Private school fees (merged)

benood

borntobefree wrote: »

I am almost speechless. This is a horrible way to describe any children.:mad: Are you a troll as you seem to have little to the debate?

Surely you recognise a stirrer B2BF

meester

suzybaby2001 wrote: »

I had a state education all the way through to university (graduated 3 years ago), and I was lucky that my schools were ok in my area, however I had a rough time with bullying etc etc. The first thing I'd like to say is that I think school is what you make of it, I managed to thrive academically in a class where frankly there were some horrible kids whose daily purpose at school was to bring the bright ones down to their level. The streaming system helped to keep the "workers" together to some extent.

I went on to do A levels and secured a place at Durham university to study biomedical science. Now this is where it started to get interesting! We were thrown into the mish mash that was halls of residence and from day 1 I realised I was the outcast, coming from a state school and everyone (and I do mean everyone) was from private schools. The first question I was repeatedly asked was "what school did you go to", which I didn't expect and was rather taken aback at!

There were a number of other things that happened during my first few weeks in the halls...
I was ridiculed in the shared kitchen in front of everyone when people asked what my parents do (my Mother was a housewife and my Dad a joiner). It was deemed that I was from a deprived household, when in fact we had lived very comfortably. I was just thankful that it was not common knowledge that my fees were being fully paid for by the LEA!

I was good friends with two of the girls, one of which was on the same course as me. We realised that she (who'd been to private school from nursery) had been given a lower offer than me for the same course, it was almost as if the university didn't even want me there!

Really? At Oxford and Cambridge they make lower offers to state school pupils. That's because since Labour smashed the education system and denied poor kids the chance to go to grammar school fewer children from poor backgrounds now get good grades.

FWIW, when I was at Cambridge (I went to state school) my peers were not posh at all. There was only one girl who seemed quite obviously public school, and she was off her head on acid. The other people I recall, a girl from Dominica, a Turkish guy from a council estate, and so on, were in no way posh.

Durham does have a bit of a reputation though as a school for posh people who didn't get an Oxbridge place.

That said, I bet the posh public school types you mention would get just as much aggro if they went to a predominantly working class area as you did. Just the way people are, not really a wealthy/class thing as people mock people who are different from them, just the way it is.

meester

LillyJ wrote: »

erm I think you will find it depends on which union they are in. If they are in the NUT then yes they will strike.

Fact is a large number in private schools aren't even qualified teachers and so would not be in the NUT.

Actually most teachers join the NUT through peer pressure. And no, they don't have to strike if they don't want to.

Do you know what percentage actually voted for this strike? 24%

BTW:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/16/nschool216.xml

The number of unqualified teachers working in English state schools has risen five-fold in the past decade, figures have disclosed.

When Labour came to power ministers claimed that all staff should hold "qualified teacher status" (QTS) before being allowed into the classroom.

But the numbers of teachers without the qualification has risen from 2,940 in 1997 to 16,710 last year - fuelling fears over declining standards in the classroom.

Also

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2008/IndependentSchoolsResearch.htm


Independent schools in Britain employ a disproportionate share of teachers relative to the number of pupils they educate, and the gap between the independent and state sectors has been increasing. What’s more, independent school teachers are more likely than state school teachers to possess postgraduate qualifications, and to be specialists in subjects – such as Maths and Science – where there are shortages of teachers.

GlasweJen

When I was in halls I lived with a girl who went to one of the best private boarding schools in Scotland and she had absolutely no concept of reality. She wrote off her car and daddy bought her a new one so she didn't have to wait on the insurance paying out, she wanted to know when the lady came to do our laundry (erm there's a machine for that), she set fire to the grill trying to make toast and she spent hundreds of pounds on pointless stuff.

One massive dose of reality later and she....ran back off to mummy and daddy after deciding that higher education isn't for her, neither is working for a living.

I'm not saying all private school kids are like this but they do exist and they are hilarious to live with.

LillyJ

meester wrote: »

Actually most teachers join the NUT through peer pressure. And no, they don't have to strike if they don't want to.

Do you know what percentage actually voted for this strike? 24%

BTW:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/16/nschool216.xml

The number of unqualified teachers working in English state schools has risen five-fold in the past decade, figures have disclosed.

When Labour came to power ministers claimed that all staff should hold "qualified teacher status" (QTS) before being allowed into the classroom.

But the numbers of teachers without the qualification has risen from 2,940 in 1997 to 16,710 last year - fuelling fears over declining standards in the classroom.

Also

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2008/IndependentSchoolsResearch.htm


Independent schools in Britain employ a disproportionate share of teachers relative to the number of pupils they educate, and the gap between the independent and state sectors has been increasing. What’s more, independent school teachers are more likely than state school teachers to possess postgraduate qualifications, and to be specialists in subjects – such as Maths and Science – where there are shortages of teachers.

I personally want a teacher teaching my child not an academic. I have a PhD yet am not qualified in ANY WAY to teach anyone anything!

tomstickland

I had a rough time with bullying etc etc. The first thing I'd like to say is that I think school is what you make of it, I managed to thrive academically in a class where frankly there were some horrible kids whose daily purpose at school was to bring the bright ones down to their level. The streaming system helped to keep the "workers" together to some extent.

I meant to say this earlier: regarding bullying etc a lot of children are really nasty little horrors. I read a post on here where someone's daughter was being teased because of her mother's car (at a state school). Materialism and the outlet for the personally insecure are out there in both public and private schools.

Personally I know a mixture of people who took various educational paths. I know some very clever people who left school at 16, I know some very clever people who went to state school, I've known some not-so clever people who went to privates schools, some nice some nasty. I've also known some very bright people who went to private chools. There are so many factors at play. I'd say that people start with some level of innate ability, then their environment influences their development and the influence of those around them. There's many paths.
However, certain things can help. An excess of disruptive pupils can be a bad influence of turn a lesson into riot control rather than a learning experience.

Rikki

GlasweJen wrote: »

When I was in halls I lived with a girl who went to one of the best private boarding schools in Scotland and she had absolutely no concept of reality. She wrote off her car and daddy bought her a new one so she didn't have to wait on the insurance paying out, she wanted to know when the lady came to do our laundry (erm there's a machine for that), she set fire to the grill trying to make toast and she spent hundreds of pounds on pointless stuff.

One massive dose of reality later and she....ran back off to mummy and daddy after deciding that higher education isn't for her, neither is working for a living.

I'm not saying all private school kids are like this but they do exist and they are hilarious to live with.

Thank god mines not, but I would love to be a fly on the wall at university halls just to see the children away from home for the first time. :rotfl:

I think it comes down to the parents too. Some parents just spoil their children and not just with money.

tomstickland

It's a common factor in a lot of life that those who are the least accepting tend to be those with the highest levels of insecurity. This manifests itself in valuing material possesions too highly, to the formation of closed groups and attempts to find a target. Most people do move on from this a bit by the time they reach their 20s to become vaguely well adjusted , but a lot of people don't get too far.

As with most things, you'll find those who really are at the top of their game are the most friendly and easiest to get on with. I've found this to be true in every activity I've been involved in.

Mado

Rikki wrote: »

Yes but the children have school six days a week. 9am till 5pm during the week and 9am till 1pm on Saturdays.

Time spent in the class room is considerably more than state schools giving them longer holidays.

Do you really believe that it is a good thing for young children to spend such long days in the classroom and then weeks on end on holidays?

Saw my BIL last weekend. Both girls (same age as my kids, 8 and 10) go to school from 8.30 and come home around 6.30 or 7.30pm with all the afterschool clubs. No saturdays. I really don't want that for my own children and can't see how this is an aspiration.

Also as a working Mum, I would struggle with 4 weeks off at Christmas, 3 1/2 weeks at Easter and all the other longish hols.

To go back to the OP; you'd better start saving.
The fees are only part of the picture. If you work, you will have to pay for care during the holidays.
And I was informed by SIl that at their schools, any child showing an aptitude for music is encourage to take at least 2 instruments and singing. Now at £20 for 30 min each, that soon adds up. (and to think I thought my DD's £12.5 lessons were expensive...)

natalie1974

My daughters school is Mon-Fri 8.45am to 3.30pm (infants) and 3.45pm (juniors) .

She does 45 mins ballroom on Mondays , until half term she did 30 mins swimming lesson on Tuesdays , Wednesdays 1 1/2 hrs Brownies , Thursdays 30 mins ballet and then after that 1 hour ice skating and again until half term Fridays were 15 mins private ice skating lesson but she could stay on the ice for an hour if she wanted to . All of the above she wants/wanted to do . The only she gave up on her own was the swimming , she never really enjoyed it , she can swim now so she asked to give that one up. The ice skating lessons , she had reached level 10 and that is enough , she is never going to be Torvil or Dean :rotfl:so she has no real requirements to carry this on , again she knows how to skate and that is enough . She enjoys all the stuff she does and she is the one that asks to do it , I am just the unfortunate soul who has to pay for it all !