Is this a typical primary school day / experience?

You won’t get equivalent free. One to one reading daily for example is far less manageable in a class of 30 than 12. Many schools use parent helpers to increase frequency, help in classroom and on trips , but not all schools have a parent community to facilitate this, especially those working or with other caring responsibilities, which can mean some children feeling left out . Having resources available on site saves a lot of ferrying around for parents and is convenient if activities can take place during an extended school day but do check the quality is comparable,

My daughters primary school is exactly like this apart from the class sizes are slightly larger.

That's legitimate, op. I work part time so I can take the kids to swimming and hobbies after school, which I then pay for. If they were in wrap around, which I would have to pay for, then they couldn't do the hobbies. You pay for school and you get everything included. So maybe that is best for you? Assuming money no problem.

Behaviour and class sizes will probably be the key differences

DD is in yr1 and ours would be:

• starts 8.45am, drop off at classroom door while teacher stands slightly inside and determinedly tries not to make eye contact
• class of 29 children that has 1 teacher and 1 TA
• learns to read with paper books and gets a library book once a week, though we could have done without the one entirely in Hungarian
• PE 2x per week, including dance and yoga. PTA pay for the dance teacher
• clubs at lunch and after school, lots of variety but from yr1 only. DD has excelled at French club apparently, and has learned a whole 3 words in nearly a year, sigh.
• after school club til 6:00pm but only if you put them on the waiting list at conception. Still waiting for my Wednesdays…
• the PTA spent £££ on a sensory garden but only year 3 and above can access it as it’s on “their side” and the little ones are not allowed on the field as their small feet ruin the grass
• food cooked on site and lots of variety, of which of course the kids all only eat pasta or a jacket potato each and every day. It’s free throughout school as we’re in London (just!)
• we have a lollipop person

Clubs are all extra / paid for. But it’s a lovely school with a good community, the HT is great, no pervasive bullying problems, and the kids are a pretty happy bunch.

You are paying for high ratios, less disruption, more physical activity and space, personal contact. Further up the school those cocurricular opportunities are likely to expand and the calm environment may change.

I think the main thing is the class sizes.

Everything else you can pay for - sporting and other hobbies, childcare after school, forest school activities etc. And it's a lot cheaper than private school fees.

My son is Reception age. Our school is:

Rural village school, 1 form entry. Varies from 15 to 30 per class depending on intake.

Head, deputy and other staff all on playground greeting children every morning.

Lots of green, outdoor space, forest school, adventure play, additional play on a huge field with equipment.

Swimming pool and lessons - £20 per child for the year.

After school clubs (free) from Year 1.

Wraparound care from 7.30am to 5.30pm.

Music lessons, Rocksteady also offered.

Platinum Sports Award.

Class trip once a year.

Lovely environment, very little disruption. Exceptionally happy school.

No mixing of ages in classes.

Teachers very responsive and helpful from Head all the way through.

No ipads, just books.

State primary.

From the looks of things the main difference is class size in a state school, no way will a class size be under 20! I think things vary with activities and facilities but they also do in private school 🤷🏻‍♀️

So jealous. Our school is especially bad at this but none of the local schools offer a LOT.

I work as a TA in a small village school. There are 78 children. Currently in reception there 10 children with one teacher and one TA. Lots of those things are available at our school. The meals aren't cooked on site. There's clubs but they are not every day and change termly/yearly. Swimming is in the national curriculum but they don't do it every week

After school until 5.45, paid for but not expensive and the kids are so happy there.

Sports clubs my son attends out with school not as part of school but costs of extra curricular is way less than private school costs.

Our school uses seesaw, if I message in the morning I get a response lunchtime or 3pm typically.

My son's P1 teacher was the stuff of dreams. She was off ill for a few weeks after a surgery, my son really struggles to do homework but he was excited for a piece of homework and completed and sent on seesaw and she read it and minutes later sent him a voice note telling him how proud she was of him and encouraged him to do a little more stretching in his work. It was honestly one of the most lovely interactions I've seen my child have

It sounds though you're paying for the calm, small group, learning environment.
My DC went to a local rural state primary school. There was 1 teacher and 1 TA for a class of 28. Mornings were spent doing curriculum work, lunch was packed lunch or fairly basic mass produced food. Afternoons were spent outside in the forest school, school farm or doing sport, music, creative work. Pick up at 3.30pm and after school club £10 a day for care until 6pm.
Teaching was frequently disturbed by challenging behaviour which without doubt, slowed learning down.

I’m also in Surrey and aside from class size, everything on the list applies to our state infant school. They don’t do swimming but they do when they go up to the juniors. Afterschool clubs every day, lots of choice, wraparound care that’s easy to access (I paid for Tuesday’s session when I got paid on Monday, still lots available). No tablets. Teachers respond to emails in 24h generally. Greeted by HT or DHT daily. Every class has a teacher and a TA. Woodland school every Tuesday. Maybe we are very lucky….

The question is impossible to answer because the quality of state primaries varies enormously.
You can either settle for what you have as your child is happy or spend lots of time going round each school in the areas you are prepared to consider but bearing in mind that schools change, especially if the head changes. Wherever you look it might be different in a couple of years time especially if it's in a MAT where the leaders swap staff around like some sort of sliding block puzzle.

What you likely won't get in state schools, however well run, are small classes and no disruption.

The fact that they are honest means it's likely more than "a bit" of an issue. Disruption in primary classes varies from school to school and many handle it differently. But in my experience it's hard to influence how well a school deals with this.

You could possibly get a lot of that in a state school, but it entirely depends on the cohort.

it’s not unusual to have one or two disruptive students, that can take up a lot of time of any ta or teacher.

a class that doesn’t have as much disruption, is probably quite likely to frequently have their ta pinched .

my class has guided reading groups , which means a group of five read to the teacher every day , so are all heard once a week. Ta reads with up to 4 of the lower ability students individually (on a good day) out door learning once a week

My son goes to a local primary, it's a small one in Scotland. School starts at 9 but it's a 'soft start' so teachers at the gate from 8.59, usually head teacher, deputy head, 1 other teacher and a TA. My son has ASD and had health issues in the past so if I need to pass info I pass to one of them, things like, 'didnt sleep well, may need some quiet time later, struggled getting ready for school, is worried about something in class, needs medication etc. It's noted and actioned.

He has physical reading books, reads to teacher or TA daily, was behind for a time and so had extra literacy classes in a small group to help.

Sports twice a week, 'creativity' once a week which is in the gym hall doing an active but non sports activity like creative dance.

New topic every 4 weeks which is used across all lessons, so Egyptology was one, world wars was one. 1 school trip a year but also local outings to support topic work.

The main thing is how incredibly supportive the school is of his needs, he mainly loves school, academically in all top groups now which is incredible as he couldn't read a word or make sense of phonics I told he turned 7.

He gets a softer start due to struggling to transition into school, for him this looks like a desk by the class door with fidgets and Lego he and some others can use until register is taken. And you may think. Well what about the other children when these kids are out having a wee jaunt but actually anyone is free to join or move around the class freely while the register is completed. It doesn't feel chaotic at all anytime I've been in (I drop my youngest at the nursery onsite so frequently witness the early class stage)

His class is 19 kids, 1 teacher and 1-2 TAs shared between them and another class do depends on classes need on the day.

I can't wait to see how my youngest does

We are in Surrey and frankly, reading your list made me laugh. Because although the local primary schools around here are generally very good and rated excellent by Ofsted etc, no, this is NOT the experience that our children get.

• starts 8.20am, senior teacher always waiting by the gate to greet each child by name, and expects to be greeted back by the child
• Start is later but yes, teachers are at gate and greet them.

• writing, maths, phonics etc in his class of 12 children that has 1 teacher and part time TA
• Yes to curriculum. hahahaha to class size. Our school has a TA in every class more or less full time, but that's quite unusual and our school offers very little in the way of extras because they spend all their money on TAs.

• calm class environment, no disruption
• I don't actually think this is a private/state school issue but the make up of the children at the school. But yes, with smaller class sizes and a more selective process for accepting children, private schools are probably less likely to experience disruption
• forest school once per week, including things like making a campfire
• Not a chance. I think some local schools probably do forest school now and again, I doubt it's consistent as this. Our school is so terrified that the children aren't allowed to use knives so campfires seem unlikely, even if they did have forest school.
• learns to read with actual paper books! No tablets. The teacher or TA reads with him most days

• sports 3x per week, including swimming, dance and PE

• club until 4.30 every day, things like art or sports
• hahahahahahahahaha. Even state primary schools aroun dhere that do offer clubs, a child would be able to access it a few times a week, at most. Our school offers almost nothing (see above re TAs)
• after school care til 5.35 if you want it. Colouring etc
• Paid for ASC yes, fairly high quality. can be difficult to get in.
• a lot of contact with the teacher. If I ever have a question I can email her and she replies within a day, or can meet with her, or she will proactively email me to check something or make an observation (eg she wrote to suggest he might be ambidextrous)
• Our school not so much but I think some state schools are better at this than ours is.

• lots of outside space so the children help occasionally in the vegetable garden etc
• We have decent facilities but not extensive.
• good quality food, cooked on site
• Average food, cooke don site. You have to pay for it.
• 3 school trips this year
• One a year. Although there are occassional other trips.

Sounds great to me!
What stands out is the small class size and excellent staff to pupil ratio.
In my kid’s school reading to teacher/TA once a week, other schools instead use a reading/comprehension program on tablet which just isn’t the same thing I feel!
Clubs everyday sound great too.
Ultimately state schools have tight budgets and have to cut corners unfortunately. (I have noticed academies try to generate money through frequent events but in an area where most pupils come from low income families I thought this wasn’t fair on parents.)

Mine are in a small state primary in a village.

• Gate opens 8.30am for an 8.45 start. Head always waiting by the gate to greet each child by name, would probably like to be greeted back but no drama if not.
• Most classes around 20 pupils with 1 teacher and 1 TA. Some mixed-year classes.
• Class environment very variable depending on which class
• forest school once per term
• learns to read with actual paper books! No tablets. The teacher or TA reads with them a couple of times a week.
• PE 1x per week. They had a temporary swimming pool for 4 weeks earlier this year and the whole school did lessons. Not going to happen every year though.
• clubs until 4.00 most days, things like art or sports
• after school care till 5.45 for around £12 per child
• Absolutely no direct emailing the teacher. Can email a message via the school office or make an appointment to see teacher (again via the office). Randomly collaring the teacher at dropoff or pickup for a chat is heavily discouraged.
• lots of outside space so the children help occasionally in the vegetable garden etc
• OK quality food cooked on site
• 1 local school trip (e.g. local places of worship) and one bigger 'fun' trip per year

I would say the biggest difference sounds like it is level of teacher contact and individual feedback. My DC went to a private nursery right up until starting Reception - it was a big drop in the amount of updates you get on your child and some parents found the adjustment very hard.

My DD’s primary in inner London does all this except the small class sizes. Most of it seems pretty standard to me.