Would you prefer private school?

[Dontbeamenace]

I'm sure I would prefer private school for my children. Would it matter to you if money was no cost?

Depends on the school and the child.
Some private schools will have some advantages over some state schools for some children without doubt, but it is not universal.
I live in an area with some excellent state schools and fairly indifferent independents so private education would be a waste of money in our circumstances.
However, if I lived somewhere where the situation was reversed then I'd chose private.
It really isn't as simple as private is automatically better because you are paying for it. If you are fortunate enough to have a choice then you need to weigh up all your viable options carefully and as objectively as possible as some people are prone to making generalisations about both sectors which are often incorrect.

It’s such an impossible and quite daft question as too many subjective variables- standard of schools involved / personality of child etc

If you’ve got a decent state option and a cheerful resilient kid whose mates are all going state versus an academic sensitive child floundering in a comp in a deprived area…your answers would be very different!

And. where I live, teachers in state schools must have a degree in the subject they teach. In private schools, that's not required.

I hear that a lot. While it may be true that it's not required, that doesn't mean that good private schools actually employ unqualified teachers. Whereas from what I gather, most state schools, even good ones, are struggling to recruit qualified teachers with subject degrees, in multiple departments. It's all very well saying state schools must employ teachers with a degree, but that doesn't look so great if loads of classes are being 'taught' by cover supervisors in the absence of an actual teacher.

Besides, certainly in English state schools, teachers recruited with a degree in one subject sometimes end up also having to teach out of their subject area. Though personally I'd rather have my child taught geography by a qualified, experienced history teacher or biology by a qualified, experienced chemistry teacher than have classes covered by a stream of cover supervisors.

It's virtually impossible to get a 3 bed house in the catchments of the few good schools in our city because so many people do this. We'd need £1m and a chummy estate agent. Private would be cheaper!

We moved 150+ miles so wouldn't limit ourselves to the one city!

@fireplavefish ds is GCSE year. Fees are about £18k but ds has a 50% maths scholarship. It costs me £9k plus uniform & trips so about £10.5 a year.

But ds is happy, there is very little bullying, and I can carry on working so even though it takes all my disposable income, it is only for another 3 years.

How smug and pompous you are! I go private as my child was hospitalised after being attacked by a fellow pupil at a ‘good’ Scottish secondary in s4. Consequences for the violent pupil? Absolutely zero! Oh I’m sorry they had to discuss their poor choices or some such nonsense. No way were they being excluded - I think this only happened to one pupil in the whole of Scotland last year.

We really weren’t prepared for the sheer difference in the educational experience. Calm classes, proper safeguarding, funded sen, extracurricular activities, textbooks that you actually get to keep and refer to at home etc, child feeling invested in their education, teachers feeling invested in teaching them, subject specific teachers rather than endless substitutes. And yet people go on about the people their kids meet at private school and getting good grades? That comes very low down our list of expectations!

Would you mind sharing why?

Why are you shocked if you don't mind me asking?

@AllProperTeaIsTheft
At the school I went to the vast majority of teachers were qualified. Almost all had a degree, often masters or phd and pgce. But we had an “unqualified” pottery teacher and an Italian teacher who didn’t have UK qualifications and the school sometimes brought in sports coaches without teaching qualifications. It meant that the school could offer these subjects.

I actually think that a big plus of private schools is that they can be flexible on things like this and to a degree choose their own curriculum.

Schoolunsafe · Today 11:08
ActDottie · Today 10:50

This. My parents could’ve easily privately educated me and my brother but my dad was very passionate about my brother and I seeing all sides of society and not just living in a world where people had money.
Show quote history

How smug and pompous you are

Well said Schoolunsafe. How marvellous it must be for people like ActDottie to go around in this cliché-filled glow of smugness.
What happens with people like ActDottie who are so completely convinced of the their and their views’ superiority if one of their dc has a boyfriend/girlfriend who was privately educated? Are they barred from the door or lectured for so long that it’s easier to agree?

Schoolunsafe · Today 11:08
ActDottie · Today 10:50

This. My parents could’ve easily privately educated me and my brother but my dad was very passionate about my brother and I seeing all sides of society and not just living in a world where people had money.
Show quote history

How smug and pompous you are

Well said Schoolunsafe. How marvellous it must be for people like ActDottie to go around in this cliché-filled glow of smugness.
What happens with people like ActDottie who are so completely convinced of the their and their views’ superiority if one of their dc has a boyfriend/girlfriend who was privately educated? Are they barred from the door or lectured for so long that it’s easier to agree?

Sorry - double post.

Schoolunsafe oh I agree so much here! We're in Scotland and planning to send DC private for secondary as the current policy of never excluding children isn't one that sits well with us particularly in the area we're in. DC both go to an excellent primary school but there is disruption in both their classes by kids who quite frankly will be terrors by the time they're in high school. The fact that they might rub shoulders with people more well off than us in private school really is quite low down the reasons why I wouldn't send them.

I would prefer state secondary options to be better than the ones we currently have for DC. We have grammar options, but they are super selective.

I am faced with the choice to move for a better state option or go private. We can afford it. Imo, neither choice is better than the other in this debate. I would be okay with an 'okay' school. Our local catchment secondary schools perform way under the national average, these aren't schools I will send my DC to if I am privileged enough to have an alternative. Our DC are in an amazing state primary school, and I would never opt for private school over their current school.

So many comments from parents who could easily afford it but choose not to.
I respect everyone and no hate whatsoever... just genuinely curious as to why you would choose not to give your child extra opportunities such as swimming, camping, skiing etc if you could do it easily? I've known people who are so against state schools as they believe the taxes should cover it (which I agree with) but if you can why wouldn't you?

These same people will have bought a £1m house in a fabulous state school catchment and not see the irony. I can't believe there is a parent who exists who would send their kids to a dire underperforming school when they have money in the bank for funding private education.

Yes. Both mine went private at secondary level.

They have really benefitted from it too. The extracurricular activities were excellent and the small class sizes paid dividends. As the school knew the parents were paying for results, no disruption of lessons through bad behaviour was tolerated.

I started working at a private school - my son didn't go there. However, it would be lovely if ALL children could go to school in such a beautiful environment and have the facilities they do.

@ginandtonicwithlimes 'Also my child enjoys learning and enjoying their childhood in a state school. 👍'

But some DCs do not. Some state schools are not good. Equally some independent schools are not good.

My job as a parent is to do everything I can to find my dc an environment where he can learn and enjoy his childhood. Just as most parents will.

I don't see the point in criticising parents who endeavour to do the best for their child, in their specific circumstances.

In the end, it is all you can ask of any parent.

It's easy for me to say I wouldn't send my DC to private school because a) I live in an area where schools are good and b) my DC are bright and NT and have got on well at state school.
We definitely don't earn enough to send kids to private school but if I thought my child was struggling in mainstream and a private school would suit them better I might have looked into it and considered options to facilitate it (downsizing to a cheaper area/asking GPS etc)
I know 2 families where they have put one of their children who struggled in mainstream education, in private school for high school where they have achieved gcses and then gone back to state to do A levels.

We're considering it, If DD deosn't get on or there are other issues then we will, we don't have a huge amount of state schools to choose from in our area but the private one is held in high regard, and it's only a 5 minute drive!

Yes just another classic untruth. DS’s favourite maths teacher had a degree in radar engineering and had spent time in research industry. Many people are unaware that some applied degrees/professions require a much higher level of knowledge about their subject than a degree level.
My DSis taught microbiology to podiatry students. Her degree and phd was in molecular biology. Basic microbiology or biology at GCSE or A level is pretty straight forward for anyone who has done any of the medical sciences. I would offer DS assistance with his science homework but apparently I made it too complicated.
Teachers who have had a career outside of teaching often present a more enriched and applied learning experience.

This is why I'm so for it. It's the facilities and opportunities more than anything.