to ask if you use state or private education

[manicinsomniac]

Sorry, I know it's a little rude and personal but I only ask because I think that only 7-8% of the children in the UK are privately educated yet on mumsnet it seems to be massively higher than that which I find interesting.

So, if I'm not being too unreasonable to ask, do/did/will you use private or state education for your child/ren?

Needs? I suppose I wont be needing my phd then (honestly am looking for an excuse not to start it ) :)

I find it interesting re the variability. Here, the state schools (well a selected few) are higher academic achievers than the private ones. There is a bit emphasis on dyslexia and suchlike and their role seems to be to support kids who fail in the state system. Dont know how many go on to the grammar schools.

Private - work full time to pay for the fees.
State schools in my area are all crap, I taught in them for 18 years.

Fee-paying faith school. I don't believe in hoi polloi or people G-d didn't choose.

(Actually I would except our nearest is 200km away and the local state schools seem nice.)

Kumquats are nice.

And as usual it is the private school contingent who were the first to be rude.

Has someone mentioned dragon fruit?

I never thought I would be someone who sent their kids to private school as I genuinely believed state schools were good enough and my grown up DD has done fine.

However we are seriously considering private at secondary for DS1 (10) as we feel he has been failed quite badly and the indie we are considering has an excellent rep for pastoral care and support for dyslexics.

Our choice will be more about bolstering his non-existent self esteem than academic results.

People have very different reasons for choosing private education and I don't think it can be assumed it is all about snobbery.

state (well DS starts in September) but would consider private secondary (if we can afford it which is by no means a given) esp after seeing the attitude people on here have towards their children's schools

State for us, but we're fortunate to have excellent schools close by.

I don't have a huge objection to the idea of private school, although DH is very against them on principle.

State for us - against private schooling.

State primary and will go to state high school. We considered private because DD is a gentle, shy girl and her teacher thought she might get knocked around less at private, but we couldn't get a bursary so she will go to the local comprehensive (which fortunately is a good one).

Our local primary is such a brilliant school that it would have been a complete waste of money to pay for private education (she passed the entrance exam for the private high school without any extra tuition).

DD isn't school age yet but i'm looking at private. I actually feel quite disappointed with myself as I always firmly believed that privileged kids shouldn't only mix with other privileged kids - but was before I looked at my local state school.s

There is only one half decent state primary near us in SW London - and it's massively, massively over-subscribed. We have very little chance of getting in there.

There are two others nearby that are both a shambles, forever changing heads, high percentage of kids with behavioural issues, huge class sizes and terrible Ofsteds ....

Needs? I suppose I wont be needing my phd then

?
I think it is very different. Universities are not asking for multiple A'levels-in fact they might think, if you had so much time why not get heavily involved with community work etc
I always think it strange that people think that private schools =no bullying.

Private, because realistically I wouldn't send my child to a state school unless I could get them into a good one, and there aren't enough good ones, so morally, if I can afford to go private, I shouldn't take up that place that someone else can have who cant afford the alternative.

"I always think it strange that people think that private schools =no bullying."

I do know that bullying happens in any school. I also realise that the bullying in the private school we looked at tends to be more about what designer handbag you don't have or what car your parents drive, so I am under no illusion about bullying in either type of school.

Private.

IMHO the best investment you can make in your child. Worth it in so many ways. I was privately educated from nursery to sixth form and came out with 5 A levels but more importantly there was never one incident of violence in my school (all girls), there was bitching but thats unavoidable, we had 6 lacrosse pitches, a swimming pool, I played two musical instruments etc etc and - most odious of all to most of the left and those against private - I made excellent contacts for my chosen profession which have been beyond useful now.

Private but if I had a good state grammar school in our area we would not be willing to pay and we would go the state route.

I'd love to see more grammar schools too, MoreBeta. Far better to select on ability rather than money IMHO.

So therefore you want more secondary moderns Converse-or are you just assuming your DC will pass? What happens when you have 2 children, one who passes and one who doesn't? Very common.