Private vs State

[kittydetective]

Ok so I need opinions ...

I went to a small private school, it suited my nature, personality - did me no justice with academia .... equally I just wasn't academic.

I have the money to send my DC to private school.

What would you say are they advantages vs disadvantages for private / state?

[Lowdoorinthewal1]

This has been done over and over and it always comes down to the advice to forget which sector particular schools are in and choose, of the options you have available, the one you think will suit your individual DC the best.

[kittydetective]

Thank you ...

Clearly I come from a shit area so my parents sent me to private

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Genuinely you want others opinions on such a contentious topic?
Private small classes, pupils from affluent backgrounds generally no social problems, geared to CE and getting pupils into private secondary , good facilities
Costs obvs and remember to factor primary and secondary and factor in fees rising in costs , remember factor in trips, uniform and games kits etc
May involve travelling

State mix of kids, drawn from local communitiy, representative of area catchment,local. No particular ongoing costs

You’ll encounter folk who are ideologicaly opposed and will that make relationship with friends / family difficult

[kittydetective]

What do you mean by "sector"

[kittydetective]

@LipstickHandbagCoffee wow!

Love your stance ... how true.

Can't lie, both my sibling and I private education ... he's a heroin addict, so social background not great.

It always causes such a divide

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Sector means private or state sector

[senua]

What Lowdoor said.
You can't generalise across sectors (private v state), you need to compare specific schools.
Your DC is not you - what happened to you is irrelevant.
Your schooldays are irrelevant because education has changed so much since.

[RestingGrinchFace]

Quite frankly it's a moral question:if you can afford to pay for your child to be educated how can you possibly think it's ok to make the taxpayer bare the cost instead?

[kittydetective]

Thank you

[kittydetective]

But my point is ... IF MONEY is no object would you send your DC private

[kittydetective]

I'm a tax payer

[kittydetective]

I'm a tax payer ... I'll pay tax whether DC goes private or not

[kittydetective]

@senua yes very good point

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Have you robustly checked out the finances, eg fees,uniform,trips for 8yr primary and 6 yr high school.factor in fees increases
Private school isn’t a guarantee of happiness and achievements etc
Nor is state school unsatisfactory and unfulfilling with chaos

Essentially education (state and private) is class bound,and the mc always push and agitate to get for their kids. Mc parents know the system,talk a common language to educationalists , and are adept at cheating,schmoozing to get into a good school

[peteneras]

Some posters here must have come from Mars. I can't see why or how or when private education is a "moral issue".

And taxpayer bear the cost on private education? Give me a break - I give up.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

You can’t see a moral issue in buying advantage,those who can afford private purchase smaller class size, pretty much dodge pupils social problems. Meanwhile children of equal ability have to attend a state school with bigger class size,mixed abilities and potentially social problems

[RestingGrinchFace]

If more people shouldered their financial responsibility the state sector could afford to provide a better service. It's not rocket science. You have children, you bloody well pay for them.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Well,this is nicely on course for a mn battle royals.someone will post some stats
The stats will be disputed and some links to attainment outcomes etc
Some harrumphing about private being full of horahs. Harrumphing that state School are debauched

[BubblesBuddy]

Lipstick: You are forgetting that many children do extremely well in state schools. They really do not give an inferior education. Obviously some are poor but smaller class size is not a guarantee of much if the teacher is poor! Better a larger class with an outstanding teacher. They are not all in independent schools either! Very small classes are a hindrance to progress in many ways. The main difference is often extra curricular on offer, better sport, music and drama and, sometimes, more bright children in one place.

In the senior sector there are loads of problems that the pupils may have. Again, you may be dodging Sen children or poor children, and possibly those with behaviour problems (but not necessarily) but you are not dodging those with family problems resulting from the the aftermath of divorce, eating disorders or those that self harm.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

I’m not forgetting kids do well at state school,I know that fine.
I've just done quick overview of things I hear parents say about state or private
These are all well rehearsed arguments and Frankly it’s up to op.

[onewhitewhisker]

if you can afford to pay for your child to be educated how can you possibly think it's ok to make the taxpayer bare the cost instead?

I have seen this argument on a few threads and i really think that it's back to front. People have every right to choose to pay to educate their children if they prefer, but the point of providing taxpayer-funded education and indeed health care free at the point of delivery is that it's there for everyone to use. the state sector in education and health will be stronger if it's seen as the default for people from as wide a range of social classes and income groups as possible; this will increase pressure on governments of all parties to value the services as they know their voters use them. Yes education is struggling and underfunded but the more the state sector is seen as something you only opt for if you can't pay the easier it will be for governments to denigrate it and run it down and the wider social inequalities will grow.

[RestingGrinchFace]

The reason why state funded education was introduced was to fill the gaps for the 5% of children in Britain who received no education...it's also much easier for governments to provided terrible service when the majority use said service and have no private sector to compare it to to realise just how shit it is or no real option to not use it-the NHS is an obvious example of it.

[RestingGrinchFace]

*just to clarify I'm not actually against people choosing the state sector when they can afford to pay provided that they are charged for the privilege-unfortunately that doesn't happen in the uk.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Am I missing something?tax and ni are already collected via taxes for education
What further monies would a private school parent pay for state education?
What about individuals who don’t pay tax/ni eg unemployed,long term sick,sahm what’s your POV on that group accessing education services