If you had the money to, would you send your children to private school?

[lomp]

And why?

my grandchildren attend private, the intimate smaller class size. the polite professionalism of the staff the opportunities to present plays/songs/poetry in front of the school and feel positive in a multiple of small ways makes it worthwhile. my grandson is very much benefitting from the additional pe time.
my other grandchild is in canada in a miniscule rural school with two parents who work in education so i can't compare.
it's not about grades it's about the educational experience, education goes on for a lifetime i believe the early years need to be cherished and totally enjoyable so that the harder ones are bearable.

I'm not a supporter of private schools. However If my child genuinely struggled in the state sector I would consider it. The other thing that has influenced me is there is a prep school on my street and watching the hordes of identikit trophy women wearing gym gear and driving Land Roger Discoveries dropping their kids off - really grinds my gears. It's all about obvious displays of wealth which doesn't sit easily with me.

My children are now young adults but if I had my time again , I'd be moving mountains to put them in private school.

We could easily afford to but have decided to go state and see how they get on. They seem pretty bright so will likely get on well wherever they go, so I'm thinking why splurge the money on private education when I could save a house deposit for them instead. If they don't seem to be reaching their potential we may move them private but the schools in our area are excellent so hopefully we won't need to.

I also have a friend who works in a private school and has basically said has had difficult experiences with parents who think that buying an education will ensure their children become academic high flyers irrespective of their underlying ability. I'm also concerned about some research I've read that says privately educated young people fare less well in higher education as their levels of self motivation and self discipline tend to be lower due to being coached very heavily at school.

Private school is a nicer environment

Absolutely, for secondary. Both DC are very bright, dc1 is the sort to do well at any school, dc2 would benefit from the higher expectations that cone from the 2 closest private schools.

The absurdity here borders on amusing. By expressing my hopes for how my son will thrive without private education, you say I am slagging off private school parents and kids and yet you characterise state school children in your child's class as "violent thugs". Children as thugs, wow. I never made any such generalisations or said anything about your kids. I'm sure they're lovely. I can just never endorse a system that perpetuates inequality. Let's invest in state education instead, so every child has the chance, not just the ones with affluent parents. That shouldn't be controversial.

Maybe but only in consultation with them.

Our kids love their secondary school's diversity, not sure private can give them that as much.

Absolutely yes. For the small class sizes, primarily.

A few teacher friends have left the state sector for private and reported....

Poor offerings for science practical work- money invested in whizzy sports complex instead.
Major safe guarding issues due to not background checking staff properly.
Poor / outdated schemes of work.
Unqualified teachers employed without a teaching qualification.

I'll stick with state, thanks.

Yes, but not as boarders.

No, never. Everyone I’ve met who went to private school is an entitled d*ckhead

My DC will be attending private school for the full 14 years.

The local state schools are rubbish and not somewhere I’d imagine any parent would willingly send their children.

Anyone claiming that the experience a child gets in state school is in anyway comparable to that in private school is deluded. The difference is staggering albeit I only have direct experience of pretty highly selective private schools.

It is the best 250k I’ve ever spent bar none.

Not true

Absolutely yes, without a shadow of a doubt.

is there as much difference between grammar and independent? Should grammars be taken out of the equation a rather exclusive state option.

Everyone I’ve ever met who went to a state school is a thick scumbag.

spoiler alert: they’re not but it’s about as accurate a stereotype as @Rosesanddaisies1 comments about private school educated people.

@Rosesanddaisies1 bollocks!

I went to state school …I work in a private school..GO PRIVATE IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT ..and for the record most are very well mannered polite and down to earth as are the parents of these children in my experience

Never in a million years.

Mostly because I had a horrific time at one, but also because of education inequality.

There’s basically 4 different classification of schools:

Standard state schools
State Grammar schools
Non-selective private schools
Selective private schools

In my area experience at secondary level, if parents have the means to fund it, the most gifted children go to selective private schools, the next group go to grammar schools and the remainder go to non-selective private schools.

This won’t change once fees increase due to VAT although the number of parents in the group who can afford any of the options will of course reduce which will put more pressure on grammar school places.

Of course, and I have, because the local state school was traumatising (and injuring) my kids, and teaching them fuck all. If you happen to live near a fabulous state school then yay for you lucky person, but I do not.

And the private school really has been wonderful for my children.

It’s similar in some ways to the decision between seeking NHS surgery or paying for private healthcare. The NHS surgeon may indeed eventually fix you, but the whole experience of surgery is a lot faster, more pleasant, and less traumatic in the private health system, plus the food’s way better and you get to sleep in a peaceful private room.

It’s annoying that Kier Starmer’s personal vendetta (his own grammar school was turned into a private school while he was there) has led Labour to trick the electorate into thinking you need to damage private education in order to improve state education. Any money raised from forcing parents like me to pay even more tax (I already pay £150k+ tax per year to help fund your child’s education and your healthcare) is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed to fix state education, but maybe go and google what else the country spends money on. Smokers alone cost UK taxpayers twice what a tax on private education would raise. Heavy drinkers cost even more. I don’t agree with taxing education but if anyone wants to ban smoking and alcohol that’s cool with me.

It's both a tough decision and an easy decision.

Assuming that you are not a multi millionaire then private school fees will represent a significant amount of money. Now just because a child goes to a private school there is no guarantee that they will come out better educated or more rounded than a state school pupil. It all depends on the child. So you could end up spending vast sums of money for either the same or much worse education than state. Money that could have been used against the mortgage, holidays etc.

Equally if one could afford it but chose to spend the money on mortgage, holidays etc then there is always that nagging guilt that your child wasn't given the best chance because you selfishly used the money for your own enjoyment / benefit.

Personally I think the biggest difference is in classroom behaviour. If you are spending thousands on your child's education and they are dicking about, getting into trouble etc then many parents start thinking why waste any more money. I have seen this happen and parents do pull them out of private and put them into state.
The children also know this and if they want to stay at that school then they know they can't get into serious trouble (ie fear). Equally they know their parents are working hard / making sacrifices for their education (ie guilt). and so tend not to duck about so much.

Our big local state school is one of the best in the country, the results far outweigh the local private provision. My DD is excelling there, expecting mostly 9's in her upcoming GCSE's.

My friend's DS is bright and able but would have absolutely gone under the radar because he would have coasted and not pushed himself forward. He's really come on at a small local private school.