AIBU to say private school children are much sportier & better musicians?

[Denimrevival]

Just on the back of comparing with friends & family with dc in private schools. The kids & their families are all naturally sporty & outdoorsy anyways but the school provides a vast range of sports with it's own pool & swim team.
Musically their kids all play 2 or three instruments all at least grade 4 or 5..
How do these private schools do the academics, music & sports to such a high standard? Do they also have a very good base if the kids are having sport & music reinforced outside school through their families lifestyles?

We don’t have children yet but what you’ve described is exactly what DP and I want for a future DC. Part of the reason we’re holding off having a child just yet is because we want to very comfortably afford top private school fees (ie not just about) so that there’s no risk we can’t send DC and have to go with state!

That being said DP’s family wouldn’t let a grandchild not be privately educated so would step in to help.

I’ve only ever seen the inverted snobbery on MN - everyone we know aspires to send their children to a private school.

this post is hilarious

“grandparents wouldn’t let a child not be privately educated” 🤣

what if your future imaginary child is not smart enough to get in to top private school or has a condition or disability meaning they don’t get in?

I don’t know anyone who has or wants to send their kids to private school, including those privately educated themselves, and I mix with and am related to a lot of well educated, intelligent, professional people in well paying jobs. Some of us <gasp> even went to a state school! My husband went to a so called good private school and hated it.

@TooOldForThisNonsense maybe because you have good local state options? Some of us don't have that

I went to a state school (albeit 2 years ago) and have never experienced teachers being sworn at or classes disrupted. My kid is at a private school and I honestly think some people on this thread have never met kids from private schools. Outside of maybe a handful of elite boarding schools, all other private schools have ordinary kids from very ordinary families - not some ultra wealthy kids whose parents arrive by helicopter 🚁

I meant 20 years ago - not 2 tears ago 😂

The state schools around here had their sports fields sold of by the council for housing. Not easy to have a school football team or hockey team if you don't have anywhere to play. Music has always been a cinderella subject and the local school has an orchestra but the students and their parents raise the funds. No idea what's going to happen to it if the teacher who's behind it leaves.

I would say having everything handed to you on a platter makes life a bit more bearable than your state school contemporaries. Next you are going to argue that actually your poor children have been discriminated against in Oxbridge applications due to state school applicants been given more leaway on grades🙄

I think a lot of good Art is understanding and experiencing the dichotomies that exist in life- poverty v wealth, segregation v integration, these don't really exist in the private school world. Don't have any studies, don't need any to tell me that!

Yes, but that isn't really a private school thing, is it? Some teens are into musical instruments and some aren't. My Dsis was obsessed with her musical instruments and would practise for hours each day. Her DH was the same and so is their DS. All state educated.

I couldn't be arsed to practise and so I didn't!

"I personally know low income people who have been saving for secondary school fees since their child was born. The idea that only the privileged go private is an MN myth"

To be honest, you can't be on a very low income if you can save around £300,000.....

I personally know low income people who have been saving for secondary school fees since their child was born. The idea that only the privileged go private is an MN myth What do you mean by “low income”? I find it hard to believe that a household on the median £33k after tax income will be able to save enough money in 11 years to pay £12k a year per child for 7 years of secondary education.

I went to, and worked in state schools. Behaviour is bad now but the worst behaviour I've ever seen was in a private school. It matched what I'd seen in a failing state in a very deprived area. I'm sick of the state Vs private comparison. It's never about that. It's always school X Vs school x

@TheaBrandt I know a fair amount of private school kids and the only one I know practicing an instrument is from a state. I suspect like all teens, most private school pupils wake up reaching for their vape, not their musical instruments.

We take Foster son to sports activities outside of school. He has been playing cricket since 9 and is now in a county squad. He plays for 3 cricket teams one Under 17, one Saturday for his club and one Sunday as well as county games. Up until last year he was also in a swim squad swimming competitively for our town in 2 leagues. He also does karate and is now a black and white belt working towards his black belt. He goes to Crav Magar once a week. He runs around a local lake a couple of times a week which is 3km. He has competed and been very successful in Aquathlons which is swimming and running. He does about 4 hours cricket training each week as well as some 1-1 sessions if he wants to work on anything technical. He also ice skates, climbs, enjoys basketball and just generally enjoys all sports. He's gone to college and doing a BTEC in Sport. He wants to be a Sports Coach. The thing is children only get good at sport if they put in the hard yards and hours and hours of practice. It's the same with playing musical instruments you have to put in a lot of practice. That means having a parent with the financial resources, time and motivation to enable their child to shine. Some parents just don't have the time and others just can't afford it.

I don't think state schools are negative learning environments. I think any school can be.

I also think that of that list it is very obvious that they are privately educated (and some are a bit embarrassed about it!). Not sure many are pushing any boundaries (apart from Jamie T obviously😄)

300K? That is 4 x the amount a full private secondary education will cost us for DD. Where did you get that figure from? None of the private schools in our entire county would cost 6 figures.

@twistyizzy You do know Lilly Allen got kicked out of all the private schools she went to? And she went to an impressive amount! She hated it.

🤣🤣

Oh! That's OK then. She was a Cool Girl (TM)

Honestly you are spouting utter bollocks! I can't even engage with this, you are delusional.

Yes but my point was that @Goldenbear stated that creativity only comes out of deprivation/challenges etc so therefore privately educated people couldn't possibly be creative because they haven't experienced set backs in life.

🙄typical retort when this comes up, I went to a London comp after private school which I left at 12, believe me, it was a very different experience from my private school, akin to Grange Hill. I also know quite a few children at private school, their lives are not ordinary as they are in the 7% of this country that can afford fees. This is the thing or you think that is ordinary you need to understand that you have really lost touch.

Are we taking about low income compared to.all the mums netters on six figure salaries or actual low income
Because if you are working in a,minimum wage job,you could save until the cows come home ,but you still won't be able to send your child to a ,private school.

Really good argument there, I assume you weren't on the debating society at your school- dismiss something all you like but you clearly just don't understand the creative process.

Got it

"real life" is what YOU pretend experienced saw on TV anything else cannot be real life.

These threads always descend into pointless anecdata as though any of our individual experiences or social group somehow proves a wider truth. There are good and bad state and private experiences, kids, teachers, atmospheres, outcomes and everything else. It completely suits some and is a terrible fit for others.

Depends on the sport. A lot of sports aren't "school" sports, and are done in clubs outside school anyway, including ones that GB excels at, such as cycling and athletics (very much the poor relation to team sports in schools both state and private). And of course the biggest sport of all, football, is dominated by working class players who went to state schools.

Regarding music, traditional classical music instruction has been completely destroyed in state schools due to the gutting of county music services. But classical music is a very, very small niche. Look at the wider picture and you will see that creating music is more accessibe than ever before - it's just that working class kids in state schools are doing it with a laptop and Ableton Live rather than an oboe.