Asking for advice on private school

[loonnie]

My DD is not school age yet, but soon we will need to start applying and I'm not sure where to start really.

Ideally I would like her to go to a private school.

For state schools, there is ofsted. There is also some kind of body for private schools I think. Basically how can I find out if a private school I am looking for is actually good or not ? Is the independent school body that rates private schools to be trusted ?

There are some outstanding state primaries in my area, so I am not against potentially sending her there. I'm trying to compare these to the private schools in the area.

I went to private secondary school and state primary. I had no issues as I was bright when I was in primary school and as a toddler. Not so much later on, but that's another topic haha.

My DD is average for her age in terms of development at the moment. I want her to have the best chance to have a good start at school with a lot of support and attentive teachers. Would it be safest to send her to a private primary ? Or can an outstanding state primary also provide this ?

I'm not anti state schools in any way. I'm just trying to potentially give my child the best start in whichever way I can. I'm just starting my research, so totally clueless, as you can tell.

Many thanks and really not meaning to offend anyone with this post.

I looked at ISI inspection reports, but by far for me was reviews online wherever I could find them plus a visit to the school with a long list of questions.
Our dc already attended a private school that was pretty average & almost definitely could not provide much more than a good state school until about year 5 when they pretty much prepared ft for the 11+ but we chose to move schools as we didn't think it was giving much value added to what we could provide ourselves.

At our new current school which is a boarding prep,although my dc is a day pupil (cue horrific posts on mumsnet)c the education is incredible. Simply the change in my dc has been amazing. I also was on the path of 'save for secondary' before having dc and my goodness me do I wish we'd saved for any of this as I didn't but I can say hands down my dc is doing the best they can possibly do due to their current school.
They have pushed my dc more than I could ever imagine or had ambition to and my dd has loved it.

I would never ever know how good my dc could become at maths for example if I'd just sent them to the local school. I'm sure they would have been 'fine' if I did but now they have an absolute passion for maths which I doubt would have come from our local school, where the ofsted mentioned they held back the more able students to ensure everyone else made the average level (although ofsted mentioned the school should work away from this process to help more able students)

My dc is competing against students from all over the world and enjoying it. It works for our dc and despite us having to share
one old second hand car, forgo holidays, 'nice things' and this year possibly the heating bill, I'd do it all over again! I felt like I just knew what school was good for my dc when I walked into it. I got the same feeling when I walked into a school I didn't like too.

I am working class, my primary school was piss easy compared to the work load my dc works through. I would hate to think someone eventually discriminates against my dc because of their education but that's life and if someone didn't want to employ someone based on the school their parents sent them to, then my dc would probably best off not working for such a small minded place anyway.
I'm planning to send my dc to an American uni so we're now looking at secondary private's that allow for this.

I accept me sending my dc to a private school will probably go against them in the future in the U.K. but defining someone because they went to a certain school isn't really a good stance to take before even meeting them imo.

I’ve worked with a whole host of private school educated numpties who have the confidence of Boris Johnson and the brains of a 6 year old

I’m sure you made your feelings very clear to those colleagues who were unfortunate enough to work with you.
May I ask what field you work in?

‘May I ask what field you work in?’

you may… Education related…