to wonder what the fuss is regarding Private Schools?

[peppapigandhumf]

A friend has 2 kids at a local prep school. She doesnt really bang on about the school to me etc but i wonder why bother pay for education when schooling is free.

Is it really just about small class sizes and fancy expensive uniforms?

It's about a better education for your children.

I went to a great p school, but there are some mediocre ones. But there are some really shocking state ones around.

They go on lots more field trips.

what do they do that state schools dont do? i havent visited one but i cant find one major thing to convince me

It's about personal choice from the schools which are likely to be available to you, and your own view on what matters in education, plus your available funds and family priorities on spending.

The threads I've read on MN re state vs. private schooling scare the bejesus out of me.

We won't be sending DD to private school because we can't. I'll be doing as much to advance her learning outside of school as I can, but I do worry.

Depends what the state schools are like where you live and whether your child has any special needs or talents that might be better catered for in the private schools.

I know several people whose parents sent them to private schools because there was better support for severe dyslexia, extreme introversion etc.. I also know someone who is a very talented musician and went to a private school which had highly qualified music staff and a v. professional orchestra.

I do know a few people whose parents sent them to private school for snob value or because they didn't want them to mix with the plebs but they didn't seem to be in a majority back in my day...

Extra curricular activities
Broader subject choice
Smaller class sizes
Results
Facilities

To name a few.

Some of the least motivated/intelligent adults I have met were privately educated though. I find it all very confusing.

It really does depend on local provision and the needs of the individual. Some children really benefit from smaller classes.

I went to a state comp and was always teased for this when in the Army...I used to respond with the view that private schools were simply "expensive schools for children with special needs".

That said, I'll be sending my daughter to one if I have the money!

I think the advantage it gives is that one is broadly surrounded by people that want to be there and have ambition of sorts.

should we be worried that state schools dont offer what is available (whatever it is) in pvt schools?

Are we just getting the basic in state schools

my son is 4, same as my friend DD. Her DD vocabulary is very high, she knows shapes (even octagons), can write her name and numbers up to 20 and is learning to read. I know my DS will eventually do this - so is at an advantage because she is doing this sooner?

Smaller classes is the only benefit I can see.

I can afford to send DS to private but choose not to. He has a fantastic state school on our doorstep.

Many people do not realise that the standard of teaching can be lower in a private school because you do not have to be qualified. Many of the BEd failures from my teaching college went on to teach in private because the state schools wouldn't have them, which has probably tainted my view somewhat.

I think the biggest advantage beyond the educational has to be 'contacts'. Every time I hear some prominent figure interviewed they seem to have been at the same prep/school/university as a lot of other important types. "The Bullingdon Club" being one famous example.

In our case, the main factor was what they didn't do versus all the schools near us - which was to have an admissions policy based on church attendance, plus varying degrees of pushing religion down kids throats. It didn't have a headteacher who'd ask a child why it wasn't at church on a Sunday.

Fortunately DDs was also a very good school with smaller classes, better results, more sport so - as fortunately we could afford it - we were happy with our choice.

I went to private school. I was a bit of a rebel and I'm fairly certain that if I'd gone to the local comp I would have left with no GCSE's at all. As it was, I did ok. Because the school I went to was so much smaller, you simply couldn't get away with some of the behaviour that the friends I had at the comp got away with. Skipping school was easy for them, it was virtually impossible for us. Plus if you were strugging with the work, as I was with maths, the classes were small enough that the teacher had time to go through t with you in normal class time.

I can't afford private for my dc's though.

That would confuse the crap out of my children pascoe.

Two of them go to private schools and one goes to a school for children with social needs....I think they would be surprised that someone would reference their brothers school as a wisecrack.

Oh, and my DD is now at a state secondary school - having been pushed down the private route for primary we looked at the independant secondaries but decided the state school was best for DD - its an outstanding school, some of the local private are mediocre.

Gmaj7:>Some of the least motivated/intelligent adults I have met were privately educated though. I find it all very confusing.

DH has noted this effect in some of his colleagues - but we're of an age where this would tend to happen because back then every bright kid got the chance of grammar school, so privates were to a larger extent for the rich-but-dim

I went to a private primary school, then switched to state primary, then state secondary and then ended up at private secondary.
In my case I can say without a doubt that the standard of education was much higher at the private school and I definitely left with more qualifications than I'd have obtained at the state school. I was much happier at the private school too, in terms of friendships, extracurricular activities, etc. Strangely it felt a lot less "snobby" (for want of a better word) than the state school.

But of course it varies depending on where you live and indeed on each individual school.

We chose private because the state school here is dire. Also because class size is circa 30+ in state here and 10 in private.

'Expensive school for children with special needs' did make me

Private schools vary hugely, even more than state schools are they are by their very nature 'independent'. Therefore, no sweeping generalisations can be made about whether 'private' or 'state' schools are better. You have to compare the schools in your area based on their individual merits.

peppapigandhumf: what do they do that state schools dont do?

Aside from the smaller class sizes and better qualified and connected teachers, my secondary school had three different orchestras, choirs, gyms, its own swimming pool, theatre stages, an art studio, gardens. The range of extra curricular activities, international trips and other opportunities were huge.

It was also a very ambitious school. Failing exams or not going to university were not an option. It's only as an adult that I've come to appreciate how much even the shyest pupils were indoctrinated with a level of self-confidence that was extremely useful in later life.

I'm not saying it was all positive (many of my friends were very miserable at school) but I totally understand why parents who can afford to, or whose kids win a scholarship, would choose to send their kids to a private school in some areas.

togarama : does this mean that the govt sees these activities as extras therefore not important?

Smaller classes.
Better facilities.
Excellent sports.
Excellent music.
High standards of discipline and expectation.
Most parents singing from the same hymn sheet.

That's why I pay.

Oh, and it's five mins from home [lazy Mum emoticon]

Good question. Why not ask them? Write to the Education Minister via your MP, cc' your local paper.