Private vs State

[Privateornot]

Apologies in advance as I'm sure this has been done before. Have NC for this.

Our DC is 2yo, and DH is adamant that we should send him to private school from Reception age. We can afford it, we're certainly not rolling in it, but it wouldn't prevent luxuries such as a holiday or two a year, meals out etc.

I, on the other hand, would prefer to send him to state for primary, then move him private for secondary. My reasons for this are that we have a very good local primary school, but no access to good secondaries locally. And also that if we go on to have more DC, then suddenly the finances seem a much bigger commitment.

DH's main reasons are wanting to give him a better educational start than he/we had, and that he'd make more 'solid' friendships being there from YR all the way through (it's an age 3-18 school). He also puts forward that it's unlikely we'll actually have more DC due to health problems on my part.

So how do we decide? Is DH right in pushing for private primary if DS will eventually go private? WWYD and what factors would you take into consideration to help you decide?

It must be intolerably dull being at the same school from 3 right up to 18! So the solid friendships thing is negated by boredom, stasis and absence of challenge.

I’d say if you’re aiming for independent secondary it’s wise to investigate the latest point at which your child needs to be positioned for entrance exams or whatever. I doubt they would need to have been at the school from 3 years old.

In general I’d question whether there’s much added benefit for a child in independent education until you feel they need more than the state school can offer. However, from the parents’ point of view, independent day schools often provide much longer hours than state schools - which might make your lives easier.