Private education???

maz123_2

Brief reply due to time!!! Will reply properly tomorrow, i can't find any child minders that would be my dream solution. Especially 2 weeks to go.
Yes private schools tend to be shorter terms but my sons dad lives in spain so he gets flown out there for holidays.
Nicki - sorry i didn't make myself clearer - the only other schools available in area are religious schools bit difficult in a same sex relationship, sorry to say it but alot of prejudice still out there. This is in the best state school, looking into Kumon, looks interesting - am i just a mad mother?
Spendless (love the name) rovers,duchy - i offered to sort this out for the school myself via email but was turned down. the school is good, but having spoken to other parents i'm not the only one, tried to get into the governers and all that.
Plan
1) join DFW board for inspiration
2) Tell OH exactly how much we owe. (Gulp £10700)
3) Speak to new teacher regarding all concerns
4) Feel guilty due to hours i need child care (sorry errata but how does everyone else manage? Waiting application forms for second job, am lucky and can get good money)

maz123_2

thank you for all your words of wisdom. Will reply in full tomorrow your such nice people. I feel like i've just made new friends - thanks x

natalie1974

Hi , I send my daughter aged 7 to private school and it is the best thing I have ever done for her . With regards to shorter term times , this isn't strictly true now as most private schools have changed their term times to accommodate this stupid 6 term school year , which in my eyes makes no odds whatsoever and has in fact made private school's term times longer :mad:. For example my daughter broke up 13th July and goes back 5th September . Most of the state schools broke up about 23rd July and go back 5th/6th September . This is now the only holiday where my daughters school breaks up earlier than state schools , the other holidays it maybe a day or two earlier but not much more .

cheepskate_2

quote: My son has just completed his first year at school, reception class and if anything has gone down hill from when he was at nursery. i understand that all the kids need to be at the same level but he now has no interest in school.

I would say go for it re: private education.

my son was in same position in year 1, he attended mainstream school, and did not settle.
he had loads of friends, but was so withdrawn you would think he had none( he would never initiate playing with them) gosh... now he is the loudest to be asking if anyone wants to play.
looking back on the year he has been independently educated, what a difference in acedemic ability, still not at top but huge improvement in a year, so much more confidence, and just so much loves the times when they have projects and he has to talk infront of the class/school.
At times i hate the fees, month after month, we do without lots of thing, but would not go back into mainstream school with him.
My husband was against it as well, never had independant education in either families, but as normal i went for it. Now he can see the wider picture and the effects he realizes it was the right decision.

Kimitatsu

Hiya Maz

Is your son happy at school? Does he have lots of friends? If he does then I would leave him there! We looked at educating privately (we have 2 so what you do for one......) and decided that £18k + uniforms and trips etc just was not viable for us. Afterwards we heard the stories of people who had moved from private into state and their educational achievement went up.

Both of my boys went to a Montessori nursery, and if there had been a Montessori school I would have sent them there! Both went into reception eager to learn and already knew many basic things, both finished reception being bored academically but they were happy socially, and a happy child is one that learns - at this age you can do the learning bit at home!

I cannot praise Kumon highly enough, just wish I had found it for DS1 two years earlier. Both are in gifted and talented streams, at your sons age it will help with fine motor skills as they start from basics, tracing letters, tracing numbers and then go through maths and english the "old fashioned way", addition, subtraction, division, fractions etc. English looks at verbs tenses grammar spelling, tragic as it is I pay for my sons to have the education they should have in school.

Only you can make the decision at the end of the day, go and visit these schools and make the decision that is right for you. For us private was not an option, and we have an excellent grammar school system here, so we are lucky, but it may be different for you. One thing I did find with the last school, is that I had to push them quite hard to ensure that they kept me in the loop as to how they were doing at school. I arranged to ring the teacher every friday and she could give me a run down of the week if I was not at the school gates, as a parent you are entitled to ask the school to do that at any time if you are concerned about your child.

td

Hi,

I took a pay cut and a drop inhours so that for as many days as possible I could drop off or pick up my dd from school because there is nothing like being face to face with their teachers for ironing out any problems. If you are considering paying so much for private education couldn't you reduce your hours by the amount that private would cost you and give that time to your child? By dropping your child off at school sometimes or picking them up youw ould get to know what the other parents think about the teacher or the school and quite often the other parents reminded me of things I might have missed out on (particularly after I'd had a new baby and my mind was elsewhere). And the walk home is a fantastic time for your child to tell you any of their troubles. I don't mean to guilt trip you or anyting because I fully understand that different families have different pressures and my circumstances will be very different but you can't underestimate how important that time is.

Speaking as a teacher - I would wait and see what happens next year as there are good and bad teachers in every school, it may be that there have been illnesses etc and the next teacher may be excellent. If you have any concerns you are within your right to request a meeting at a different time to parents's eve or ask for an interim report on progress and any concerns. Turn it back on them re the homework thing - ask them what they think you should be doing at home and do they have any materials/resources to support that. I'm surprised they didn't have reading books in reception though. If you want to help with reading the ruth miskin scheme is great for reading and writing my dd loved them. If they had concerns they should hav been raised with you earlier. Perhaps at the start of term as for a meeting to discuss their concerns and request that they make a home-schoolplan of action with you.

take care

td

td

PS I also agree with an earlier post - happiness is more important at this age.

td

Janepig

maz123 wrote: »

Plan
1) join DFW board for inspiration
2) Tell OH exactly how much we owe. (Gulp £10700)
3) Speak to new teacher regarding all concerns
4) Feel guilty due to hours i need child care (sorry errata but how does everyone else manage? Waiting application forms for second job, am lucky and can get good money)

You're a mother - motherhood and feelings of guilt go hand in hand I find, whatever you do, if you weren't feeling guilty because of work, you'd find something else to feel guilty about!!

Btw, DD's school uses something called "numicon" to help with early maths, DD loves it and you can buy kits to use at home. It may be worthwhile to find out if that's what your school uses and get a kit for yourself.

Jxx

tomstickland

td wrote: »

PS I also agree with an earlier post - happiness is more important at this age.

td

Happiness and stimulation are closely related. There's no reason why at en early age you can't both ne happy and do well at things. The young benefit from no expectations as to what is possible.

Regarding private/public I think that it is in general irrelevant; the important thing is finding the right enviromment. Whether that is public or private will depend on what is available in the area.

Kimitatsu

tomstickland wrote: »

Happiness and stimulation are closely related. There's no reason why at en early age you can't both ne happy and do well at things. The young benefit from no expectations as to what is possible.

Regarding private/public I think that it is in general irrelevant; the important thing is finding the right enviromment. Whether that is public or private will depend on what is available in the area.

But it is not neccessarily academic stimulation. My boys were stimulated at school but academically had gone backwards. They loved going to school because all of their friends were there and so they were open to learning but if the school does not take advantage of that then they will not move forward and boys will tend to switch off and find their own amusement.

Having found a school that has stimulated them and is more than prepared to move away from the national curriculum and push them they are both happy and academically stimulated, which to me is the best of both worlds.

But I do agree private or public is irrelevant.