Private schooling

[prinnycessa]

Can I ask those of you who send your DC to private school a few questions please?

Do you think it is beneficial from primary school, and if so - why?
What is your household income? Do you afford this comfortably or is it a struggle?
Do just you and the other parent pay or do you have any familial contributions?
Why did you choose to send your DCs to private school?

Thanks!

You know you don't get 'specialist' teachers in private. In fact they don't even have to be qualified at all.

@Perfect28 you don't have to be qualified to teach in a private school? I highly doubt that? Where did you get that from?

It’s true.

@AhAgain

Wow ! How wonderful of your in law's.
Can I ask what you invest it in!

Op I would have done but couldn't afford it.

Dd has Sen and we have private tutor now which has made the world of difference! Probably helped meoe the other

Btw I went to a private school for a few years and I found it to be far far more diverse than the local state school whose catchment was just around the school?
The private school had people from Nigeria, America, China, Japan etc as their parents had international Jobs,they moved and stayed.
Some people with Sen and may

DD goes to private school. Mainly because we ar
Our local primary is massively over subscribed and Dd was offered a place. We decided to let the place go to someone who might. It be able to afford to go private.

Private school is not just about the results though. We have one at private primary and one at private secondary. We are also paying for the additional extra-curricular activities the school offers at school so no ferrying around, small class sizes where no-one can hide which develops confidence in group participation, low tolerance to anti-social behaviour, fantastic wrap around care and staggered drop off / collection (primary) plus all parents invested in the school and education which all adds up to make their school life and ours a great experience (and less stressful than when we were in state)

Also and I don't mean this to be offensive state school when your dc were going through the system probably had a lot more funding and was a better option back then. Today's state system is not the same and can't be compared.

@Justwanttobebythesea I agree it's not just about grades. Inevitably there will be students that get better grades than others at private schools, but I think it's about the experience as a whole

I have 3 DC's, 2 are at private school and my youngest will be starting in Year 7 from September.
They all attended a lovely village state school but because they all have dyslexia we decided to send them to private school. The help my DC's are receiving is excellent as they need full time support. We also have found where my oldest DC (15) find spelling, reading difficult and some subjects she doesnt understand but she is amazing at sports. She is in the girls cricket team, hockey, swimming, football and netball and decided she would love to do something job wise with sports. Her confidence has grown because she says in her own words, she is good at something but also loves the sports she is taking part in. I know for sure, if my DC's were at a state secondary school, they would of been struggling so much because they need the extra help.It is worth every penny for us and they are getting alot out of their school as the school is very supportive. Not every child is academic but all children can thrive at a subject they enjoy whether it is sports, music, arts, dance, catering. They just need the guidance from parents/school.

It's true that private schools don't legally need to appoint qualified teachers (though I'm not sure that free schools do either)? But in a good private school, the vast majority of teachers will be qualified, and where they're not, it's probably because the school has appointed someone they feel is exceptionally good, but for some career quirk hasn't done their teaching qualification. It's only in a poor school that it might mean they've used it as an excuse to appoint someone cheap and rubbish.

@Ginandcrispsarebliss your children's school sounds amazing. They really seem to value all abilities and talents which is important

@queensknight this is interesting. But I think you're right, I highly doubt they would be hiring teachers that aren't qualified

I have four in private school, they all started in nursery at age 3 and I felt it was beneficial. I have boys and girls and they are in single sex schools which I love.

Other benefits:
Small class sizes
Excellent extra curricular activities
Wraparound care when I’ve been working
Real school community
Additional learning support where required

We pay out of income which I can easily manage

I have found that those are some of better teachers tbh. Good old fashioned, flexible in their teaching styles, a bit of general life experience, and not indoctrinated into some of the less appealing aspects of teacher training mantra.

What you do get in private though is "specialist" ie: separate teaching staff for languages, science, maths, english, music, drama etc etc. Rather than general teachers teaching those subjects.

On my DCs school website there are profiles of the teachers and they are all fully qualified

The trouble with questions like this is that most of the posters who have put their DC in private primary won't know if it was beneficial because they won't have state experience to compare it with. They don't know how their DC would have done in a different environment.

Do you think it is beneficial from primary school, and if so - why?

yes - we had one go from nursery and our eldest joined from a state school mid way through y1. Very beneficial, better for working parents. More inclusive, diverse. Enjoyable days and learning.

What is your household income? Do you afford this comfortably or is it a struggle?

Between £200-300k and I would say it is closer to a struggle than affording comfortably with other outgoings

Do just you and the other parent pay or do you have any familial contributions?

just us although familial support available if we were in a tight spot which we are endlessly grateful for.

Why did you choose to send your DCs to private school?

poor experience in normal school for my child who was not necessarily exceeding or being appreciated. The difference is outstanding now.

@Villagelady thank you. Would you say you can still go on family holidays abroad? Eat out day to day and do activities in this country?

For those who have DCs in private school outside of London, is the £15k per year school fees inclusive of lunches and wrap around activities?

They do. All the time. So if that's important to you, do ask about the staff qualifications before you choose. They may well say that the teacher is an expert in the subject, but not with a recognised teaching qualification, which may or may not be good enough for you.

Yes! Only extra's are specific academic trips, which are subsidised, or big summer trips, which are optional. We also paid monthly, which makes budgeting easier.

True. But they will have friends, family and neighbours, who DC's go to state and can compare and contrast. Recently, the biggest difference was the Covid on-line provision, which our private school moved seamlessly to, because they were already an ipad using school, and had all the apps up and running, and the children were used to on-line teaching resources.

@BigWoollyJumpers do you do the pick up/drop off or use the service?

How much extra do the trips tend to be?