Private schooling

pinkclouds

cottonhead wrote: »

My questions are if you could afford a private education would you ? If you have been privately educated yourself do you feel it was worth it and if you currently send your children to a private school are you happy with your choice and what was behind your decision to begin with.

If you can afford it, or can access scholarships/bursaries, then: yes, I'd always recommend private schools or private education at home.

I have attended both private schools and state schools. The main differences are the facilities available and the curriculum options. I started my education in private schools and ended it in private schools (with a bit of variety in between). A state school will work with the resources they have and cut the curriculum if they can't afford the money, time or space. A private school will aggressively fundraise and ensure you get to sit whatever exams you want (assuming you have a good chance of passing them).

However, being hacked off that you can't study Greek or that the classrooms are all booked and you've been told to self-study in the library because there are no teachers assigned to you is one thing... What is even more important is the environment and ethos. If the pastoral care is lacking then I feel home schooling is an even better option because emotional well-being is as important as academic achievement.

Another big reason that a lot of parents seem to give is: to ensure your kids don't grow up too fast. Private education does shelter kids to some extent. It's a matter of opinion whether you think that's a good or bad thing. No form of education can delay the inevitable forever - we all get exposed to the world at some point. It's just a matter of hoping that your kids are equipped and tough enough to deal with it.

Not all state schools are bad though. A good state school can trump a poor private school. And home schooling doesn't magically suit everyone. You have to choose the best option for each child in your family and not focus too much on what Joe Bloggs down the street is doing.

emsywoo123

pinkclouds wrote: »

A good state school can trump a poor private school.

This times 1000

Madmel

I don't particularly want to get into the debate exactly other than to comment that I was privately educated [100% scholarship] & hold a BA & PGCE, DH went to a state comp and has a PhD. We both wanted the best for the DDs and from September, both will be at a state grammar school which gets better results than any of the private schools in the area. I work there p/t and can confirm that there is a wide range of other opportunities on offer there, so it's not just an exam factory.

However, in the OP's position, why not think laterally as some friends of mine did? The state secondaries near them are not good, and as from an early age their DD demonstrated excellent musical skills [parents are professional musicians!] so they aimed for a music scholarship at the private schools. Their DD didn't disappoint and is on a 90% scholarship because her parents are on very low incomes. It costs them more than a state school would, and they have had to make some tough decisions about extras, but she walks to school, has a wide circle of friends who love her arty lifestyle and has done really well.

OP, visit lots of schools and if you are set on private education, see what scholarships are available. If you don't try, you'll never know.

miss_independent

pinkclouds wrote: »

If you can afford it, or can access scholarships/bursaries, then: yes, I'd always recommend private schools or private education at home.

I have attend both private schools and state schools. The main differences are the facilities available and the curriculum options. I started my education in private schools and ended it in private schools (with a bit of variety in between). A state school will work with the resources they have and cut the curriculum if they can't afford the money, time or space. A private school will aggressively fundraise and ensure you get to sit whatever exams you want (assuming you have a good chance of passing them).

However, being hacked off that you can't study Greek or that the classrooms are all booked and you've been told to self-study in the library because there are no teachers assigned to you is one thing... What is even more important is the environment and ethos. If the pastoral care is lacking then I feel home schooling is an even better option because emotional well-being is as important as academic achievement.
N
Another big reason that a lot of parents seem to give is: to ensure your kids don't grow up too fast. Private education does shelter kids to some extent. It's a matter of opinion whether you think that's a good or bad thing. No form of education can delay the inevitable forever - we all get exposed to the world at some point. It's just a matter of hoping that your kids are equipped and tough enough to deal with it.

Not all state schools are bad though. A good state school can trump a poor private school. And home schooling doesn't magically suit everyone. You have to choose the best option for each child in your family and not focus too much on what Joe Bloggs down the street is doing.

AMEN!!!:beer:

miss_independent

tyllwyd wrote: »

My daughter is at a state secondary school which is an 'outstanding academy'. We are happy that the teaching is good enough there that she has the opportunity to achieve good results if she puts the effort in, and we simply don't have the money to send her to public school.

We have noticed a big difference in one area though - she is keen on drama, so she entered the 'mid-Somerset festival' to do a solo drama piece. We paid for her to have about five or six lessons from a drama teacher and otherwise rehersed at home. When she got to the festival, almost all of the other kids had obviously entered via their public schools. You could see that she looked underprepared compared to them - to try to get a level playing field, we would have had to throw a lot more money at it paying for private lessons.

And I've seen the same thing in other inter-school competitions - her school does what it can, but a few practices in lunchtime doesn't bring the kids up to the same level as the public school kids who have obviously had pretty intensive coaching.

Just to let you know, most children from private or public schools entering drama festivals will be having private drama lessons on a weekly basis either in school with a teacher who comes into school especially or outside of school. Ditto for music festivals. They will almost always be studying for (solo) drama exams through LAMDA, Trinity or another board and take several of these exams per year. Ajudicators of festivals will themselves have almost always have gone through the private lessons, LAMDA exams route often followed by three years actor training at a top drama school such as RADA, LAMDA, RSAMD and experience as an actor, private drama teacher and LAMDA examiner. They will therefore generally favour those children displaying evidence of having this standard of training themselves. It's not so much that these children are at private school (in my experience, curriculum based drama lessons in private school did not focus on actor training, this was very much an extra curricular activity) but that they are having regular private drama lessons with reputable and experienced teachers and may well have been doing since they were very young (between 6 and 8 years of age).


Sports is different again. Three days a week we would have 2 and a half hours of sport at my private school. Those on teams would then also train a further two hours in the evening once a week and two lunchtimes per week per sport and then spend Saturdays competing. Another local private school has children stay in school until 6pm each day to do sport and until 1pm on Saturdays, again to do sport - completely compulsory. Each child must be on at least two teams. So needless to say the state schools dont stand a chance against either of these two schools. Sport was literally a way of life at my school. I hated it
Sorry to go OT!

cheepskate_2

Going to Independent school, isn't just about the grades......Massive amount of other things come into play, Confidence being the major one.

Hiddenidenity

I was adament I was sending my 2 to private school before I moved, where I lived the state schools had awful OFSTED reports/reports from parents etc yet the private school had outstanding ones. Now I've moved the state schools have wonderful reviews (well some of them) So for now DS will be going to state nursery, if I find the ofsted/parent/my reviews poor then I will consider Primary school carefully reading reviews/asking parents etc.

I dont think there is a set answer to which is best, I think it depends on where it is and what the teachers/pupils are like tbh x

conradmum

FBaby wrote: »

I think this is a very pertinent point. A friend of mine teachers English at college for students sitting the baccalaureat. They are the top pupils, some of them come from the local high school (poor reputation academically) and the others from the top scoring secondary school (catholic) in the county. She says that the difference in teaching the children is massive. All are high achievers, so do well in terms of results, but the ones coming from the catholic school are way behind in independent learning. The high school kids are told what to do and just get on with it, the ones from the catholic school need to be taken through the whole assignment point by point, ask tons of questions and almost expect their papers written before they even start! She has taught that same class for years and it is the same each year.

We had a choice of two high schools for my daughter, one with a better reputation although both are considered good school. We all agreed with the less popular one for that exact reason. The ethos of the school is result oriented, but also to get kids to take ownership of these results. They are taught to be thinking for themselves, to be confident and industrious. The other school did reinforce that they valued being protective of the children, especially the first year. My children are very mature and confident and the other school suited our expectations in terms of preparing them for real life much better.

There's a lot of truth in what you say here. Parents should consider the long term effects of their schooling choices. Private schools recruit based on their reputation, which is based on their exam results. At the top independent schools, the pressure from parents to produce Oxbridge candidates is enormous.

Yet when those independent school students get to university they tend not to perform as well as state school ones. There isn't any incentive for private schools to encourage their students' self-motivation, but at state schools this can develop because it's more of a sink or swim environment. In more ways than one independent school students may not be so well prepared for the real world.

Itismehonest

cottonhead wrote: »

I'm interested to know peoples views on independant schooling. Right now my son is in state school and we are very happy with it. We couldnt afford school fees now anyway ( totally broke and have debts ) but I am considering sending him to a private secondary school in the future as the schools in our area are either really good or very very bad. We should hopefully be able to afford the fees by then!

My questions are if you could afford a private education would you ? If you have been privately educated yourself do you feel it was worth it and if you currently send your children to a private school are you happy with your choice and what was behind your decision to begin with.

We have to register him years in advance and although we can always change our minds, I'm just wondering is private schooling really worth the cost ? Thanks for any opinions.

At what age are you intending he switch?

If he is starting half way through schooling, much will depend on the level of education he has reached in his current state school in comparison to the intended private school as to how easy he will find the change.
Obviously he will normally have to undergo some form of interview or sit some form of entrance test depending on which private school you choose.
It's, perhaps, more usual to start children in pre-prep/prep & transfer to state having given them the private school grounding. That, or to go to private 6th form.

I strongly disagree with posters who feel that Public Schools don't equip their pupils for life.
For the good ones it is part of their ethos. Much more time is spent on an individual one to one basis with each pupil than is normal in the state sector in my experience.

For the private sector, as with state schools, there are good & bad. Do your research into all aspects of school life & choose which one you think is best for your son as an individual.

Person_one

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Are you really surprised at the negativity? It's a money saving site-independent education does not really fall into that category

This has been debated many times, and there is always a very anti-private bias.

I am sure the OP will base his/her decision on more than this thread though.

Not everybody who is opposed to private education feels that way because of the money saving angle! (Or a 'me and them' attitude, or jealousy.)

Its a principle for some of us, we don't believe that money makes you a more important or more deserving person and that all children should get an equal start in life.