To ask why you send your children to private school?

There’s kids from all round the world at our boarding school, our state option has kids that live within a few miles of the school, so yes, for us massively more diverse.
Ours flexi board a couple of nights a week because they want to rather than need to, but the long days and long holidays were a major factor for us - finishing at 3pm would be very inconvenient for our working hours.
As someone said above, we wanted them to enjoy rather than endure school which is what DH and I did at the state option.

It’s not a main reason but absolutely it is a reason.

my area is overwhelmingly white and the state schools mirror that, but the private school actually has quite a mix as the catchment is much wider. I definitely see that as a positive.

What do you mean by diverse? If ethnically diverse then yes, independent schools are, on the whole, ethnically diverse.

On Friday I came into our school to talk to parents who are considering it for their children - one of the most frequent questions I got was whether there were many children who were non white British. One lady said that she was, at times, the only non white child in her class and she wanted to avoid that for her children.

Private school kids swear like troopers, as do their parents. The difference is that they wouldn’t dream of swearing within earshot or at any member of staff or parent. They automatically open doors for people, shake hands with their friends and happily make eye contact. DS’s friends would always say hello if I walked past them in town. Boundaries were set and reinforced at an early age, swearing would be punished with detention.
Amongst themselves they were normal teenagers, but perfect gentlemen when required. It might be seen as “posh” behaviour but I’d rather DS has the confidence to be comfortable in any social environment, but sport has done that.

Way more ethic diversity in my DDs private secondary (children from over 50 different countries.)

A mix of boarders and also day students who travel to the school from up to an hour away.

State primary there were 2 non white kids out of 33 in her class.

Mixing with those with different backgrounds/cultures is so encouraged. So many different celebrations to learn about and enjoy. There's a staff member whose role it is to organise those so that the international students have the chance to share their cultures and celebrate their important holidays. It's wonderful.

Fortunately I haven't needed to as our state schools here are outstanding. Small classes (8 in dc) and within walking distance.

Diversity would be an issue in either state or private as my county is 99% white.

I understand we are privileged compared to some in the state system.

Why do you think it's funny? DC's schools were/are incredibly ethnically diverse. There was actually quite a range of "financial diversity" too, although obviously with more from the "rich" end of the scale than the local state schools.

@Tardyjo
in some areas, houses in a better catchment cost £200k+ more.

This is definitely the case in London.
In my old borough there was one school in particular everyone wanted to send their children to. Meaning the catchment was very small. Houses close by were in excess of £1 million. Whereas houses out of their catchment were about £600k. This was a while ago, they have since increased.

If I could afford it, would be a no brainer for smaller classes and multiple teachers not off for months at time with rotating cover teaching the same lesson for weeks on end; true stories!

I am dying 😂 at the posters stating diversity as their reasons. Come on!!!!

This. I don’t get that mentality at all and I’ve never seen it work out . I’d sooner move to a better catchment or pay for tutoring

No, a town beginning with N 😬

Ohhhhh. In BS?

@Shannith I wonder if we went to the same sixth form!

@greglet snap. From A-Cs in my GCSEs to Oxbridge. The difference was the amazing school I did my A-levels at.

It was state but was run like a private school. It's still one of the best state schools in the country- and one of the best schools in the country when you include private (top 200).

It was a bit of a fluke I ended up there - it was an all boys school (apart from 6th form) and not particularly close.

Also - no one identities as a furry, and they’re aren’t being taught that there are 29 different genders.

The just concentrate on education.

@Shannith I had a very similar experience to you: crap state school (my year group was the best they'd had in a while, and performed better than every subsequent year group, and we reached the giddying heights of 52% A*-C grades - mostly Cs). I went to a much better state sixth form, then Oxford, and have always vowed that my own children will attend a school where academic achievement is encouraged and valued, and where there's a wide range of both curricular and extra-curricular options.

Number 1 reason was I wanted single sex school for my DD14 who has ASD and ADHD.

The sexual assault statistics in mixed secondary are outrageous.

The local secondary school is a shitshow for SEN and just the size and noise is too much for my DD who was in state primary and she would just meltdown after school.

She is thriving in the small class sizes and good pastoral care.

We are not in grammar area but there is one within traveling distance - to get in from out of area you basically have to be in the top 10 scores of the entrance exam. My eldest got in, youngest didn’t (although she easily passed). DD2 did year 7 at a local state school, but I felt that DD1 was having a significantly better standard of education and experience that the local state could just not match - so we sent DD2 private - it felt more equal.

@newlaptop12 this is why I asked about time frames etc.
There are instances where parents and children are unwilling to divulge information, for example instances of abuse.
Just asking appropriate questions is not good enough.
This tends to be a lengthy process with adjustments made before an exclusion or politely being asked to leave happens.

Again, I have only worked in one private school. They were far more tolerant to SEN than behavioural difficulties.

A few reasons but #1 is mental health.

Yes but in my experience it is looked into, the appropriate questions are asked, SEN issues are considered etc in the private sector.

@newlaptop12 but this is my point, bad behaviour is not tolerated.
Do we know why their behaviour is poor? Poor behaviour tends to stem from something a little more serious. Something that a child may find difficult to interpret at a young age.
If a parent doesn’t care then isn’t that an indication that the child should be supported more? Do we blame the child for their parents actions?

We have a child in state and one in private, for various reasons they had dramatically different experiences in the same state schools, different teachers, different friends, different personalities meant that one child thrived in state and they other had a pretty rubbish time. I’m sure that some kids struggle in private, but for us the small class size allow more teacher input, there’s great pastoral support and higher expectations which dc1 didn’t need but dc2 does.

Im a state school teacher and I wish provision was better, but the teacher shortage plus real terms funding cuts and reduced support from other services really are starting to bite and the kids who need a little extra support are feeling it most.

Both my kids' private schools are very tolerant of SEN and good with additional learning needs. It's bad behaviour and parents who don't give a damn that they won't support, but you're not likely to get much of that as by definition parents are invested in the education.