Would you turn down this State school for an independent school? (a bit long!)

Thanks Hallgerda, very surprised to see that if our income levels remain the same we would qualify!

princessosyth, you may find this posted on another thread by LadyMuck helpful. If you scroll down, there's a sliding scale. Obviously precise amounts will depend on local conditions, as others have said.

Thanks.

It will vary according to the local demographic princessosyth. I can't remember the details but newspaper articles recently suggest that the income bar for bursaries is surprisingly high (meaning more people are eligible than one might think) because of course now most secondary independent schools are mindful of the need to show how they using their charitable status to give less wealthy children subsidised places.

Generally what income level would you need to be below in order to qualify for a bursary?

Talk you ds out of computing - mickey mouse subject. Teenage boys with access to PC at home have a much greater aptitude for computers than computer science gcse syllabus allows for. triple science much more fun.

Are you sure that you nwould not qualify for a means tested bursary,you may find that you wouldn't qualify with only one child at the school but that by the time the second goes you would,also they are raely all or nothing awards and you may be able to get a proportion off the fees on alsiding scale,I would contact the admissions registrar or bursar and ask them

I sent DD1 to our local secondary school last September. It's a "good" school in a nice area with 61% of children getting 5 GCSE's incl Maths and English. It was a bit lower than I'd have liked, but the school is fairly nice (and I went there some years ago too!). DD is bright, and was in the top sets, but after a while it transpired she was very unhappy there. Although she had made some new friends, it turned out she was finding the lessons really boring, and that the teachers were spending quite a lot of time controlling the class, and not enough time actually teaching.

After some agonising - including over whether we could afford the fees, we moved her into a girls independent school. She's a changed child, back to being very motivated and is loving it. DD2 starts this September. We've had to make some sacrifices, but have no regrets.

She still sees some of her friends from the secondary school, which is great, as they are more local than the private school. I think she would have done OK if she'd stayed, but now I think she'll do better, and more importantly enjoy her time there more.

Good luck with whatever you decide...

I was the eldest,and state educated all the way and my brother went to private school. My mum made these choices based on family circumstances and our personalities. I didn't want to board, so didn't and went to the comp. I would have done better at private school, and I spent years being called a swot and a snob as my Dad was RN officer, and I was the only officers' kid in the year group.

Labels such as swot and geek can be and are applied to children who want to learn. In some cases this puts them off trying to learn as they don't want to be perceived as different. It can also lead in some cases to not having many friends and being perceived as 'uncool'.

I think you have to look at your kids as individuals, but offer them the same opportunities. DS2 may not want to go the private school, or you may get a reduction on the fees if you have more than one child there. If DS1 would do better at the private school, then put him there, and explore ways with the bursar of how to pay for DS2 when the time comes.At least you'll be able to hand uniform and sports kit down, so will only have to buy one set.

can you go and look around both schools again before you decide?

by the way, just because a school seems a bit loud and boisterous, doesn't mean you need to be loud and boisterous to fit in.
there is room for different sorts of people in a school - sporty, academic, musical, arty, rebellious, studious.
there are some pretty broad assumptions being made here, I think.

not much to add in the way of advice BUT
if your child is musical, then you need to think carefully about where you would find the money to continue to encourage that?
also, I think it is a huge mistake to consider independent school for one child and not for another in a family. it is my personal experience that this can build up significant resentments within a family and leave bad feelings, between siblings and parents.

I think you have to be fair to both children or your ds2 may well resent it. Unless your ds2 actively chose not to go to the independent or there was some overiding reason (other than money) why you felt it wouldn't be a good choice for him, then it wouldn't be right imo.

However, if ds1 tried the comp & was bullied and you moved him I'd feel that was less unfair on your ds2 if he subsequently went to the comp and stuck it out (so long as you would be prepared to move him too if he was bullied).

fees seem to rise by 8%-10% per year btw.

QueenMeabh, no, I don't think you can ignore your DS2's future needs. If you paid for both, would you just be giving up luxuries or are we talking serious debt? If the former, I'd consider the independent school(but try to bear in mind how I would really feel about the luxuries in question, and whether it would lead to my putting undue pressure on my children to succeed in order to make it all worthwhile), if the latter, I wouldn't.

What is the intake like at the comp? Would your son whom you describe as quiet and reserved, fit in there, or would he be better in the private school with smaller class sizes and the extra curricular activities that go with private school territory?

I would go for the private school personally. I was a teacher in the state sector, and my DS has been privately educated from the ground up, and will continue to be so. It's the ethos of the school that counts...if a value is placed on education in the broadest sense then the students will do well. Unfortunately, in some comps, if certain members of a cohort decide that they don't want to learn then the rest follow like lemmings, and the results go down.

You have to select a school on the basis of the child. I went to comp, my brother boarded, and neither of us wanted what the other had. Go with the gut instinct for your child.

46.7% is national average for GCSE results, so you'd expect an average non-selective comp to get the same. 53% is above average. BUt really you have to consider what the ability of the entrants is like: if it's a below average catchment then that's really very good, if it's above average then maybe not. Out of interest what is the value add?