I teach in an independent school AMA

[CraftyGin]

Just as the title says.

It may not happen in your school bit how do you feel about about many of the private schools who “manage out” Sen pupils or make it clear they are not welcome at the school given they are the cohort who often need the smaller classes and quieter environment.

The problem I have with ISI Inspections is that they are conducted by fellow Independent School heads so there is a lot of handshaking for a good report which was openly admitted to me by a now retired head of my ds prep school who was high up in the ranks of ISI? Is that fair and unbiased?

Does it bother you when people make assumptions about private schools? I'm a Guide Leader and had an issue recently with some girls picking on another calling her "posh" and "stuck up" for going to a private school. The little girl is neither of those things and it's a very ordinary private school rather than a well known public school.

Children can be very hard on one another. While it is wrong for that girl to be picked on, she can demonstrate how she is not posh or stuck up. My DC5 has just done NCS, and she was the only private school kid on her group. The others made a big thing about it at first but then they all got down to business. She was made the spokesperson, however. ,,

I wonder whether the performance in an independent school is highly dependent on an individual teacher’s perceptions and also on the parents’ involvement in school activities, regularly meeting with the teacher etc. What do you think, OP, are some of the factors that contribute to this difference?

Performance should be on the student’s academic potential. The school should conduct independent tests to determine a student’s potential. The teacher’s role is to release this potential.

Direct parental involvement with school, beyond parents’ evenings is usually for fundraising.

But parents have a huge role play at home, as described above.

OP, what happens when a family's circumstances change & they can no longer afford to pay the fees?

It depends on the school.

I think all will allow the student to stay for the remainder of the academic year. Others will invite you to apply for bursaries, and some will give you interest free loans to enable the student to complete the key stage.

How long have you been there?
Have you, or older teachers, noticed that there are fewer middle-income families sending their kids to private schools in the last 10-15 years?
(Though perhaps this depends how expensive your school is.)

My school is not typical, so I can’t answer your questions.

Knowing what you know about the sectors, do you think that has been money well spent? Or, given that we are engage parents, prepared to invest (financial and practically) in our children's education, is it likely that they would have done well in the poor local state offering (35% 5 A-C). Our children are bright, but not exceptional (yr 6 sats in the 109-116 range)

I am without a doubt that an independent education is better, especially if the alternative is 35%.

We have certainly made that decision as a family.

Thank you

Show My Homework" is in a lot of state schools as well.

Fantastic. Once our contract expires, we will have everything on Google Classroom.

Yes, you can also use Bromcom. All schools seem to do that now, it's such a boon for parents.

One of my DCs is super bright. Family tell me “he’ll get on ok anywhere” because of this. Would an independent education be better for him than the local comp though? (Local schools OK but nothing special.)

It depends what you mean by better.

We put a high emphasis on lessons not being disrupted by the poor behaviour of others.

My DCs state school has already switched to Google Classroom

Do people give you this much grief in real life for working in a private school?

No. My church family invites me to volunteer during the longer holidays.

It may not happen in your school bit how do you feel about about many of the private schools who “manage out” Sen pupils or make it clear they are not welcome at the school given they are the cohort who often need the smaller classes and quieter environment.

My school pretty much specialises in SEND students, and anyone who needs a small environment. They thrive,

The problem I have with ISI Inspections is that they are conducted by fellow Independent School heads so there is a lot of handshaking for a good report which was openly admitted to me by a now retired head of my ds prep school who was high up in the ranks of ISI? Is that fair and unbiased?

A poor ISI inspection reflects on the whole sector, so you would only see one if the school was absolutely dire. They tend to focus on building up the school from their existing strengths, and seeking out areas where the school can receive support. A lot of tiny schools rely on ISI to move them forward.

Craftygin I havent read all the thread but I am enjoying this thread very much. And I like your calm approach to the questions asked

@CraftyGin good I'm pleased. Teaching in a private school is hardly a moral issue!

Our state comprehensive school has about 88% A-C at GCSE of which about 40% are A - A and circa 65% A - B. A level results are even better 90% A* - B but they’re pretty selective as to who they let take them so results aren’t truly representative

Other than better sports facilities, ours aren’t bad but nothing to get excited about and more school trips of which there are a few but not millions (extra curricular is generally very good) what would be that advantage of an independent as an alternative for kids with no SEN?

I ask this genuinely as people are surprised that we haven’t gone down the independent route for senior after they all went to Prep school until 11.

I mean the A level results aren’t necessarily reflective, GCSE is entirely mixed ability

Other than better sports facilities, ours aren’t bad but nothing to get excited about and more school trips of which there are a few but not millions (extra curricular is generally very good) what would be that advantage of an independent as an alternative for kids with no SEN?

You have to compare the schools that are an option for your family to attend, and you are measuring in academic results, which is fine.

In my experience, pastoral care is superior in the independent sector because of smaller class sizes and fewer students overall. This should feed into academic achievement, as problems are identified early on.

A focus on good manners makes the atmosphere a very pleasant place to spend your childhood.

@fonzi but at least some students get a top notch education. Surely it would be more unfair if no one got that at all for instance because the government nationalised private schools or just outright banned them and closed the existing ones down? Its unfair that most parents don't care enough to make sure their children get the best. That's because of parental failures, private schools don't cause that.

OP, what happens when a family's circumstances change & they can no longer afford to pay the fees?

(The reason I ask is that DP coaches the private school rugby team & a teacher mentioned something like 25% default on fees - that cannot be right?)

Sorry I missed this one.

A well run school should have hardship policy, so that there is a set way of handling job loss, etc. If a school is in control of its finances, it may only allow a student to say on to the end of term/end of year.

There may be a bursary pot for existing students and facilities for offering loans.

When a school does not have a firm policy, debt can get out of hand really quickly. It is not uncommon for schools to be in receipt of less than half of their fee income before they merge or close. A common scenario is for a head to assume that if there is physical space in the class, it doesn’t cost anything to let the child stay. They don’t follow up with parents when they have a new job, so never ask for fees again. Meanwhile, the school markets like mad to attract new students, promising things that can’t be economically delivered (eg no minimum class sizes for GCSEs and A-levels) and the school goes into a death spiral.

Sorry, wrong thread!

*In my experience, pastoral care is superior in the independent sector because of smaller class sizes and fewer students overall. This should feed into academic achievement, as problems are identified early on.

A focus on good manners makes the atmosphere a very pleasant place to spend your childhood.*

Yes forms are of 30 but there are only 120 in the year so it’s a similar size to many independent school and several of my eldests GCSE classes are only about 15 so I can’t really complain about that. As far as i am aware pastoral care is good, I haven’t needed it particularly so can’t really comment but friends are happy with it.

There’s a big focus on manners and the school has the pupils heavily involved in charity work. Certainly, the friends of my children are extremely polite and from what I can see, the vast majority of the children in the school are similar.

Any poor behaviour is low level messing about, to make their friends laugh but annoying behaviour such as taking friends chairs or making stupid noises to get a laugh but they clamp down on it quickly and if parents get a call about it then it stops there and then as nobody wants a behaviour call. There’s no swearing, fighting or being rude to teachers and I can’t imagine it’s hugely different to many other schools with a group of 15 year old boys.

Good pastoral care is offered to all children, not just needy or troublesome ones.

Yes of course, I know he has some really amazing relationships with some of the teachers but I’ve never needed to contact the school for anything other than letting them know about a dentist appt so I can’t really speak. They have one to ones with their form teacher every couple of weeks and they run lots of programmes around mental and emotional health, workshops, being in speakers, workshops, keeping fit, being good citizens, giving back to the community etc and do practice all of that so yes, I think the pastoral care is very good.