Not much diversity at son's school putting me off

[agagahag]

AIBU ? My local area is quite diverse. However the preschool my son attends is not diverse at all.

It's part of a prep school. I feel a bit put off by it.

Would it put you off ? Ideally the school should reflect the local culture, but in this case it does not at all.

I think the OP is white, if the private school is anything like the one I went to, the majority of students will not be and that is the problem the OP is skirting round. (Note I do not think this is a problem, just this is what I think the OP means is a problem)

The OP is being too cagey to be a POC in this scenario, it is because she knows she will be jumped on if she says the truth.

YABU. Britain is something like 83% white. I’m so bored with this tokenistic nonsense.

YABVU and naive to expect diversity in a prep school 😂

Our prep is also more ethnically diverse than the local state schools, because of where we are located. The teachers are more diverse, both ethnicity and sex (a lot more male teachers than the local state primary that is pretty much all female staff except the headmaster). The private boarding school down the road has 279 pupils out of a total of 492 enrolled with identified SEND according to their most recent inspection but is majority white British. Our local comps are both single sex and both overwhelmingly white British with a far lower rate of SEND as a result of the catchment whereas the grammar a mile away is 90% minority ethnic students according to a recent job posting on their own website. So I think it's very dependent on location and impossible to generalise.

FWIW I was almost the only white kid going to a local school in another country and it was pretty lonely sometimes, but the ethos of the school was good and I spent all my time in the library and practicing my instrument and did well academically (and I made friends later!)

If it’s not what you want just move that’s the beauty of pre school lots of options.

You chose the school. Surely you visited before, did some research etc?

Independent schools are by nature selective, you chose one and now you're complaining it's not inclusive enough?

However ,here's the thing. You actually have choices. Extra choices by the sounds of if, so just look for a different school that is more diverse or where you feel "represented ".

This with bells on
Strange post @agagahag

On the basis my previous assumption was correct (OP is white; school is mostly Asian), I think it's worth pointing out that parents of 4 year olds in the UK have likely lived here their entire lives and the children's grandparents may well have lived her for all or most of their lives as well. They will identify as much or more as "British" than whatever their ethnic background is. If OP looked beyond the skin colour, she would probably find that a lot of them are not very dissimilar to her.

I think it would be a rare school (maybe a very small one?) where the majority of children are part of a very closed off community with no interest in integrating with others (which is the point that I'd start to agree that the OP might have a point in worrying about "diversity").

I understand where you are coming from. Where we used to live it was very culturally diverse, however, our nearest state schools were 98% one ethnic background with the children having English as an additional language (and all speaking the same first language) and parents not speaking much English, if at all.
the local prep school (that we chose for our son) was a lot more diverse in race and religion (not economic background though).
son is now at a very diverse state school (although he did comment that there are not many people looking like him).

so, if you don’t lie the prep school - don’t send your child there

82% of British people are white! Of course some areas will be more diverse than others.

If you don't want to be in a minority choose a different school for your child. Private schools will be dominated by people with higher incomes, regardless of ethnicity. Depends what is more important to you.

You need to read the thread a bit more critically.

It's totally fine to be put off by a school that doesn't have other pupils you feel your child would relate to for all sorts of reasons. Complaining about private education is pretty tone deaf though, most people don't have that kind of choice.

🤣🤣🤣👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

this with bells on

What do you expect them to do about it OP, steal non-white kids off the street?

Thats prep school for ya in afraid

I disliked the lack of diversity in my sons state primary. It's a good school in a middle class area, but very white indeed.
We are white too, but it doesn't make that homogeneous culture any less undesirable. In the UK unless at an international school, other ethnicities are still a minority unfortunately.
But I expect in your prep school, you would be less likely to experience poor behaviour, so it is a mix.

It’s perfectly reasonable, and is why many people who can afford private schools still choose to state educate.

In the UK unless at an international school, other ethnicities are still a minority unfortunately.

How is it 'unfortunate' if it merely reflects the overall ethnic make-up of the British population (which is still majority white)?

It’s really interesting that so many people assume independent schools are predominantly white.

A friend made a comment the other day and I realised that’s what she thought too, and she’s actually a teacher!

At the independent schools near me it isn’t the case at all, there are possibly more non-white children than at the state schools.

Hang on. When you send a child to a private school you are saying that you are willing to pay money to have certain groups excluded from their school life. Now you are complaining that you don’t like that group.

If it bothers you then choose another school.

The area we live in isn’t diverse at all, hence the school isn’t either. It’s never bothered me at all tbh.

So you're judging diversity by skin colour?

Sigh.

Although..you might not be worried about diversity but perhaps feel unable to say what you are worried about.

if it's just skin colour, I am a woman of colour - hate that phrase - and I went to a mostly white school in a mostly white area, and here I am, happily living in a mostly white country, just as my ancestors did.

Yes, the private school I went to in London was definitely ethnically diverse and reflected the local community well, whereas the state school my children attend in Yorkshire is very much predominantly white British - also reflecting the local community.

I don't know, i feel conflicted. I feel like we are different already here in this country and now in the school we are also not fitting in with the majority there. It's my own hang up.

I also grew up elsewhere and was not from there either, so maybe I'm extra sensitive to it not fitting in etc. I never have. I guess I just want the best for my kids and would prefer if they fitted in.

Maybe we need an international school.

But how many are non binary? You got to tick that box op

That will never happen if people of different backgrounds don't choose that school.