In what respect is Private better than state education?

That sample of two doesn't prove much though does it? You will find plenty of children with 10 A*s from grammar schools, or even comps...

Only this country gets theirselves in such a stew about this subject.

I personally would love not to have to spend £££££££ on education. One day, when state education gets real.

The difference:

independent schools respond quicker and more flexibly to market forces. So they produce people who have been more rigourously educated, able to receive instruction, can get along with other people. (see all other posters, above)

More employable, which is what people are paying for. End of.

I live in a country that has grammar schools. So, by definition you have to have a well above average intelligence to get into those places. It is where my boy, no slouch himself but no genius either, probably would have failed to get in, because he would have messed up maths or something. (I invidulate the tests, and will mentally do them along with the kids to pass the time. I definitely failed one year).

So, his village friend who goes to grammar, and is left to self-learn, arrange his own work schedule parental support required etc etc etc, got 2 As, the rest Bs and Cs.

My son, top independent: 9 A* and an A. He is doing maths for A level.

That is what you pay for. Both wonderful boys, one talking to Oxford and the other lower tier universities if he goes at all.

Yes, some independents are not as good as some good state schools. But the international league tables show the UK constantly slipping (we are now below Estonia) and the gap between independent and government educated children getting wider and wider. It is wrong on so many levels. But punishing middle class parents for doing the right thing and insisting on the right values which is still the knee jerk position of this country, Les fukinEbdon being the latest, will fix absolutely nothing. Nor are grammar schools the solution IMO.

Strange that no one has pointed out a really key difference.

In general, private schools have more money.

This SHOULD allow for provision both of better facilities and better teachers.

It doesnt always.

A good state comp wins hands down regarding value for money, if you are lucky enough to have one. Leaves lots of extra cash which you can either spend on further enhancing your childs environment or on drink.

I know one person who told me they sent their child to a fee paying school as they could pay the fees, but could not afford to buy a house close enough to the desirable comp!

Now there is a frood who really knows where his towel is...

Ha! 42! The answer to life the universe and everything. If you'd posted that earlier, this thread would have been shorter.

Talkin, good books endure.

halfrom
the secret to getting a good answer is asking a good question
or
42 (for those of a certain age)

I'm so glad I don't live in this world.

There are so many generalisations on here.

Many state schools do offer lots of sporting opportunities, ours has a yachting club, golf club, fell running, ski club as well as the many more typical ones such as rugby, cricket, hockey and football. Many state comps have a pool on site, they have orchestras, bands, musicals, plays, debating, chess...I could go on. Our comp sends four or five students to Oxbridge every year and many more to Russell group universities.

The problem is that the provision is so variable across the country, it's crazy that everyone pays the same tax to receive a completely different set of choices. I'm sure our comp would not be the same if we had the grammar system here, or even if there was a decent private school within a reasonable commuting distance.

@Seeker - I am glad your dd is enjoying riding. She will get pleasure from it for many years to come.

@yellowtip Indeed.

The majority of views expressed on MN on threads such as this are so strikingly illiberal that it makes one wonder what kind of education the offending posters must have had.

I worked out I pay £38 every day of the year for my DC to go to private school.Considering what you get the fees are not THAT bad

I suppose you'd need to hear the kids speaking French with an accent and not saying je suis huit ans (another thread).

I've often wondered why it's so important to have specialist subject teachers in reception!

Another important thing to remember is that parents who talk about the amazing extra curricular activities at their private schools, the musical instruments, the sport, the pool- often seem to forget that they are paying for all this! I don't pay for my children's eduction except as a tax payer and I wouldn't expect other tax payers to pay for my dd's riding lessons. So I pay for her to ride out of school hours. Private school parents are paying for their children to do this sort of thing in school hours. But they are still paying. It's not free!

You can't fake religion if it really matters to you. My DH could not and would not pretend to be Christian in order to get the kids into a better school.

Maybe the state has an obligation to provide an education for my kids but when the state system currently contains so many faith schools (particularly at primary level) I will use the private sector to improve my choices because I have to operate within the system as it exists now.

I appreciate I am fortunate that I have that choice especially as I also went to the kind of state school where I was sworn at in class for getting answers right and girls left at 14 because they were pregnant.

I should also say that the fees are demonstrably less than those being mentioned.

You may also find that if you've got several kids at the school you get % reductions, not quite BOGOF but similar

Wordfactory my DC are receiving similar at their school, with the exception that specialist lessons such as French, Speech and Drama are taught by specialist teachers from Reception. They also have a pool, do cookery every week and the children are actively encouraged to participate in events for charity.

The school happens to be private. The state school we were allocated did not offer these factors in any measure and we were not accepted at any of the state schools that did.

I cannot obviously state that DC would achieve better in a state school, but he's making great progress in his school and is very happy.

(However you can fake religion - faking school fees is a bit more difficult).

I don't like state-funded faith schools either. I think it's a scandal that state cash is used to support institutional discrimination like that. Most workplaces wouldn't be allowed to get away with it, so why the hell should schools?

The state has an obligation to provide an education for your children Chaz.

Chaz
I'm an atheist. I was the governor of a CofE School :-)
I am TOTALLY against faith being on the admission criteria for ANY state funded school.
RE should remain compulsory to year 9 (as it is the best way to create atheists IMHO) but ALL schools should be forced to accept and learn about ALL faith systems
if they want taxpayers money.

Thisisnotmylife how about the fact that my children won't get into at least three of the nearest primary schools because the schools are Christian and my children are Muslim (1 non sibling non faith entrant in total across the 3 schools last year!). The nearest non faith school is three times oversubscribed.

If you are not Christian you have less choice of schools. And making a broad generalisation non Christians are more likely to be minorities who in turn are more likely to be deprived. How about that for an elephant.

"My DD's independent school suits her because it makes being clever cool, instead of isolating, as her state primary did."

But that's not because it's an independent school- it's because it's a good school. There are schools in both sectors that do this- and schools in both sectors that don't.

I actually think this is the crux of the argument. When I have an issue with one of my children's schools, I have an issue with that school, not with state schools as a whole. Ditto when there's something good to say. Private school parents seem to be saying "This is what it good about my child's school - and it's because it's private". And if there's something wrong - "I don't like this about my child's school- but think how much worse it would be in a state school" It's this last mind set, incidentally, that sometimes keeps children at hideous schools long after they should have moved.

I can't possibly comment on an entire secion of the education system, OP.
But I can tell you what my DC have gained by going to their private schools.

• rigorous and flexible setting from early in primary. And I mean proper setting not different tables in the same room sharing the same teacher.

• hot discipline with high levels of behaviour expected. And action taken quickly and effectively against the badly behaved.

• acres of green space used every day.Particularly important in the early years.

-daily competitive sport, including matches against other schools from year three.

• Specilaist subject teachers from year 3 for everyhting.

• high expectations academically, but equal importance placed upon music, drama, art.

• confidence building forming an integral art of the curriculum. Handshaking, public speaking, competition all expected frm reception.

• proper choice for GCSE options. After the core subjects are covered, DC will get their choices. The timetabling is the shcool's problem not ours!

I won't say I thoight about any of this much when I signed up. But with the joy of hindsight, these are just some of the things we have gained that we wouldn't have got in our local schools. And before anyone tells me they gte all this in their local schools, well good for you. Unless you are my next door neighbour, that doesn't make much difference does it?