Private schools and future privilege

[Potsnpans23]

Need to caveat this that I am foreign and grew up in a country that doesn't really have private schools. Was bored this morning and Google a few people from tele, academics and a few others and realised they've all been to private schools (perhaps with a tiny minority who went to a grammar). Got mr thinking- is it that private schools really propel their students to make a success of themselves or is it just privilege shining through and those same kids would have got ahead anyhow? Like if you send an ordinary kid to a private school would they make such a success of themselves?

I dunno we don’t pay for it but we are still pretty bloody interested (and invested) in our girls education! Dd1 got all 8s and 9s last summer after working very hard (as did we to support her). Can’t help but resent the implication that only those that pay for it are “interested” !

Apart from all the medics, lawyers, business entrepreneurs, artists and a million other careers state school kids follow. Have you visited a decent state school recently ?!?!?

Slightly wrong there @Reugny . We changed to private for the ethinic diversity. With private school you can choose to attend the most diverse school you like. With state school you have to hope the school in your catchment is diverse. In our experience, the catchments were whiter than white (majority Italian). Were delighted when we saw how racially diverse the local private was. My dc have mixed with so many different nationalities no one blinks an eye. At the local state schools they stood out like a sore thumb. DS was one of of only 3 BME kids in the entire school throughout his time there.

this mattered more to us than whether the teachers were black or not. However, they did have black (just 1), Italian, french and South African teachers but the student body made up for it.

All depends where your state school is.

It’s not really diverse though is it as only those above a certain income bracket can get in.

Of course it's diverse. It depends what kind of diversity matters to you. As a BME person, ethnic diversity matters more to me than income diversity because that will have a greater impact on my dc's school experience than income. To a white person, income diversity matters more because it is assumed ethnicity is not something your dc will struggle with, it is whether other kids come from similar income brackets that concerns you.

Very popular thinking in certain circles.

Money buys advantages

My brother went to a private school and it was the making of him.

We're very ordinary middle class immigrants and the private school was funded by my grandmother as my parents couldn't really afford it. My brother made amazing friends there with whom he is still extremely close. They are all doing exceptionally well now (many of them came from privilege and wealth already and one was Royalty). They all have amazing careers now. They are all really great guys.

My brother went on to Cambridge/Harvard and has been on a six figure salary since leaving uni, as have his friends in their fields. His best friend from school is an engineer for a very well-known F1 team.

But not all private schools are the same and I certainly don't feel like private education has been worth it for my own teen.

Not really. Public school' refers to a very small upper upper echelon in private schools. Anyone calling their local independent school a public school is just cringe

Not as much hard work as the child at state secondary that gets top marks with the best teachers and resources.

*without

Still early days perhaps.

I think parenting has more to do with it
It just so happens that most kids at public school tend to have parents that value academic achievements.

I went to state and I am quite academic but that's because my mother instilled it in me. Many others at my school didn't get the same support and have ended up as single parents on benefits or low income shop workers.