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Does private schooling help to get a nice career?

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  • btw.. my school had a wide, diverse catchment area, including 2 major council estates and a lot less middle-class housing than my next nearest school.

    My little bro managed to go from our comp to get his degree from York, MRes from Birmingham uni and is finishing up his Clinical psychology doctorate at Oxford uni. Can't say its harmed his prospects much
  • No I disagree. My children all know their manners and grammar come to that and state schools do not insist on it. The state schools my sons attended are very good schools (come high in The Times top 100 every year) and are massively oversubscribed. In state schools teachers spend time on crowd control that they don't have to do in private schools. It wasn't that my children stopped using good manners rather that they were witnessing appalling behaviour/manners.

    I have worked in lots of state schools (primary and secondary) and there is only one (Sacred Heart High) where I found the children to be polite all the time they were within my ear shot. Mind you I didn't spend too much time there so maybe that was why I didn't witness anything bad.


    I agree with you. Although I do think what goes on at home sets the bar before children start school. My children are at a (top) state primary school in a professional area full of supportive homes and parents who were tertiary educated. Some of the children are completely wild; thoroughly lacking in table manners (toilet humour, no 'please may I get down' etc), demanding party bags at birthdays, continual chatting and ignoring teachers in class etc. Children today often appear to have over inflated self importance. I can recall never interrupting my parents if they were speaking to a friend. Nowadays "excuse me" seems to be falling out of fashion.

    I have friends whose children go to private schools. They are all comparatively strict with their children and their kids have impeccable manners. Their parenting styles are very similar to mine growing up; do as you're told, bed at a reasonable hour (7pm) etc. The parents most certainly rule the roost, which is less common amongst our friends at the local school. We try to strike a balance with our own children, as with everything.
  • The opportunity to hear your full syllabus rather than watch the teacher dodging desks is rahter essential to getting reasonable results and it's not about failing just not quite hitting full potential - the kid who just misses an A in chemistry so does midwifery rather than medicine - successful career, generally ok but slightly restricted choices.

    the schooling system these days is farcical compared to what it used to be

    when I was in primary - there were prizes for first, second and third in the class and in the year - they don't do that now - it's way too generalised now!

    They would rather everyone was just doing ok, rather than listing/highlighting the really good and the not so good for fear of some enraged parent accusing the teacher of insinuating their child is thick!

    I got this email today and it really is so true, see what you think

    CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

    1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's !


    First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.


    They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and
    didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.


    Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

    We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or
    shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.


    As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.


    We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.


    Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.

    Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!


    We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

    We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum
    and some bangers to blow up frogs with.


    We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight
    because......


    WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!


    We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.


    No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.


    We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

    We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY ,no video/dvd films,no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!


    We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
    Lawsuits from these accidents.

    Only girls had pierced ears!

    We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

    You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

    We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,

    We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

    Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

    RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with
    disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT

    Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bully's always ruled the playground at school.

    The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
    They actually sided with the law!
    Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

    We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !

    And YOU are one of them!
    CONGRATULATIONS!


    You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the
    government regulated our lives for our own good.


    And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.





    PS -The big type is because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore


    Time is the best teacher
    Shame it kills all the students
    :p
    *******************************************************************************************
  • Idiophreak
    Idiophreak Posts: 12,024 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Just a quick reply to the OP - my gf is private, I'm state, we're both educated to post-grad level, I earn 50% more than she does. She's chosen her career, I've chosen mine. Don't think the type of schooling had a lot to do with it, in the end... (except, of course, her parents spent all the money they could have been saving for her wedding sending her to fancy school ;))
  • Exaclty many state schools fine but if your unlucky enough to be in area where the choice isn't good I can see why people who can do go private.

    Like I was you mean??

    Well guy beside me in class - his big brother is now a famous footballer (not naming names) - another guy in my class went onto uni (where the real hard work starts) and is now a millionaire so I've heard with various companies up and running.

    Probably doing a lot better than some snob afraid to NOT send their kids to private school for fear of rejection from their 'friends'
    Time is the best teacher
    Shame it kills all the students
    :p
    *******************************************************************************************
  • a lot of people i know have sent thier children to private school not because they expect thier child to come out with 13 A*s but becuase they are not that bright and needed a smaller class and more help than where they were, could offer, they can afford the alternative.

    in one case our friends daughter by January at the local comp, hadnt bought home any homework, a teacher at parents evening told them that you dont get homework in clay class ! , They knew she would prob at a squeeze, on a good day, get maybe 3 c's at GCSE , but she left last year with 4 c's and 3 d's. Her elder sister was already at boarding school, studying for A levels. Her parents are thrilled for her. They dont see it as a waste of money at all. Her chosen path is a hairdresser. she has wanted to be a hairdresser since she was 12. Are some on here saying that £18k a year is a waste of money ? she has had a fantastic 4 years and made some wonderful friends. she worked so hard to get those results, equally as hard as her sister who had straight a's. Her parents are as proud of her as they are as her sister who is now studying medicine at university. Is it right to say they have wasted her wedding fund ? ?

    I dont see it as a waste, i see it as an opportunity that they could afford her, and her sister. they could only do so much at home if the top local comp couldnt even be bothered !

    I remember going to an open day last year for a local private day school, my husband & I walked into a reception class of 4-5 yeas olds, the teacher said, children we have visitors, they all stood and remained in silence until they were told to carry on with what they were doing ! that doesnt happen at my kids primary school ! its chaos !!!

    when we left the main building following a class assembly, the children were lined up for the guests to pass them, i overheard a teacher saying to a pupil, stand at the back, have you seen your shoes ! did you not clean them this morning? barely any children in my my sons & daughters class have polished shoes ... apart from mine !!

    As a parent I feel it is important to offer my children the best I can, we plan on be going down the private route from 11 !

    i dont see it as a cop out or lazy on my parenting.
  • Like I was you mean??

    Well guy beside me in class - his big brother is now a famous footballer (not naming names) - another guy in my class went onto uni (where the real hard work starts) and is now a millionaire so I've heard with various companies up and running.

    Probably doing a lot better than some snob afraid to NOT send their kids to private school for fear of rejection from their 'friends'

    I dont think you need a top education to play professional football ? I would be more interested in what the guy sat besides you is doing for a living.
  • poet123
    poet123 Posts: 24,099 Forumite
    I agree that if your child is not that bright,then a smaller class size and more personal attention may benefit them. However,in general, for those who are academic they will shine in a good state school. As I said, I have experience of both sectors, and my kids obtained almost identical results,but they were academic.
  • Pssst
    Pssst Posts: 4,803 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Perhaps we need to look at this another way? Send the child to a stage school so that they are good at acting. Get them to act up in school,be really disruptive and a general pain in the backside. Ideally they should get excluded.

    Now then, once this has happened,claim that they find school boring because child is "gifted" and has exceptional ability. Additionally get child statemented. Get Local authority to pay for private education for gifted child with special needs. Jobs a good 'un. Oh by the way, ideally change his name to Tarquin or the female equivalent.
  • I dont think you need a top education to play professional football ? I would be more interested in what the guy sat besides you is doing for a living.

    no you're right there u don't need to be bright but you certainly needto be fit and good at the game and it pays a lot more than most doctors and people in top notch jobs these days.

    other guy has his own haulage company
    Time is the best teacher
    Shame it kills all the students
    :p
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