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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about the advantages of private school?

291 replies

longestlurkerever · 26/01/2018 18:43

This is probably going to come across badly, but I'm interested in hearing people's opinions. I went to a middle of the road state school and then Oxford. I came away with a first class law degree and a training contract at a magic circle law firm. Although I didn't especially enjoy secondary school, I suppose I've always thought that it did the trick and my dds wouldn't lose anything if they had the same education as me. Recently though I've been working through some stuff with the help of a leadership course at work and realise that, even once you bag the job, there are an awful lot of unwritten rules that I am not sure I am fully understand - how to network effectively, how to have authority in senior meetings and just generally how to go through life feeling assured and confident and have been wondering if this is what private schooling is really all about? I still am not sure I'd choose private school for my dds even if it is, and would have to make some tough decisions to afford it anyway, but I am interested in what the benefits are so I can weigh them up.

OP posts:
Scabbersley · 28/01/2018 13:43

Classes of 20 or over are much better for learning said no one ever

Dd is in a state 6th form. 22 in her history a level class. Her old school has, wait for it. 2.

Dd got a B in her AS. Her friend got an E.

It is a positive advantage to have a happy engaged large class to discuss things with. It's a red herring that you need tiny classes. 15 in each subject is fine. 15 in the whole year must be giving the bursar the cold sweats.

CraftyGin · 28/01/2018 13:43

My DD had classes that were capped at 12, as she was on the Harkness system -the total opposite of being dependent on the Teacher.

Many, many independent schools are extremely innovative with teaching and learning methods. Harkness, SDL, flipped classroom, etc.

Because they can.

JacquesHammer · 28/01/2018 13:43

@Scabbersley 140 in total from 2 to 11.

Scabbersley · 28/01/2018 13:44

Her friend in the tiny class at her old school that should say.

slippermaiden · 28/01/2018 13:44

My children go to a state school, as I did. They get taken for extra tutoring if they are in top or bottom group. Sports activities after school are free and open to all. The school is monitored and very clean. My daughter does an out of school activity at a private school (the gymnastics club hires out the school hall). It has great facilities and class sizes look small. List of lunch clubs looks amazing. However it is filthy! Toilets are always disgusting, graffiti all over the walls. The windows are dirty, covered in food smears and cobwebs. Very dusty floor in the hall, daughters feet are black when she's finished her gym! I'm happy with our state school, children are mixing with all sorts of people, not just well off people, so they are prepared for the real world. I think the actual education at the private school might be better but I don't think I'd be willing to pay just for that!

Scabbersley · 28/01/2018 13:45

140 at primary isn't too bad.

The school I am talking about had 110 years 7-13!

Sallystyle · 28/01/2018 13:45

As I said on another thread, my 11 year old daughter has just been put forward for a full bursary to attend an amazing private school.

We are just waiting to find out the outcome now.

I have been reading this thread with interest.

mumpoints · 28/01/2018 13:45

Dd got a B in her AS. Her friend got an E.

That proves... her friend isn't good at History.

CraftyGin · 28/01/2018 13:47

What were their ALIS predictions?

Scabbersley · 28/01/2018 13:48

Yes possibly!! I'd be pissed off if I was paying for tiny classes though

JacquesHammer · 28/01/2018 13:51

*140 at primary isn't too bad.

The school I am talking about had 110 years 7-13!*

Yeah. I reckon there’s about 95 from reception upwards

Alphvet · 28/01/2018 13:54

Other benefits of private are wrap around care. Our local school has barely any wrap around care and you pay a fortune for a childminder to drop and pick up and I don’t think the quality of childminder care is always great. If you work near a private school then you can spend more time with the kids and obviously get the benefit of small classes

Scabbersley · 28/01/2018 14:07

Yes I agree the wrap around care is a good feature

wonderingstar01 · 28/01/2018 14:47

It isn't as cut and dried about private vs state. It depends on the child and the school. My DD went to a private school for 3 years at senior level and absolutely hated it. She was competing with kids who got "airtime" depending on how influential their parents were in the school community. I moved her to an Academy in Year 10 and she never looked back and has been extremely successful. However, she does believe that being in that competitive environment helped her confidence and motivation levels and isn't sure she would have achieved so much without being there albeit for a short time.

grobagsforever · 28/01/2018 15:08

I think private schools will be doing kids a disservice with regards to the Future of Work agenda. The key qualities of resilience, learning agility and social adaptability are less like to be acquired through private education where kids are heavily insulated from reality, plus the sense of privilege (or in the worst cases) entitlement) can reduce drive.

The social mobility agenda being adopted by most major graduate employers is smashing the power of the old boys network too.

I work in this sector (early talent assessment) and it is primarily for the reasons I have stated that I would never go private.

bananafish81 · 28/01/2018 15:22

You can create very dependant learners

Conversely my experience was the opposite

My (selective - 2 rounds of entrance exama plus interview) school didn't drill for exams: rather they focused on getting the syllabus out the way as quickly as possible to actually focus on more interesting stuff that could stretch us intellectually

I've no doubt this helped me with my Oxford interview and adjusting to my degree, because I remember A-level lessons that were much less focused on what we knew, as encouraging us to think and debate.

NowtSalamander · 28/01/2018 16:01

Smaller classes aren’t helpful for learners. Said PISA, using global data - it’s all about teaching.

If academics floats your DCs’ boats, you need to check out the teaching and learning policy at any school you’re considering as this is the most important. Sometimes private schools are using the extras as smoke and mirrors to disguise sub-adequate t and l. Look at progress data rather than headline A-C. Go and see each school and talk to the teachers.

Soft skills wise: sometimes you get a huge advantage from going private. Sometimes nothing. It depends if you are willing to take that 150k bet! Certainly some of my Harrovian friends make that in a year, so might be worth it from that POV.

Unless you have a moral/ethical skin in this game (which I don’t although I’m a state school teacher as I can’t bear private school parents - but the system is broken) then you really need to just be looking at the schools concerned. Try to get inside them as much as possible and ask teacher friends (or start a thread here) about what to look for.

CraftyGin · 28/01/2018 16:18

Yeah, which is why independent schools often see 2 grades of progress per subject from Y7 to Y11.

Alphvet · 28/01/2018 18:10

As a teacher, smaller classes are definitely better for learners. I can go around and give feedback thanks everyone in a class of 15 but not in a class of 32

Valerrie · 28/01/2018 18:10

You can't look at PISA as an accurate model for discussing class sizes.

supersop60 · 28/01/2018 18:12

Smaller classes.
Any teacher can be brilliant and bring their students on if they have 15 in a class.

grobagsforever · 28/01/2018 19:20

Oh yes unqualified and untrained teachers are another disadvantage of private schools. Someone I know got a job at a top 5 boys school just because he was an ex-Olympian. TEACHING ECONOMICS. Also he was very posh so fitted in. School just wanted to boast about his Olympic credentials...

He wasn't the first and won't be the last....

JacquesHammer · 28/01/2018 19:24

Oh yes unqualified and untrained teachers are another disadvantage of private schools

That depends IMO. Your example is extreme. However when I was at school we learned art from a Fine art specialist who was a professional painter. We learned hockey from an ex-hockey international. When it’s subject appropriate, it wouldn’t be a concern for me.

Chillywhippet · 28/01/2018 19:37

Oh yes unqualified and untrained teachers are another disadvantage of private schools

Our experience of state secondary is supply, supply, supply in years 7, 8 and 9, while the best teachers are (understandably) focussing on gcse and A level students. Some supply staff are qualified in a different subject, some are TAs and some are actual subject specialists but it is SO disruptive.

The headteacher at the local independent reeled me in with, "I can promise a committed teacher in every lesson. We are lucky not to have any recruitment difficulties. Even in shortage areas we always have a strong field of candidates."

GaucheCaviar · 28/01/2018 20:16

OP you want to look up social capital, I think it's the question you're really asking.

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