Private/Prep School or State school?

All three of my children went to private school and the two who now have children of their own are sending them to the same school. It's a wonderful place which has a fascinating history. There are still many of the same staff who taught my children, now teaching my grandchildren, 20+ years later.

I have no idea whether all private schools are the same, but the one that we used (Quaker, though we are not) has such a lovely, caring attitude to the children when they're young. My grandson is very shy and they have found ways of drawing him out to the extent that he recently stood up in class and read out a story he had written...he's seven and his confidence has soared There are 11 children in his class, so the teacher has time to spend with each child individually.

When they're a little older, there are heaps of after school clubs and activities that they can join in with. It's also helpful knowing that your child is happy and safe if you cannot pick them up immediately after lessons finish.

Its a boarding school (though ours never boarded) so there are children from all cultures, which is a learning experience in itself. My children loved it, and the two grandchildren who go now, (one in primary, one in nursery) look forward to each day.

One small point is that, because ours is a boarding school, the holidays are often different to other schools. We don't get the Bank holidays but the summer is 9 weeks, Christmas and Easter are 4 weeks each. It can be great for days out, theme parks and the like as our children are on holiday when its quiet in the parks and plane fares can be cheaper if you time it right!

It mostly comes down to research. Each area is different. Where I live, the state schools are better than private schools and there a more state schools closer to us. It would be a waste of money sending children to inferior schools. In other areas, the opposite is true - in fact, we moved from an area where we were unlikely to get into a good state school and were considering private, but the £120k per child to put them through private primary school and then the cost of potentially secondary school meant that we would be smart to invest in a house as at least we are more likely to get our money back...