Is private at primary actually worth it ?

This topic has been done to death. But as everyone has said it depends. I would say it is worth it if money isn't tight. Smaller class sizes and individual attention. Any issues with children, social, educational, SEN are sorted immediately. All admin is completely done. Emails to school are responded to within an hour or two. Private is an effortless option where you get the best primary school experience possible, in my opinion. Of course it also depends on the prep, some are hothouses etc that aren't nice but if you get a good one it's worth it - your child will have a tailored experience that will allow them to thrive.

You have an anecdote for a single data point that bucks a trend. If you don't get that your experience doesn't hold the same weight as large scale research studies then it might be that a bit more education is needed.

Also have you checked the admissions criteria from your council - just check the priority order the criteria is applied.

In our borough, catchment usurps siblings so you have to think about that if you have more than 1 DC and you want them to go to the same school.

The faith school may have different admissions criteria.

Which school do DC in your village attend? One of the village schools or private? A mix?

Define, “worth it” I suppose. Do you mean, Will the difference in their earning potential ultimately outstrip your costs? Do you mean, will they be happier/ have more opportunities/ be better connected socially etc.

It obviously depends on the schools in question, and the child. If you visit the schools your decision should become much clearer.

Our local primary school is not great; it’s tiny, composite classes, disruptive children (several children have left because of it), very little in the way of extras eg they bring in external teachers for PE and they regularly don’t turn up, and safety is lax.

The school our DC go to has: excellent academics despite being non-selective (one DC is top 4% maths at national tests and is in 2nd set maths), specialist teachers for all subjects at age 9 plus, curriculum is broad including Latin, languages, geography, separate sciences, art, drawing, stem, coding, design technology (all specialist subjects in specialist rooms), they play competitive hockey, netball, cricket, tennis, rugby, there is an on-site swimming pool, two libraries, outstanding music provision (the school is known for music)

And most importantly our children are very, very happy. Any issues are dealt with very quickly and the school are able to adapt to the needs of individual children. They have SEN children who are able to be in mainstream education that I really don’t think would be in the state system

I had a truly miserable primary school experience, and it left lasting scars both physical and mental, so for us it is absolutely money well spent.

It depends on your DC.
I regret not going private for prep. I did for secondary and she is thriving but I think private prep would have picked up on her SEN earlier than state.

It really depends on what is important to you (there’s no right or wrong answer to that) and on what your goal is for secondary.

For me, I looked around the schools and decided based on my values and my experiences of teaching in different types of secondary schools. Effectively, that meant I looked at class sizes, manners, how the staff spoke to the children and their English books (I appreciate I’m at an advantage here as I knew what I was looking for)

@nottoruffle

Go to the schools. Talk to the teachers and pupils and head teacher. Get a feel for the school.

Ask what the provisions for SEN are - this is to check that they have processes in place to support the DC and the rest of the class.

Ask how many TAs there are.

My 2DC went to 2 different primary schools - one was 'outstanding', the other 'good'. Personally, I thought the 'good' school was better. Ofsted ratings should not be used in isolation.

Also think about logistics and if they have wraparound care. Is one school easier to get to?

One of the most important aspect of primary education is engaged parents.

As lots of people have said, there’s no right or wrong answer. My children go to a prep school and it’s absolutely not perfect but I would still choose it over most (not all) of the local states. It’s non-selective but because of the area (11+) and the comparatively small class sizes, the children are pushed much more academically than in the local states. Likewise, those with extra needs get a lot of support. It’s a very nurturing school with loads of music, extra curricular etc (we’re not talking swimming pools, just lots of celebratory days, school pets, choir performances etc). I actually decided on it when after looking round the schools, a child held open the door and said, ‘Good morning.’ It is around 7000 a year so yes, I do think it’s worth it. That said, I now have multiple children so the fees are more painful now than when we first made that decision!

We chose to live in an area with an outstanding rated state school. It is a posh village and it has cost us a lot to buy a house here. Having said that most ppl try to get their kids into the state school in our area as it is rated better than the private school. We live in an area with many professional footballers etc. and their kids go to the state school.

Regarding kids that thrive in private school, if you have children who would benefit from one on one attention to learn then move them to private school. At the end of every school year we have had a few kids move to the private school and all of them have been those struggling at school. The class size is 30 approx at state school but much smaller class sizes like 20 at the private school and a lot more staff. Personally our older child is very bright and doing very well at school so we have no intention of moving her into private in primary but will definitely consider it in secondary. We can afford to send her currently but do not think it is required. Our second child is just joining reception so we will have to see how he fairs, but his vocabulary, grammar and math is far ahead for his age so we see no reason currently.

Are the behaviour issues any better in a private primary? My DS went to the local primary and then still managed to get into a good grammar school.

He didn't love primary and was subject to teasing and was beaten up a few times.

Having worked in a primary school - if your local primary is nice enough - send your children there and pay for extra tutoring each week - you’d be amazed at what an hour or so a week of one on one education will do for your child at this age. Then save what you would have spent ready for private secondary or future house deposit for them.

This - it’s mainly the extra-curricular things as above in the early years.
You could definitely sort most of them out yourself privately for far far less than £15-25k per year.

Depends on what the state school provision is and your child. The biggest thing I think is that once to have them in private it's a difficult decision to move them to state. You do tend to get a bit caught up in it all.

Anyway my advice would be if you are going state for secondary go state primary. If going private secondary you could do either but if money is tight go state. When estimating fees factor in that within a couple of years the full VAT will be in place and rises of 5% + are the norm.

I personally wouldn’t pay private for primary. I am not sure I would for secondary either if I was in an area with good schools. My DD just left her state school with all 9’s at GCSE. Always in state, never had a tutor. I might think differently if the only option was a poor performing school

Around here a factor is indeed private primary to get entry to the secondary for year 7 (age 11) with a much lower ‘bar’ to the than taking the entry exams in year 6. (‘all through’ schools or ‘feeder’ primaries)

We decided to pay for private after visting our local schools. The class sizes were around 30 and the environment seemed loud and chaotic with the TA focused on several SEN children.

In contrast the private school had class sizes of 10 with a peer group of 20 (with 2 classes brought together for PE and other activities). I know my son would not have coped in the local school, he hated the noise at pre school and really needs a quieter environment to focus.

First of all what are your local state primaries like?
In my area, they are superb. Unless your DC has some kind of SEN that only private schools can accommodate, then it literally would be a waste of money.

HOWEVER, when we first moved to this area, my eldest was allocated the worst primary school in the district as all the local superb schools were full. He was there for a year before a place became available - we were at the point of sending him to a private school.

You need to assess your local primary schools and actively discount them before asking 'are private primary schools worth it?'

Yes, for us it definitely was. DDs went to a 4-18 through school, which was selective with an easy play date assessment at age 3. It meant they were able to avoid assessments at 11+ for the competitive senior school, which would have been far more demanding and stressful. There's no intake at 8 or 9 so waiting until then would depend on an occasional place coming up, which is rare and requires a formal exam.
At primary the facilities and specialist teaching were amazing, with lots of extracurriculars, trips and individual attention (class sizes 12-15 at pre-prep). It was also a pleasant experience as a parent, with all families very engaged, easy communication and parent events held at times to suit working parents.

For us we lived near an outstanding primary with good results, but it was still streets ahead in the private. Financially we didn't have to make sacrifices and DDs will still get support with uni costs, travelling, house deposit etc.

Some of the basic teaching at private primaries can be poor - their ability to teach phonics etc can be well behind a good state school. And the evidence for effect of class size on outcomes is very weak, IIRC.

That said, I think most state primaries suffer from having to sort out the effects of chaotic family lives.

I absolutely wouldn’t stretch myself to pay for private primary but if money were no object I might consider it. We went for a state primary on our doorstep and the community aspect and zero commute to school was amazing.

My DC attended two private primaries. The first IMO was good, it seemed quite nurturing and fun. Can’t compare to local state schools because other than looking round we didn’t use them, so can only observe the obvious of smaller classes, more resources, staff etc.

The second (a popular, well resourced, large school) was mainly focused on academics / getting to selective secondary standards. IMO there was very little fun. Some teachers were often grumpy with the DC. They’d tell DC off in front of the others etc. My DC were fearful of this and getting into trouble. If I could go back would not choose that school.

My DC made friends and didn’t experience bullying, which is good.

Both schools had many rules and expected ‘above age’ behaviour around things like sitting, being quiet, compliance, study etc. That would be difficult for some DC that don’t ‘fit in’ with all that.

@nottoruffle and @Moonshine5 ’s post actually sums up my whole experience and my parents’ experience of using the private sector. You can actually talk to teachers and there is proper investment in your child. Though again, query the requirement for it prior to 8/9. It is fab though!

@nottoruffle I went to state for a year then private age 6. Obviously I was very young so my memory is hazy but I do remember going to the private school and being in awe. Loads of trees, masses of woodland to play in, huge resources and small classes. It just felt different. Obviously it depends what sort of private school it is.

I am not sure it was ‘worth it’ as such. I would have been ok not going. And I don’t think I got any particular benefit other than a luxurious day at school 😂

I was in private then the whole way through and I would say by around age 8-9 when kids start behaving differently… I.e. those that are going to be troublemakers really start to show, it was a huge benefit to be in private. Obviously there’s bullies and troublemakers and disruptive kids in private too, but it’s managed much much better (generally speaking) than in the state.

In summary I don’t think waiting until 8 or 9 would have any material impact on your child. But it’s certainly a nice to have before age 8 and if money isn’t really a factor then why not!

As many PP have said I can only speak from our own experiences. And private school has been the best for my daughter, as she has attended international school were it was English and local language. We have just moved again and her new private school is exceptional and the results speak for themselves.

All the teachers are engaged and small class sized of 1.10 and 1.4 for languages. They are also work to support her skills such as music, maths and drawing and have the time to see her as an individual. It is an IB school so is an educational philosophy that I prefer. We are very happy with our decision to send her private from her first year of school, she loves school and is confident and happy child.