to pretend that state school is not so bad...

[RichTeas]

We are in an area with no shortage of preps and indies; the state schools are not bad, but for us, definitely not the preferred option. Yet it looks like it's going to be state all the way through. So far DS (Y3) doesn't have any idea of the types of schools that exist, as we have never openly discussed it, but I expect soon he will be clued up enough to question the system he finds himself in. It feels disingenuous to fib that we're happy with just a state education (when we're not), yet we don't want him to grow up feeling he's missed out by over-egging the independents. I suppose it could be worse, he could be in private and then forced to come out, but the issues is the same I wonder how others explain this kind of mismatch...

Property- do you think everyone that sends their child to private school is a twat?

'additional provision for special needs' - but only some special needs, not too many and definitely not too special. Let's not get carried away here, eh?

charley it was you who posted on the appropriate size of schools, wasn't it? Thereby denegrating everyone else who sends their dcs to schools that don't fit within your idea of the best school.

Plenty of people pay school fees for rubbish private schools.

charley
I assume that is because Property is not a twat, how clever of you to notice.

BTW my children are privately educated and I can't say it was the availability of tag or marco polo that swung the decision for me. Strange that

Cor some people live in a completely different world to me! I thought I was being posh going to an all girls' state comp while my mates went to the local mixed school! The posh school round here is the local all boys' state comp, I don't know anyone who's been to private school or considered sending their kids there. How the other half live!

The OP will never come back to this thread. I assume s/he thinks that they are financially and socially superior to those they meet at state school but don't have enough finances to afford the education they think will be the best fit for their dcs.

charleybarley

'Property, but you, probably, will never be in a position to make such a decision'

Heh. You really aren't much of an advert for private education. If I based my opinion on your posts, it's all bog-standard playground games & twatty entitled attitude.

I reckon my dc can manage both without it costing me £xk a year.

Luckily I do have friends who teach in/send their children to private schools, so I have a slightly more balanced view.

Still agin it, though.

The bottom line is that those who send their child to private school do so because they perceive it to be the best thing for their child. My daughter is at a private girls school and is doing really well. My best friends daughters are at a state school and also doing really well. Live and let live and stop being derogatory to people who make different choices.

I'm definitely concerned that I'm not getting value for money as no mention of duck duck goose or marco polo (what is marco polo?).

Isn't he an explorer? Learnt that at my single sex grammar in 80s..

On a lighter note I have friends who send kids private but needed a tutour to pass the schools own exams to progress to the upper school.

What a crock and a con!! Paying twice so teaching must be piss poor!

This thread is a plant, isn't it? It's our coalition...er, Tory govt trying to canvas opinion? David has no clue on what the avearge person thinks about education, or anything. What the average parent thinks about education is not about the choice between sending their kid to private or 'indie' or whatever, it's how good the local school is.

charley was your second comment aimed at me?

I don't get the tutoring thing thebody. It's sad more than anything.

Sorry but I can't resist a bit of MN bingo

OP - this is a first world problem!

thebody in which case it would be Marco Polo (proper noun and all that). The poster wrote 'marco polo' so I'm guessing it is some type of game. I've heard of polo and water polo but not marco polo.

Can I just ask those being anti private school, why do you actually care where other people send their child? I don't care how you spend your money so why do you care how I spend mine?

I don't think anyone has said 'sense of entitlement' yet Chazs. If this thread was in the correct place (I believe we have an Education topic do we not) it would be a completely different thread.

You wouldn't get such a heated debate in Education.

Accusations of jealousy?

I don't know what sub topic in Education it belongs to though. There isn't a 'state v private bunfight' topic sadly.

We should just have a state v private FAQ page as it is never ending.....

FallenMadonna put it perfectly:

"I genuinely have no idea what the issue is. If you can't afford a private school, then it is not the preferred option - it isn't an option at all."

THe OP was not about whether state school or private school is the better option or whether other people should choose state school or private school or whether we should care whether other people choose state school or private school.

It was about one individual family who cannot afford private school and about how they should handle this. And here it seems to me that there can be only one answer: as a parent it is your duty to make the best of any situation you find yourself in in order to set the best possible example and achieve the best outcome for your dc. What is commonly known as a no-brainer.

We have had the "it's best for my child/ our family" line though...

Sparkling
Definitely Bingo there

I'm still puzzled what awful language upset Charley? Was it Robert Browning's legendary Pippa Passes misdescription of religious clothing? Charley if you are offended by strong language I suggest you steer clear of Chaucer because "he's a very naughty boy"