Private school children

[gg234]

I have some questions related to private education.Children who is going to private schools are more advanced than state school children or this is related to children capability.

[AnyTheWiser]

All independent schools are different and unique.
Which school are you asking about?

[gg234]

beacon school in amesham

[AnyTheWiser]

Maybe start a new thread with the school name in the title, so that people with knowledge of that school can give their experience?

[ReallyTired]

You can find bright children in both private and state schools. Certainly bright school children have an academic advantage. It's easier to learn in a small class with no distruptive children.

However natural ablity does make a difference. A less able child will not be capable of passing the eleven plus however much money you throw at their education. Schools like the Beacon are academically selective to ensure a good sucess rate with senior school entrance exams.

There are lots of good reasons for picking a private school. Often the quality of educational experience is better. Ie. Modern foreign languages or science taught by specialists, better sports, music, wrap around care etc.

Ofcourse it's a million dollar question asking if the average IQ of privately educated children is higher than state school children. I think that state schools have a bigger ablity range than private schools. However bright children are found everywhere.

[Greenleave]

I think so, for the same child without money consideration and the same trip to get to school and back then yes. Private school tends to have better facility, better care and many are better academically, better extra curi support too. Now there are 2 other factors: costs and convenience(local state school is usually closer to home and its free)

[smellyboot]

It's utter rubbish

[Ditsy4]

No. I know of one who has switched and is below average in the class.

[Ditsy4]

I also knew a boy who was at a state primary and secondary who was in the top 3% in the country for Maths!

[WhattodoSue]

The children I know in private school get a HUGE amount of homework. They get much more homework than their state school peers. It makes me think that they aren't taught any better, but they just cover more, because essentially the school day is extended by an hour (or so) by homework. But then they also have longer school holidays, so shorter in-school learning.

[Karoleann]

The Beacon is partially selective, they assess the boys who enter the school after reception, so their academic results are slightly skewed due to manipulation of their base intake. They will also have more parents who are in higher socio-economic group and children of those parents tend to perform better academically anyway.

The school seems to have become more academic (they had a dodgy head a few years back). I have quite a few friends with children at the school and they mostly seem happy with it. Although one moved last year, due to wanting better leaver's destinations at Year 8 and another wasn't happy with the pastoral care.

My son is at a different private school and switched from state when we moved out of London in Year 2. I didn't notice a huge different academically until Year 5 - when they did really ramp things up. DS is about a year ahead(on average) of my friend's children in state schools. I think we could easy have done infant school in a state school and not noticed any difference academically. They actually don't get that much more homework though.

The other thing to consider is that it is very very expensive, fees increase yearly and there are hundreds of pounds of extras on top of the basic fees. The are a few parents in DS1's year who are really, really struggling to pay the fees.

[DeadDuckFace]

My ds is at a private school and honestly the children are no brighter. Not at his school anyway as it's non-selective. They do however have small class sizes - 16-18 - and a lot more homework than state school kids which arguably may help prepare them for 11+/high school. Having said that I have met tons of really bright, well-rounded state school kids who have done perfectly well. We only went private because my ds had health issues and we really wanted a small school as he struggles with speech and thought he'd get lost in the state schools around us as we are inner city.

[SaltyMyDear]

No, the children are not further ahead.

Bright children in both state and private schools will be ahead of the national average. It's just that private schools boast about it and state schools don't.

[oompaloompaland]

DC currently in Y6 at private prep, and has been all the way through. At the start we were told that, on average, children at private schools were 2 years ahead of their state school counterparts. However we have found that that is absolutely not the case. A private education will give different things to a state one - smaller classes, more facilities etc, but I know several bright children in the state system that are on a par, and in some cases, exceeding, my DC's achievements. Having said that we are very, very happy with private education, but each to their own, and there are some good, bad and downright ugly schools in both the private and state sectors.

[TheDeskIsMyHome]

The Beacon is very focused on who is going to pass 11 plus particularly for those joining at 7+ - this skews things