to hate it when people talk about "indie" schools

[gobehindabushfgs]

in an attempt to make it sound cool, edgy and alternative? it isn't. it's private education. it's a right-wing, ultimately selfish decision.

"indie"

I must go and feed my children. A private education does not prevent them turning feral when left to starve.

FWIW, I also think those parents who sacrifice so much to pay fees are sometimes a little bonkers especially in an area with good schools. I certainly wouldn't want to live in a rough area and never give them a holiday just so they could have the facilities on offer in the private sector. Parenting is a balance. Though I may have taken that stance in SWC's circumstances. The stakes change when you have child with SN.

Unquietdad, once again apologies if I offended you. It was meant to be tongue in cheek but with a serious point.

Non verbal and door banging?

I don't believe you,

I think it's because you don't like poor people and their fruit shoot drink ways.

it isn't a political act, or at least not necessarily a defining one. you'd be amazed how many left wingers end their kids to independent school. and how many private school kids have left wing opinins thmselves.

th word 'indie' is a bit annoying, but becase its twee...

HE isn't the same is it? You can choose either to go or not go.

I think home education is exactly the same.

You are making a choice not to send your child to the local state school.

You are saying, I think I can do better than that for my child.

Edgar: 'you'd be amazed how many left wingers end their kids to independent school. and how many private school kids have left wing opinins thmselves.'

Nope, I wouldn't - I'm amazed at the amount of people who'd like to think of themselves as left-wing send their kids to private school. Will Self and Deborah Orr spring to mind.

Oh sorry I translated HE as Higher Education!

I have friends whose child was badly failed by a well known private school. Another friend's child is currently being bullied at a well known prep school.

I would be very wrong to use these two examples to bash all private education with.

But it does seem that it's OK to use one bad experience to condemn all state education. Bizarre.

Home Ed, I really don't know. The message you give your child by doing that always seems more like 'you can't hack it in any school' rather than 'you're too good for that school'.

I have misgivings about home ed., but they're not really political.

but being Left-wing doesn't necessarily mean you believe that formal education shouldn't be allowed outside the state system.

believing in re-distributive taxation is sufficient to b left-wing. you don't have to have an opinion on whether people can then use that taxed income to buy education or not.

does anyone remember theIndependent paper producing a paper fo rthe yougner reader calle 'the indy'?

that was a pile of crap...

But being a socialist means you don't think the children of the wealthy should be educated separately from the children of the poor.

Which, notwithstanding the myriad parents who apparently earn £26k a year but live in a teeny flat which they never ever leave and do not have a car and thus find the fees for private school, is basically what happens when you have an independent sector.

obviously my proofreading is more up to The Guardians standard :)

ah, so now all right wing people are bastards, right wing people go to private schools, private schools are bastards. Right.

I've never voted Tory in my life. Sending my kids to private school isn't a political act, it is a social act. I went to private school. My dh went to private school. All our siblings did, all our parents did (oh no actually one didn't), we can afford it, they are nice schools, so off they went.
We didn't even look at a state school. My sister's kid goes to a great state primary across the road from her - maybe if I lived were she did I'd have considered it.
As far as I'm concerned, DH and I pay for a LOT of state school places out of our taxes, and don't use the 4 we are entitled to. Win win for the state sector.

joan I don't think home edders are the same and have one value, any more than private schoolers.

Some see school, any school, as not good enough for their child.

Some simply remove their child from the local school that has failed them and have no other choice locally.

Ohters are just giving it a go.

There is no one message.

Just as there is no one message from we private schooled parents.

Independent schools aren't that great

Look, Joan, I know you don't think these people exist but that's because you wouldn't have come across them if you use the state sector.

I actually think a lot of them are mad but it's not my place to judge their choices. All I can think is they must have had a bad experience at some point to warrant living so frugally for 14yrs to pay for fees.

I dunno, I don't really know any HE parents whereas I do know private school parents, so I'm guessing....

Where did you get the bastards bit from, Freshmint?

You can't be left-wing and send your kids to private school.

Oh my God, we right wing bastards are being outdone. There we are thinking our Tory credntials are enough...now we find out we need to be religious fundemetalists.

It's exhausting keeping up.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=3.bp.blogspot.com/_l62zH62lSsI/TUNiAv5DwfI/AAAAAAAABog/bM07F54VHsk/s1600/sarah-palin.jpg&imgrefurl=ianemv.blogspot.com/2011/01/tina-fey-or-sarah-palin.html&h=448&w=300&sz=19&tbnid=KiEmaf86n6dt1M:&tbnh=127&tbnw=85&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsarah%2Bpalin&zoom=1&q=sarah+palin&usg=__Pt1Ae-hbo2yjqGqKGbwarhbfn80=&sa=X&ei=uBFcTbKRGsyv4AaOjKWADA&ved=0CDwQ9QEwAgmy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hero

I paraphrased Joan
You can be a wishy washy liberal though joan

ewwww don't DO that word!

A political illiterate, then? yep, I'll allow that one.