To keep my kid in their state school now I'm a millionaire?

[evinalina]

Sorry, I'm not a millionaire, but I'm having my "if I were a millionaire" daydream.

My DC goes to a state school, nothing special, one form entry, but we like it, he likes it, he has nice friends . I always think if we won the lottery then we would definitely move house , a probably further away from the school and in an area where the houses are much bigger than ours, and the area is a bit "posher"

Would it be weird to transition in to a rich persons "lifestyle" (by means of where we live and what we could afford to do) and leave my child in their happy school, who would then probably want to join the now local state school with his friends???

I'll wake up soon.

Private schools don't make kids cleverer!

You're buying attention (smaller classes), equipment and access to a particular social niche.

Of course not, attendance at private schools is not compulsory if you're rich.

Where I live the schools are fantastic at primary and then very hit and miss at secondary, more people are driven to consider private schools at that stage by that than their means round here depending on the area they live in and the likelihood of getting into one of the decent schools. Me included and I'm certainly not rich. The private schools round here have amazing scholarship/bursary opportunities which makes it more accessible to the average family.

If I'd had the means to send mine to private for primary I wouldn't have done as actually I considered they got a better, more rounded life education at the state schools we had on our doorstep.

Yeah in my head I feel like I'd be the same, apart from a bigger house, afford posh holidays in the school holidays and do my big shop at M&S each week

It would all depend on if they were happy where they were. Not all kids suit private school (I don’t think I would have) but my sister went to one (and so did my kids). It’s nice to dream about winning the lottery but I’ve got buggerall from it since it started so I’ve stopped dreaming and mostly stopped doing it.

My DC both love their state schools, and are doing really well at them, so I wouldn't move them just because I could afford an alternative.

My son was screwed over during Covid as our AQE transfer to grammar schools was cancelled. He had no choice but to go to the local high school which his sister attended. He could have had his pick of local grammar schools as he’s clever. His PTE was 132 in p7.
If I could have paid for him to attend the grammar school of his choice I would have done it in a heartbeat. I don’t what him mixing with some of the children he has to tolerate every day. Some children spoil school for those who want to learn. I wish it was easier for school to expel children. They should be able to leave and get a job earlier if they don’t want to learn in a school environment.

I am aware of that. Sometimes people forget that a private school won’t make a child succeed if they’re not clever in the first place.
I don’t blame anyone for choosing the smaller classes and better behaved children.

I've already got one DD at private but we only transferred her there from state at the start if Y9 due to numerous issues at her state academy. If I could go back in time and win the lottery I'd send her to the private school from reception year. She will have a better outcome at the private school.

With DS I wouldn't change a thing. State school was great for him and his state grammar gets better results than DD's private school. I think he would have coasted at the private school as it's non selective and not very pushy and he is lazy if left to it. The grammar school kept on at him to work harder.

In our city you need to be a millionaire to get in the favoured state schools

conversely the private schools bus in kids from less expensive areas

I had the opportunity to move my ds from his community school to private school (Ireland not UK) when he was 13 due to my parents selling a business for a lot of money, the private school was nearby and easily accessible but I decided against it due to his friendships being established etc. I regret my decision still, ds is in his 30's now

No.

Nice school, nice friends = priceless.

Ooh I play this game too OP.

I think I would keep my DDs at their state primary until the eldest finished year 6, then move into private, with optional Flexi boarding, for secondary. If that school was an all through, I'd probably try to move the youngest DD over at the same time (would be end of year 1 for her) just to have them in the same place.

I used to be a secondary teacher and taught in both private and state. My experience is that the education isn't necessarily better (but it can be) but the whole experience is definitely likely to be better.

It depends on how many millions surely as plenty of “well off” people chose a great state school because they’d rather their income service an expensive house or they’d have to have a lifestyle shift. Bit different if you can afford the 2m house, the £££ holidays, the life style etc easily.

I find the school run tedious & not many state schools near me offer a bus so i’d probably chose private for that reason!

This pretty much happened to us. It didn't cross our mind to take the DC out of the secondary school where they were thriving and happy.

The money has certainly made our lives much easier but (as awful as it sounds) a million isn't an awful lot these days especially if you live in the London area. We invested most of it for our old age then paid off the mortgage and made some improvements in our house. We were also able to eventually help both DC with uni costs and flat deposits. We have had some nice holidays and treats we wouldn't have had otherwise but that's been less than 10k a year over several years. As I say it's lovely to have and such a a privilege and relief not to worry about money any more but I would say it's enhanced our existing lives not changed them.

Depends entirely on the schools in question.

I honestly know children really don't care as much about cars and houses as their parents do.

My dd is looked down upon and told she has a small house by friend with larger (uglier) house.

They are stoll friend