To send my child to private school at age 4?

[confusedaboutworkingandparenting]

Wise Mumsnetters, please talk to me about private school in the UK. Or public school? What is the difference? As you have probably gathered already, DH and I went to comprehensive schools and have no experience of education options in London or the independent school system in the UK. Other children is unlikely to be a factor here so we could probably afford to pay for one to go, although of course it would involve some sacrifices. We have some good private schools nearby to us and none of the "local" state primary schools are actually that convenient, so all options involve a bit of a trek. So talk to me about private school? Is it worth it? Is it really that different to state school? When is the best time to send them? If you could afford it, would you do it? And why? And will I inadvertently turn my beloved child into a posh tw*t?! Also the holidays are so long! What do you do with them then! Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and wisdom.

@Thepeopleversuswork and @Futurethoughts excellent posts, phrased far more eloquently than I could but sums up my thoughts too

www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/private-school-pupils-drug-alcohol-addictions-more-likely-new-research-money-fake-id-a7766951.html

Try again, not anecdotal. 😂

Indeed.

Studying the habits of two groups of students in affluent communities in New England in the US, researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) assessed teenage participants when they were high school seniors, then again annually across four college years, and from the age of 23 to 27.

This is an American study - you can’t just directly apply the same information to UK and assume the same applies. In addition to that, this study focuses on elite private schools, not the private sector as a whole. Your reading comprehension needs some work

I agree with the poster who said private is more ethnically diverse.
I briefly attended a p school and I was with Chinese / Japanese /Asian /,American and Australian fellow peers.
I really enjoyed that side of it. My other school was entirely a local white cohort I don't think even any Asian pupils in my year.

Re sen however not all dc with sen are disruptive and its not fair to put that lable on dc with sen. At all.

One huge reason I've seen (volunteering) is a lack of knowledge and support of send so the dc are not able to learn and are totally bored.

Some small tweaks would help but seem beyond the remit if the school.

Personally it's a o brainer op if you have the money to get those small classes and a more homely feel.

Go for it.

I think being a posh twat comes from the parnts more than the school, teachers are usually just average normal people.

Just as you wouldn't want a chip on the shoulder getting above yourself type of child either with low aspirations

It also appears to have involved a total of 335 students, which is not exactly a huge test group. Also worth considering is that the legal drinking age in the U.S is 21, so drinking at 19, perfectly acceptable in the UK, would be illegal and thus problematic from a U.S. perspective.

Reading the overview, it doesn’t appear that the study is claiming that ‘private school students are worse off in this area’ as a conclusion, but 1, challenging previously held beliefs that those raised in poverty are the ones that require special attention in terms of anti drug education, and 2, opening the door for further investigation on the issue.

it’s not the slam dunk against private education that it’s being presented as, at all.

I think people who say private school kids are snobs, know nothing about the ‘real world’, take drugs etc are just convincing themselves to make themselves feel better. If you are truly secure in your choice of state or private you don’t need to denigrate someone else’s alternative choice.

The lucky ones are those who get to choose their school, and it’s a good match of child and school. There are lovely state and lovely private schools and awful ones.

State school teachers have made me realise that sadly, private may be the better option in current times. Our government has failed kids.

The lucky ones are those who get to choose their school, and it’s a good match of child and school.

I agree with this. We currently have dc in state and private and each matches well.

Either sector can be good, although we have appreciated just simple issue of access to private - due to pandemic and strikes