in a Secondary School and deals with the parents who want to look around, could I just say that this isn't always logistically possible. Secondary Schools are unbelievably busy places and many schools, like mine, are normally struggling on a daily basis to cover lessons due to absence so the staff are normally stretched to say the least. We don't encourage visits during school time as it does disrupt lessons hence we have special Open Evenings to show prospective parents around and then a maximum of 2 daytime group visits for those who couldn't attend the evening. Sadly we now have to 'vet' the parents on day visits as we have had parents with kids in Years 4 and lower pretending that their kids are in Year 6 and taking valuable spaces for those who really should be looking round with their Year 6 children. It might be totally different in your local school though so its worth calling them to see if you can have a look around.

Also, bullying can be rife at any school.

It's certainly worth checking every school you visit has an Anti-Bullying policy and how they deal with bullying. In my own school I have seen bullying dealt with very well but also very badly.

As long as you ask lots of questions, then I think the decision becomes far easier. In most instances you and you child will know which school you prefer whether it is a private or state school. My daughter attends the school I work at and whilst she is doing very very well and has never had any problems I must admit that, if I had the money, I would have considered a private education for her purely because of smaller class sizes. I don't know if the standard of teaching is actually better.

Tigs

Tojo_Ralph

gingerdad wrote:

Just to post my 2p's worth, I did a year in comp followed by 4 years private followed by 2 years a college.

The if i had stayed at the comp i would have failed completely as they did seem to care if people were in school or not, and not being the most enthustic pupil didn't help.

went to a private school. a huge mix of kids from farmers to rich kids. I went to a school in ireland and the range of backgrounds was massive, my brother went to private school in england a top selective one i would also say there was a hugh range of backgrounds.

At private school i was pushed and also able to excel in lots of sport and othe hobbies not offered at the state school i went to. The disapline was very good, the out of school activites were excellent. we learnt alot of things about life i just don't think you would get (or i didn't get) at a state school.

I did okay and i am doing well know the two years a college was a complete waste of my life.

as for my kids, the two localish state secondary schools i wouldn't send them to both crap, we would have to move to get into the catchment area of a very good fee free grammer school or i need a better job, but we have a long time till that point, but i will do the best for my kids.

But the state system need lots of work simple thing like my wife (who is a teacher) having a computer to power her interactive white board!

We may well move back to the Isle of Man before our kids get to secondary school.

I really don't want this to come out the wrong way, (but it will), as I appreciate that there may well be underlying reasons for the punctuation and grammatical content of this post, however, in the event that there are none, (and even if there are), should a school be it private or state not be promoting basic literary skills over sports and hobbies?

The reason I comment is that one of the major factors in deciding against the private education available for my son was the very fact that the school available, whilst having a solid academic record, had a far stronger bias towards sport, a bias that I felt was not in the best interests of my son.

tidyfinance

We have just sent our eldest lad to private school. He's 11 and in his 'shell' year.
I'm was raised in a council flat and had good education both primary and secondary (comp). My wife attended a comprehensive also so we are by no means snobs!
I always used to say that if my kids were clever enough, and we had the money, then I 'd like to think that we would send them private.
Anyway, my eldest has totally driven his desire to attend private school and has absolutely loved his first year. We had family arguments as to whether we could fund it but we've re-mortgaged to ease the pain. I'm actually on this site getting 'advice' as to the best place to house the re-mortgaged fee to pay for his education. To date it's been brilliant for him. The only 'bummer' for me is that he's allied to a professional football club, plays district football, and has gone to a rugby school!! Good job he's captain of his local rugby club as well. He is a driven young lad and reckons he wants to be a dentist, we can only encourage his dreams. Our youngest isn't as clever and has no desire to follow in his brothers footsteps.

ReportInvestor

kittie wrote:

Pick a good comp in a good catchment area and you won`t go wrong.

Indeed.

Today's Times - Labour's dirty little educational secret

"....The social apartheid that results from the current scramble for the best places means that Britain is now more class-ridden than ever: for all Labour’s talk, the UK has become less socially mobile and now ranks with the US at the bottom of a league table of eight European and North American countries. Academic selection may have been unfair (and it is certainly taboo) but the system that replaced it is vulnerable to worse, covert manipulation, based not on the child ’s exam performance, but parental savvy and cold cash.

Any middle-class parent knows how to rig the system to be with People Like Us. Simply buy a property in the catchment area of a successful school — sending house prices spiralling in said area, making it even harder for the oiks to get in. Or you can claim religious observance and send your children to the faith schools that year in, year out, top the league tables. Or both. Labour’s new, privately sponsored city academies are another good bet. In theory, they are non-selective. But it is ambitious parents and well- behaved children that tend to get through the complex bureaucratic admissions procedure. And with the money you save on school fees, you can pay for private tutoring....."