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?

The illiberalism is shocking.

You are just allowing producers to distort the market.

I would love a juggling peer support thread on mumsnet.

I was privately educated until 6th form. I have worked in a secondary non selective school which had mixed abilities and the children were only streamed for maths.

However option choices tended to weed out the less academic in certain subjects.

my own children go to a partly selective comp which does stream in most subjects. I am very happy with this school.

Now i work in a private school and can see how fantastic it is but there is no way I could afford the fees.

There is such variation between different private and state schools that I dont think you can completly generalise across each sector.

Having experienced middling versions of both systems I'm going to stick my neck out with the rare posters on these threads who admit that they want to privatly educate to 'control' their DC's peer group. There is a big difference between not wanting your DCs to become friends with 'poor people' (wrong) and not wanting them to become friends with drug dealers/addicts' kids (justifiable). There are realities in our society that I dont want my DCs exposed to at a young age. A child was murdered by another pupil in the corridor of the school we used to live in the catchment of. Is it wrong to not want your child to go to a place like that?

In a word, Darlene, no.

It's not wrong, but just blindingly ignorant.

How is it ignornat not to want your child to get murdered at school?

ignorant

darlene, children are very very very unlikely to be murdered at school. Indeed, if you can find me a single case of it, that would be helpful.

I am just laughing at Pascoe..... too right, love, bloody illiberalism makes me itch to start a military coup and start shooting people in the head too!

And there was darlene saying shootings were only taking place in state schools......

darleneconnor You don't need to justify you rself to these people. You're doing what you think is best for your DC - it's not a crime, even though there are those who would make you think it is.

Personally, I think it's a no-brainer - if my DD doesn't get into a GS, she'll go to a private school because we can afford to send her there. simples.

In an ideal world, everybody would be able to afford it, but it's not an ideal world.

GORGEOUSX - darlene thinks that her child will get murdered if she/he goes to state school. Might you think about that for a moment?

She also thinks there are only drugs at state schools and only drug addicts go to state schools

That is blinding ignorance if ever I saw it.

No, I don't think she does think that. I'm guessing she thinks it's not a great environment for her DC; I don't think she has a genuine fear that her DC will be murdered at school. But, hey, I can only second-guess - only she can verify that - I don't presume to speak for her.

If she thinks her child will get murdered at state school, she's being silly and histrionic, but I don't think that's what she said.

Reductio ad absurdem much, Georgeous?

You really do make yourself look like an idiot quoting latin, with the pathetic assumption that this somehow makes you look cleverer than those who never learnt it.

People on this thread really live up to their stereotypes

It's not too far up the thread, but:

"darleneconnor Tue 25-Jan-11 10:40:48

How is it ignornat not to want your child to get murdered at school? confused"

Histrionic you say?

I have said it many times, private schools peddle the myth that state schools are full of hideous criminals that will corrupt your perfect children. They aren't. You are being duped.

Erm, I was under the impression we were arguing the same point Lady BB, so I'm not sure why the need for that?

I never learnt Latin. That's just a phrase that summed up what I meant.

Aw, well, sorry about that Joan. Would have been a good point if you had of been 'one of those'

Whatever darleneconnor thinks, I doubt she's been made to feel any better by being sneered at on here. I'm sending you a cyber hug darlene.

Shot???? In school ??? Dead???

How dreadful for that school. How do you as a community, come back from that? That's very sad.

Seriously, read back - we are arguing the same points!

Darlene - wavering on State ed. in case of possible murder: would feel bad about it but may use private.

Gorgeous - thinks darlene is correct to fear state-pupil-perpetrated murder: encourages darlene not to feel bad or that she must justify herself to the likes of me or you.

Joan - thinks that this is a bit of a made up reason to perpetrate idea that state schools full of murderous crims. Agrees with Lady BB on this. Used latin phrase but only in the same way she might use 'n.b.'. Went to state school. Doesn't really know any Latin. Is none the worse for this.

You have broken through some stereotypes Joan in that state school people know latin

LadyBlaBlah - in my experience, it's not private schools that "peddle the myth" - it's the personal experience of parents with children at the state schools. To quote one friend who went to our local comp 25 years ago, "It was rough then and it's worse now. There's no way I want DS to go there." Or to quote a child who went there (and BTW loved it at first) - after a term he said to his parents, "Isn't there a better school I can go to?"

BTW, I certainly don't think that private schools are full of perfect children, or that state schools only have yobs, surely no-one is saying that?