To ask teachers in the state sector what it’s really like at the moment?

My children have been much happier in their state schools, than I was in private. They have found their tribe of lovely quirky funny children, and haven't been bullied. I was terribly bullied in the private sector and had no confidence from the experience.

Yes they tell me some horror stories but they are just watchers/ gossip followers rather than taking part. They mange to keep out of any drama.

They have both had private tutors at different times, and do lots of extra curricular activities outside of school. No regrets.

There are some decent toilets in reception so the kids queue for those. We also have to have staff duties outside toilets to try and minimise vandalism so kids can actually use them. Nice kids we generally let go to the toilet in lessons. I always advice kids to take their own toilet roll to school.

We have some kids that are on register but have their lessons in a different area or refuse to come to school. Kids with anxiety. Their anxiety is generally not due to the issues around school but due to other issues long before they came to secondary.

Removing kids from lesson doesn't really disrupt the lesson too much. The rules are very clear. All the kids know the rules and the consequences. We have an isolation room where they then have to sit in silence. If they fail to behave in there they get a suspension.

My only wish is that management would grow some balls and deal with the kids behaviour outside of lessons properly. They need to call parents in more regularly to collect their kids who won't behave, or call social services if the parents refuse to come.

Why the snarky response? All OP was asking for was a view. Do you have one?

State really depends on the area too.

@MesmerisingMuonI’m not trying to be facetious, but surely there are kids at your school who are scared to go to the toilets/ come
into school? Does this not impact their learning in the classroom?

By default, doesn’t the fact children are being removed mean that the learning environment is being disrupted?

We have opted for a private prep school as our local state school is oversubscribed and the others in the area present as having more challenges.

if you are struggling to save fees though, it may be worth at looking at grammar / better state schools as there are other ancillary costs attached to being in private school which add to the costs.

I'm happy with our decision. My daughter loves school and is thriving. She’s quite sensitive so it’s definitely the right option for her. My youngest is tougher and would probably thrive anywhere! They are giving opportunities to develop their confidence that they wouldn’t have in a state school and if our finances became tighter, I would really try to keep them in their private school for the time being.

Not a teacher but a parent of many child school years and my children haven't experienced any violence and have learnt well enough to go on to/be going on to professional careers

I can only echo everyone else, a state school isn't an homogeneous entity,no one can tell you what your child will encounter in the next 15 year

If private isn’t better than state then I would wonder what the hell they are spending all that money on.

I’d do state primary and private secondary.

No one can answer this question as it varies from school to school even in the same town.

I work in a state secondary school and have done for over 10 years. In lessons behaviour is good as we have a good behaviour policy for learning. I remove any child that disrupts the learning of others.

Outside of lessons the behaviour is awful. Weak management not willing to stand up to poorly parented kids. Violence, toilet doors kicked off and toilets trashed, vaping, general defiance with insufficient consequences.

My son's state school however seems to be much better in terms of behaviour outside of lessons. They seem less tolerant of poor behaviour and a friends son was asked to leave after a series of incidents!

Every area is different, I would look at some local schools and speak with your friends who have children at school to get an idea of their experiences. I'm not a teacher but am a governor so have some insight into the workings if the school.

My daughters state school used to be absolutely brilliant. Oldest in year 4, youngest in year 2. However this year has been challenging, the same dedicated head and teachers, most parents engaged and polite - this hadn't changed. However, there has been a significant drop in funding due to

• teachers (well deserved) pay rise not being fully funded
• NI increase
• SEN crisis meaning funding and staffing is being diverted into supporting children with SEN. The school used to have 2 TA's in every class to support small group learning, interventions etc. Now all TA's are needed in ARP or as 1 to 1's.
• stretched council budgets meaning they are not providing as much funding.

I had high hopes that the change of government would improve education, but it's done the opposite. We are tutoring our year 4 for grammar, but if she doesn't get in we will be looking at private, which will require me moving out of nhs into private practice to fund it, something I never wanted to do, but our children are our priority.

Well we don’t know because we work in state. I expect it varies anyway.

The difference is greater at secondary, mainly in behaviour and attitudes, parental engagement and extra curricular opportunities.