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?

Yawn.

Aye.
It's amazing what decent facilities, smaller class sizes and parents who aren't working all hours can do for a child's 'natural talent'.

Same here!

To be fair my mother was taught at her private school that they were better than everyone else 😀. She says how shocked she was at getting to university and finding out this was utter nonsense! Hopefully times have changed…

But you've said it here yourself, it is the family lifestyle that they follow anyway.

It’s pretty straightforward really.
private schools have smaller classes so they can get through the academic curriculum quicker, freeing up more time for sport/music. They are often selective so the range of ability to be catered for in lessons is smaller, making it easier to cover topics faster.
They have more money so they have better facilities for sport/music.
Often the days are longer, so they fit more stuff in.
The parents are paying so they’re generally more motivated to support and push their kids to achieve.

I went to private school in the 80s on a music scholarship, and my school day lasted from 8.45am to 6.45pm. My class sized were 15 at the most, dropping to about 5 for A levels. We had a fancy music block which was opened by a famous author, and had a special piece of music composed by a famous composer. We had tennis courts, a huge gym, and a large indoor swimming pool. Honestly you couldn’t fail really, with those advantages. I still can’t believe how lucky I was to get 7 years for free!

No, at our state there is only recorder done by the class teacher. No private or after school music. No school band or orchestra.

If you can't afford the fees did you apply for a bursary? In my experience most children who get a scholarship but can't afford the fees will get a bursary too.

I went to a pretty 'exclusive'/well known girls private boarding school back in the 90s (which shocks anyone I tell, as I'm in social housing and very low down on the socioeconomic scale).
I was dreadful at both sport and music; I only got in because of academic ability.
But, I was an absolute anomaly amongst the well groomed, privileged 'young ladies'.
The school had long days - 08:30 'til 18:30, as well as lessons 'til lunchtime on Saturdays. With amazing facilities, a massive drive to excel in all areas and no means of escape (being boarding), it's a given that there was an High standard of sport and music excellence.
But, that was 20+ years ago, and I don't associate with anyone whose children are at private school, so probably not the best person to share my perspective.

Depends on the sport and the music.

If you're talking about polo, rugby, equine sports etc. Vs football or classical music Vs grime, rap, EDM.

I'd suggest that it's more to do with the sports available, the time given to properly learn each one, the time and encouragement to practice, the instruments or equipment being available etc.

It's about equality of opportunity across the board.

We had trampolines at my state school. No idea why really, I only ever got to use them twice.

We had tennis courts. Did anyone ever try to teach me even how to stand and hold a racket? No.

Every time a sport was introduced we did it for a week or two and that was it. As a result I'm shit at all of them because I never actually learnt.

But why would someone get a scholarship if they’re not exceptional at something? That makes zero sense.

in terms of your original question I just think opportunities are different and so you hear more. Kids have massive opportunities for sports in particular everywhere now.

I think it is a variety of things,
Private school days are longer, at prep mine started lessons at 8.45am and finished at 4.30 pm then did extra curricular activities until 6.30..it was compulsory until about 5.15pm.
Expectations are higher too, this is much more doable as class sizes are much smaller and resources generally better.
Even the non selective private schools are fundamentally self selecting as the few problem families uninterested in education (to be found in most states schools ) are not there to disrupt...those few cost much of the teachers time...sadly.

what a lot of bitterness. Is that what you teach your kids? I sincerely hope not, you will push them to a miserable life full of resentment.

Parents with well paid jobs teaching their children to work hard AND work cleverly. If you want a well paid career, you have to chose it.

Instead of resenting people who spend a fortune on their kids education because they believe it's the best thing for them, why don't you do the same?
Being bitter and jealous only affects you, not them.

This really isn't rocket science op.

Of course a child who is given the opportunity to play a musical instrument is going to better at said instrument than one who hasn't.

Of course a child who has a swimming pool in their back garden and school is going to be a better swimmer than a child who has never been in a pool.

Of course the government can't afford to fund small class sizes and pools etc at every school.

Can you afford to pay for private music tuition out of school? There are lots of music schools that also give opportunities to play in bands and orchestras too.

If you have the money (and time!) you can replicate lots of the musical and sporting opportunities out of school.

I think sport is harder to replicate as private schools field A B C D teams whereas it can be hard to get into a team out of school unless you are A/B team material.

You would hope so. Surely that's the point of private? With all the budget cuts for years in state its amazing the kids can learn anything.

Your normally in a much smaller class with higher adult ratios. Of course the kids should do better than state.

That from a state parent. It's insane to think private isn't better for kids. If you have more money I don't begrudge anyone wanting to get ahead

That's a shame, but you can easily find music tutors in most areas. My DD goes to private school, but has piano outside school because she would otherwise miss part of her school day each week. There are probably (youth) orchestras near you as well that you can approach once your child can play reasonably well and is interested. Agree that certain sports are very elitist; I quit rowing because I didn't feel welcome.

I belong to a musical group that provides cheap/subsidised musical tuition and free loan of instruments to children .
Over the years we have bought a lot of instruments, fairly cheaply , from schools that have sold them because they no longer have teachers to teach music or space in the curriculum.
These schools will never be able to afford to buy these instruments again , it would cost 10s of thousands of pounds . Community groups are now mostly responsible for teaching music , in my area , but that requires committed and motivated parents to bring them to lessons and groups in the evening.
The areas of music I am involved in have a long , working class tradition of excellence .
However it is noticeable that when we take children for auditions for national ensembles, orchestras etc they are very much in the minority where most young musicians are from well off, south eastern areas.

Some of the primary schools have whole class teaching of various instruments , which at least introduces children to music and musical instruments without needing parental engagement.

However many state secondary schools do not offer musical tuition and our local one has stopped providing music A level. Quite a few times we have had to provide musical support , arrangements etc for productions for local schools because there is not one member of staff who can read or play music. In the rare school that does have some musical provision evenings have shown this is singing of pop songs to pre recorded backing or a single pop/rock group.

In contrast the local private school of circa three hundred pupils has a competitive music festival that lasts a day and ranges from opera singers , to harpists, to jazz ensembles to folk , all from pupils.

Music needs skilled teachers, instruments , supportive parents , engaged children , opportunities to play for an audience or in an ensemble . Unless parents are motivated and musical themselves there is little chance for children to discover by themselves the lifelong joy of playing music.

hahaha 😂

You keep telling yourself that. Even when it's "blind", it's pretty obvious who did what going through the list of skills and experience.

Instead of trying to punish the ones who have achieved more and better, and dumbing down the level, why not instead push for more opportunities for state school pupils?

My brothers went to private schools on the eighties, on full scholarships. They were definitely told they were superior to those not at private school, in various ways.

Money makes everything easier and better. It is not a level playing field. I think private schools should be banned.

"It’s because their parents think they are better than everyone else and they impart that expectation upon their children who by the time they are 11, also think they are better than everyone else - expecting crowds to part for them, expecting traffic to stop for them, celebrating the misfortune of others if it benefits them and pretending the common folk don’t exist."

This is complete bollocks. It's about money and opportunity. One famous private school, for example, has a fully equipped theatre and a professional director on the staff just in case any of the kids feel like putting on a play. Many private schools can afford to pay international sportspeople and professional musicians to coach/teach. Is it any wonder that kids do well. The current shocking report on the state of English cricket is worth reading on the subject of how privilege attracts privilege.

And you keep telling yourself it is worth all the £££

My children have specialist PE teachers from Reception and games 2 afternoons a week. . There are 4 different options for each year in the week for sport in after school clubs. This term they have had cricket, athletics, tennis and rounders. They can take part in all 4 on 4 different days should they wish. Once they get to year 3, they have sports matches two afternoons a week, and Saturday mornings. As well as having a specific netball, rugby, football, hockey coaches who takes them for PE.

They have music twice a week, with lunch time clubs for piano, violin, choir (all for free). The PTA raised money for 30 violins so all children in year 2 take 2 terms of violin and if they are good or enjoy it, continue for the last term.

Our school cannot compete against the local state schools because it is not an equal match.

I went to private school all my life, I was not the least bit sporty in school (rode horses outside school and ran marathons for a few years aged 18+ also sports days as a civil servant doing tug of war and shot putt etc) but never made a team was always last in sports days and did the things no one else wanted to do such as butterfly in swimming and 1500 m running , so at least I could take part.

Musically I played trumpet in a marching band outside of school( no exams taken), and apart from being ensemble in the choir was never picked to do anything musical either ( I was very bullied and tried to be a ghost because of it)

Both of my sisters are exactly the same, neither sporty or musical so think it depends more on the family than the school.

I doubt they're naturally more talented in those areas, but they are more likely to come from families who value music/sport, have promoted the benefits of enrichment through childhood, and have the means to facilitate those interests.

I've had plenty of students in state schools who are as good as local private students. The thing they have in common are parents who value enrichment and the ability to offer opportunities to them.

Private education is a pigs can fly option for my DC, but if I had the money I'd probably consider it because there's a bigger culture of enrichment in and out of school.