prep school cost

JosieJoBelfast

seatzie wrote: »

a friend who lives round the corner has enrolled their son at over £3k per year - "just to make sure he gets into the grammar school when he's 11"....and what if he's not technically able for the grammar school?

on the other hand, as attending a normal primary school on a housing estate didn't do me any harm and I attended a grammar school maybe I'm reluctant to go down that route anyway, just as I am reluctant to pay for an 11+ tutor when my child reaches that age (or whatever test is happening at that time)

My daughter and I having made the choice to go down the AQE route - it is clear that being in a Prep is no longer the 'pass' that it may have been for some of the Grammars. For example BRA is strictly rank order in scores, Methody are rank order to the band where their 240th place falls and then Prep is third in their criteria which they apply to all that fall in that band. I admit that some Grammars are more upfront about 'protecting' a proportion of their places, after they allocated the designated proportion on rank order.

As for 11 plus tutors, we didn't get one but my OH and I spent time doing an hour of revision at a time of her choosing with her. In my circle of friends I know of only 3 that used tutors, 2 said it made a real difference, their kids were bright however were hard to keep focussed and the other was in my daughter's class, she was a consistently high achiever, both her parents were real worriers for her. If she had been mine, I would have had no concerns, however they were worried that if they hadn't got her a tutor and she hadn't done well, she would be upset. She got 124 - but she would have got this regardless.

going slightly off discussion...but I think that the prep path straight to the grammar has and will continue to change in the forthcoming years....

steveymp

This thread is very entertaining indeed:T

I understand what people are saying about scrimping and saving to give their children 'a better education' etc....

Both my kids attend a regular 'Common' primary school. It is quiet a good school actually, where the class sizes are large but the teachers give a lot of encouragement to the pupils and parents. Teachers at the school put a lot of emphasis on continuing the child's education in the home, where they get 1 to 1 education;)

I went to a Grammer that had a prep attached and yes, most of the prep pupils did consider themselves superior to us common folk for the first year. After the results of the first year exams came out that soon stopped:rotfl: Money may be able to buy a better education, but it cant buy intelligence:rotfl:

So remember money may buy a better education for your child, but have a look at who your child is being educated beside:rotfl: A good basic primary education with a lot of help and encouragement at home will do for me and mine;) after all I am working very hard to pay the tax to fund it in the first place

seatzie

just to add an additional "later in life" point - having gone to grammar school from 1st year to 6th year, I found those who attended high schools, then moved to grammar in 6th form were a lot more determined to get their exam results and in many cases did a lot better than those of us who'd been there the whole way through