Private Education on average income? Anyone else?

ViolaLass

MrsE wrote: »

Thats my feelings too. I think it could be very isolating for a child if they didn't fit in. Its a different way of life.

That just isn't necessarily true. I won't say we didn't have a car(!) but we didn't go skiing, own any horses or ponies etc. We didn't even have a TV and the only yearly holiday we had was visiting my grandmother for the summer.

Private school doesn't have to mean 'other' or 'posh' - we're human too you know! Private schools are many and varied and don't all churn out Prince Williams and David Camerons.

I think any school, state or private, where a child failed to fit in would feel isolating. The prejudice exhibited by some on this board wouldn't help.

cheepskate_2

swiss69 wrote: »

Personally I think its a waste of money unless your can afford it without it affecting your lifestyle.

If you have to give up holidays etc I think thats a shame. Kids remember things like that more when they are older.

.

Got to dissagree, i dont remember any of my holidays, but i do remember my education , in a mainstream school that didnt really encourage you(maybe apart from a few teachers) if you were not the top pupils.

I wish my parents had given me better education(hypothetically as they would not have afforded it) that would last me till the day i retire , rather than a holiday(lasts a week) or the best clothes or toys.


Whats the old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Lunar_Eclipse

kafkathecat wrote: »

As gingin says most private schools are not interested in supporting children with any extra needs,

Perhaps this is true for most mainstream private schools, but there are private specialist schools which offer children with certain difficulties (dyslexia, Aspergers etc) fantastic opportunities geared to their individual areas of weakness in a way that no state school can. We have one locally, otherwise I would not have known they existed and how brilliantly children with special needs can perform academically, in the right environment for them.

Additionally, there are private schools out there that challenge and stimulate the gifted and talented (academically, musically, artistically or physically) in ways that go beyond the gifted and talented register at our (most) local 'excellent' state school. I'm not convinced they see them as having the "extra needs" that they most certainly do, given the range of children they deal with, curriculum pressures and the resources available. For the academically able, our local school thinks the right thing for them to do is 14 GCSE's. I wish I was kidding!

So I respectfully disagree with your comment.

lostinrates

One of my nieces has been provided for by private schools very well with dyslexia and just not being terribly academic (unlike her sister). As well as working to maximise her academic potential she has been encouraged in areas where she is more naturally talented. Incidentally both receive very good bursaries.

Lunar_Eclipse

Person_one wrote: »

The standard of teaching is no better in private schools.

I think it's hard to know that, but as a whole, I think you're probably right.

The difference is in being a paying customer. Rightly or wrongly, parents I know educating privately definitely seem to have more say/power than those I know educating in the state system.

The Head of our local school thrives on his own success so much, that he honestly thinks he can do what he likes, and to hell with the parents because he's got a queue of children on the waiting list!

Person_one

cheepskate wrote: »

Got to dissagree, i dont remember any of my holidays, but i do remember my education , in a mainstream school that didnt really encourage you(maybe apart from a few teachers) if you were not the top pupils.

I wish my parents had given me better education(hypothetically as they would not have afforded it) that would last me till the day i retire , rather than a holiday(lasts a week) or the best clothes or toys.


Whats the old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

I'm afraid I've 'got to disagree' with you too!

I went to a bog standard comp but with the right support from my parents, a few decent teachers and a desire to do well I managed fine. Not the best years of my life but I got As at GCSE and ended up at a good uni.

However, the holidays and trips my parents took us on were formative, positive experiences, seeing a bit of the world, trying new things, meeting people from all over, bonding with my family. I wouldn't have changed them for all the caps, blazers, A*s or Oxbridge degrees in the world.

MrsE_2

ViolaLass wrote: »

That just isn't necessarily true. I won't say we didn't have a car(!) but we didn't go skiing, own any horses or ponies etc. We didn't even have a TV and the only yearly holiday we had was visiting my grandmother for the summer.

Private school doesn't have to mean 'other' or 'posh' - we're human too you know! Private schools are many and varied and don't all churn out Prince Williams and David Camerons.

I think any school, state or private, where a child failed to fit in would feel isolating. The prejudice exhibited by some on this board wouldn't help.

I have no prejudice at all & had I been able to afford it would have loved to have sent my DD there.
But you can't pretend that they are full of average income kids, they are not. The vast majority are from wealthy & very wealthy homes.

lostinrates

MrsE wrote: »

I have no prejudice at all & had I been able to afford it would have loved to have sent my DD there.
But you can't pretend that they are full of average income kids, they are not. The vast majority are from wealthy & very wealthy homes.

The vast majority at ''normal'' private schools as opposed to the more expensive ''public''schools will be from higher income middle class families. Thinking back to my own education parents included teachers, army (though I think army education has changed a bit now), middle management, police, nurses, a few mechanics and a second hand car dealer as well as more traditional higher earners and ''posh'' homes. I also know of more than one mother who did a second job cleaning to boost income...hardly the stereotypical job suggested! Of course fewer were from lower income backgrounds, because there are fewer scholarships than there are full fee paying children, but to suppose they are all from pony owning and tennis court in the garden families is also not right. A lot of the parents couldn't afford big homes, ponies or tennis courts or a bedroom for each child precisely because they prioritised education....had they chosen another route of education for their children they would have had more income available for those luxuries

ViolaLass

MrsE wrote: »

I have no prejudice at all & had I been able to afford it would have loved to have sent my DD there.
But you can't pretend that they are full of average income kids, they are not. The vast majority are from wealthy & very wealthy homes.

I can't comment on that as we'd have to define wealthy. But talking generally, I think they're less full of wealthy people than you'd imagine. Plus, being better off financially doesn't make you a snob or a lesser person and going to a state school doesn't mean that you understand all of society better. Sure, it might be a different life experience but that doesn't make it a bad thing.

In any case, it's worth pointing out that private schools charge a vast range of fees (mine was £5000 a year, for example), which presumably affects the kind of people who can go there - I wouldn't necessarily call someone who can afford to spend £5000 a year on schooling wealthy.

Person_one

Whether or not they're full of 'wealthy' children, they're definitely full of the children of the type of person who believes that their child should have special privileges that others can't, who believes in supporting a system that contributes to massive inequality and who deny their children the full range of social experiences that come with attending a state school.

I actually think private education is morally wrong, and that's why I don't think you should send your kids to a fee paying school OP. Forget maths and english, what other lessons are you teaching them by doing so? That money is the way to buy advantages in life? That money makes you more worthy of a decent future? That education is a privilege for those who can afford it rather than a basic human right for everybody? These may be partly true but they certainly shouldn't be.