Hi everyone, after having visited a couple of South west London fee paying primary school (my two kids are y2 and nursery in local state school, rated as outstanding), I am finding myself terribly confused. And deflated. I don't know what possessed me to go in the first place but the comparison between the two (state and private) was far too much I guess to handle and left me with that awful feeling of "not being able to get such a wonderful education for my kids" type of resentment. What inspiring environments for kids to be stimulated in their learning, fantastic teachers, attention to individual kids etc (I saw Hornsby House and Newton Prep). And what about their Arts facilities or sport facilities? So, I have started to research bursaries and scholarship options plus local schools etc and I wonder if you can help me in understanding any of the following:
- bursaries. Now, if applying for the two kids at the same time I don't understand if anyone with an overall household income of £82,000 would be considered. Because, although you could potentially afford the fee for I be child you cannot possibly for the other.
- scholarships. It seems to me they normally do not exceed 10% of the total fee! which really wouldn't help at all. And although I might feel that one of my kids has a talent in Art and the other in Sports they might be complete average.
- going private at secondary rather than primary. So, if one was to wait until the end of primary school to move to private and try to save some money in the mean time, one would be competing with some fantastic candidates from these brilliant private schools, who have been exposed to incredible learning environments. What chance do our kids have to get a scholarship? And if our children do get in would they find themselves behind very well prepared peers, always struggling to emerge?
- would they fit in with their peers and would they not feel ashamed of their middle class (but not rich) background and lack of money for extra activities, holidays etc? Would they loose out in terms of not being able to mix with the diverse ethnic group you find in most state schools in London?
Any comments greatly appreciated!