Anyone moved their child/ren from private to state school ?

[AngelaD]

We did this in January because although the class teacher was very good she only worked from 8.30 until 12 and then the PE staff took them for art, humanities etc and i felt this wasn't good enough considering what we were paying.
Anyway she's been at the local state school for nearly a term and we have good and bad days but I have lost all confidence in my ability to judge schools.
We'll be moving again in 2 years and I'm already feeling nervous about looking at state and private schools.

[julienetmum]

Wow, this shows just how different people look for different things. I would love a school that did academic lessons in the morning and arty/sporty things in the afternoon. It would be my perfect school!!!

[AngelaD]

I had no problem with arty/sporty things in the afternoon it was the "teacher" who was only a qualified swimming instructor taking tham for humanities I had a problem with.

[alittlebitshy]

i can kind of see what you mean. I would be if my dd wasn't being taught by qualified staff (be it qualified full stop, or qualified in the subject area).

we're sending dd to a private school, and she starts the nursery next jan..... but although i don't expect the teachers to be BETTER than state schools, i blimin expect them to be qualified to teach what they are.

am i making any sense?

I guess you have been bitten, so know what you don't want in the next school you look at..... you want the proper teacher the WHOLE time...

[LIZS]

Actually I suspect it is fairly common for substitute teachers to not be specifically qualified, although I'm sure most have a basic teaching qualification or degree. Although this does happen at our school where the timetable is similar, on an occasional basis if a teacher is ill for example, I wouldn't be happy with it happening everyday. We also have Gap students who fill in for registration, hear reading etc.

[AngelaD]

This was every day and the woman had no training in how to get the best from the children at all and we nicknamed her Mrs Gruff, maybe i wouldn't have had such a problem with it if I hadn't been paying such huge fees !

[Amanda1]

My dd moved from private to state in January and even though she embraced it, I fear her teacher thinks I think we're better. This is the impression she gave on parent's night when I got a lecture because I dared say that I didn't feel dd had been challenged since January. She hasn't. She brings reading materials home she covered months ago so I said she was not challenged. The teacher then said to me, and I kid you not, "if you want a working relationship in the future with any teacher do not say your child is not challenged in class".

Poor dd has suffered since then. She was told her poem they wrote last week was rubbish because it didn't rhyme. The list goes on. It has made me realise you get what you pay for or did in our case.

She'll be moving again at Easter I think as I'm planning on relocating to an area nearer her dad's. She'll be going to the same school as her step brothers so I hope that will help.

[Sparklemagic]

angelad, I know exactly what you mean and I think private schools are really bad like this - I moved my DS from a private nursery to an 'ordinary' pre-school because the nursery teacher was so bad, and actually not as qualified as the local pre-school ladies are! It just seems they can do what they want! I know qualified does not necessarily mean better, however, in Education I certainly feel that having had some training HAS to be a good thing!

[sunnydelight]

I moved DS2 after nearly two years at an independent school and wish I'd done it sooner. No school is perfect, but ironically one of the things I liked most about the independent school, i.e. small classes, actually turned into a disadvantage as the choice of friends was very limited and they all lived miles away. For every gripe I have about his current school I can think of a lot more things I didn't like about his last school - and at least I'm not paying for it now! DS2 is now at the local school - it's a five minute walk away rather than a drive - and he's thriving. DD will be joining him in the nursery class in September.

[wangle99]

We moved DD last November from independent school (22 miles away) to local state (3 miles away). We realised within a couple of days we'd made a BIG mistake.

Huge class size, teacher told DD not to write in cursive joined up writing because the Year 2 children couldn't read it (mixed year 2, 3 and 4 class).

DD went back to the independent school in February and she is back to the lovely, happy child we had before. You definately get what you pay around here.

However if the state school had worked out well she would be there now.

[paolosgirl]

I haven't, but a teacher friend of mine has seen quite a few kids who have moved from private to state primaries, all supposedly on Level A/B/C whatever, and when she's tested them, they are anything but! Her feeling (and she was educated herself both privately and at state schools) that there can be an element of stretching the truth a bit at private schools so parents think their children are further on than they are, thus getting value for their money.