Teachers at private schools

[FurySlippers]

We are considering applying to a private school for our DD for Y7 entry.

People talk about how much teachers are hands on and spend so much time talking with students and have lots of time outside classes for their students if they ever needed help.

This sounds very different from states school (where I went) where teachers were only there for classes and never seen until the next class.

I guess the teacher - student ratio is different, but what else? Do teachers in private schools have less teaching time and more time for students coming up to them for questions? Or are they actually as busy as state school teachers but actually "make" time for out of hours teaching?

I have children in both. I think the extra curricular is just expected of private school teachers whereas it is optional in state. Some state school teachers put in loads of extra time - ours all go on camp which is basically a week away - they won't be paid extra for that. There are very few after school clubs run by the school now - its all been outsourced to paid for providers. 10 years ago, my older children benefited from school run activity. There is almost none now.

I read a thread on here recently where a state school was charging £250 to participate in DofE. It was completely free in our independent - but it was teachers that took them on the expedition etc.

There is an expectation of extra curricular involvement in my childrens indi school - both from teachers and pupils. School choir for example has teacher members and some of those teachers are not music teachers. They rehearse 3x a week. Although there is a whole dept full of sports teachers, subject teachers that like sport also turn up for sports practise and fixtures. As a result we don't just put forward an A and B team for fixtures but even non sporty kids get to represent the school - there is often an E team put out, and this is the same for the other schools we are playing.

There is not just one or two school plays a year. The theatre facility is used all year round and there is always something on. The drama teachers put in extraordinary hours to make this happen.

I don't think this is true. I think they are under a very different pressure but that pressure is enormous. On an individual basis they are teaching children of mostly articulate and demanding parents who are quick to voice their disappointment.

Expectations are very high no matter how much you hear "i just want them to be happy". The majority of parents mean "i just want them to be happy and to excel in their results".