Would you send your child to a private school?

lucylucky

Accountant_Kerry wrote: »

It looks like the general theme is yes to private school.

Any thoughts on mixed vs single sex schooling?

I think that schooling benefits from being mixed as interacting with others is part and parcel of education.

JC9297

Spendless wrote: »

In my own circs no, but that is because something I wanted very much for mine, was to have local friends, ones they knew from school that they could play with after school, in hols, that they could walk to and from school with. The private school(s) here take from all around the town, and would be driving distance and extreme liklihood of no local friends.

I also wanted them to attend one of only a handful of secondary schools, so in order for me to get both my wishes we moved into catchment when eldest was under 2. My area has catchment as its 1st criteria. My 'hindsight' has turned out to be correct. The local secondary has only 16 places (possibly 24 if they can get the LA to increase the admissions number) to anyone not with a catchment address for next yr, less than the number of pupils currently in yr6 at the feeder schools.

Probably depends where you live, but in many places children attending private schools do live near their friends because they all live in the 'posh' parts of town(the schools are often there as well).

Regarding your second point, in our LA the criteria for places are:

Looked after children
SEN
Children in catchment with sibling already attending the school
Children in catchment without sibling
Out of catchment with a sibling attending
Out of catchment without sibling
Where a school is oversubscribed distance is used to decide who gets places

At our local, oversubscribed school even some children in catchment without a sibling don't get a place most years (varies from year to year depending on the cohort). You would be extremely lucky to get a place out of catchment, no places are reserved for them.

Tropez

Accountant_Kerry wrote: »

I do agree with you Tropez, but the way i look at it if i provide all the necessary education and support that I can if the child chooses a different path then so be it. Although if they are artistic I would want to send them to an arts school etc, options that don;t really seem available in the state sector.

I agree completely and these are the sort of factors I would be forced to consider. As I say, I don't have children and while myself and my partner have no plans to have any at the moment, should that change then I would of course be forced to weigh up such factors. As you say, state schools do not provide the correct facilities for children with a flair for the arts - and from my own experience, my arts teachers (art and music) couldn't have done more to put me off studying both subjects and obviously dedicated drama facilities are also lacking in state schools.

That said, I do believe there are some advantages, for the right children, in state schools, just as for the right children there are advantages to private schooling and that, speaking purely personally, sending children to private school because the means are available is not always in the best interest of the child.

I would like to think that should the issue ever crop up in my life then I will explore every avenue possible to my children, from after-school activities to possible advantages in education. If I felt my child excelled at, and enjoyed, one particular subject I would look at capitalising on that - whether it be extra-curricular tuition, an after-school club of some sort or if a private school catered well to the subject in question (for example art) then a private school.

onlyroz

Mixed works best for boys. Single sex works best for girls..

As for state vs. private, it really depends on how good the state schools are. I went to state school and now hold a PhD from one of the top schools in the country.

Private does not always mean better. Some private schools bump up their stats by kicking out the weaker students before they can impact on the school's league table position - whereas a state school would be more willing to support suchbkids, particularly if they had a diagnosed learning difficulty.

serious_saver

I went to a state school that was known to be far better than any of the nearby private schools. These days (after the housing boom) there's no way I could dream of affording a house in the catchment area for that school so I would seriously consider paying for a private school if I had children.

sexki11en

sneezyboots wrote: »

YES.

I went to a private secondary (admittedly for free) and state primary. It takes 2 mins of looking at my facebook friends from primary and secondary and seeing how many children they have (with how many different partners!), and what jobs they are/are not doing to make the decision. That said- when I do have children myself I would only send them if i could afford it and would not go hungry in order to do so.

This ^^^ is complete bollox!

And no, no child of mine is going to private school, whether I can afford it or not.

I went to normal secondary school, and 99% of my "friends" have 3 kids by different dads. However, that wasn't the school. That's the parents. I went to the same school and I had ambition. I don't have any kids - I married before we started trying and although I didn't go to Uni and get an "education" I was earning in the higher tax bracket before the recession hit.

Hubby and all his friends went to private school. They're well educated and polite, i'll give you that - but none of them has an ounce of common sense between them and thats down to the mollycoddling that goes on in private school. Kids need to live in the real world or else it's a hard lesson when they finally leave school.

SK x

Spendless

JC9297 wrote: »

Probably depends where you live, but in many places children attending private schools do live near their friends because they all live in the 'posh' parts of town(the schools are often there as well).

Regarding your second point, in our LA the criteria for places are:

Looked after children
SEN
Children in catchment with sibling already attending the school
Children in catchment without sibling
Out of catchment with a sibling attending
Out of catchment without sibling
Where a school is oversubscribed distance is used to decide who gets places

At our local, oversubscribed school even some children in catchment without a sibling don't get a place most years (varies from year to year depending on the cohort). You would be extremely lucky to get a place out of catchment, no places are reserved for them.

I live in a large town. There are 2 private schools, 1 is based in a deprived area of the town, the other isn't but is in the catchment area of a very good Secondary. That's why you get kids from all over. You would *possibly* get a few kids in the same area attending the same private school here, but again the more 'desirable' areas are spread out over all parts of the town, so it's not a given.

My LA works on the following admission criteria

In LA care
catchment
Siblings
At feeder school and have attended for 1 year before making application
Anyone else-based on a nearest distance to the school in a straight line order.


So for me there's no disadvantage to the first-born child, as long as you live in catchment.

This is why the OP needs to look at how things run where SHE lives, as us commenting what we would/wouldn't do are not ness relevant to her deciding.

Kimitatsu

Have you been to look at either of these schools before making such a decision? I realise that it is some way off but for me it is about how the school suits YOUR child rather than what its results are.

My DS1 sat entrance exams to the grammar school, took a good look around it and announced he wasnt going there! We went to the good comp in the area whose results are better than that of the fee paying school and he loved it. So confident is the school in their pupils that it is the current pupils who show prospective families around and then the head will see you, but you get a real feel of the school.

Public or private should not be the issue, it should be whether your child will be happy because 7 years is a long time to be miserable.

albacookie

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

I wouldn't hesitate to send my children to private school. Smaller class sizes and better support for the children would be my motivation.

I went to a private school and found that the teachers were so used to dealing with bright kids (you had to sit an entrance exam) that could just get on with the work that they really struggled to help my best friend who was dyslexic - she is really bright (now has a masters) but needed help scribing as her handwriting and spelling made most stuff illegible. It was also very academic and we did virtually nothing creative or sporty.

I'd try to find someone who went to the school or has a child there now and find out if it suits.

moomoomama27

In a heartbeat I would. The private schools in our area are very good, not that the state schools are hoffici, infact the GCSE and A level results weren't all that different. However the opportunities are greater, the class sizes smaller and I think my eldest inparticular would thrive in that environment, although I would have a hard job persuading her to go! If money was not a problem I would jump at the chance. However having 3 children, I couldn't afford to send them all, so that's that!