To think State education is really poor?

[Boswelian]

We sent our eldest to a taster day at a private school. He was agog. His school don't allow playing on the grass when it's wet. The private school change them into waterproofs and wellies for break. PE 3x a week. Sport every day. Dedicated specialist teaching in art, DT, languages, sciences etc. 16 in a class instead of 30. The difference in the quality of life between the two school has really blown my mind. The state school is "outstanding". The private school reckon DS is 2 years behind their curriculum. We've been told in state that he's meeting expectations. How is this remotely acceptable?

And what about the vast majority of people who don’t live in a grammar area?

Many of the grammar exams are easy to tutor for. Pupils at schools who prep for the state 11+ stand a better chance of getting in. Our private prep had pretty much a 100% pass rate for the nearest grammar.

And grammars are doing outreach programs with state schools and changing exams to help with this. Maybe they could also look at only accepting applicants from state schools.

Wow talk about prejuduce?!
So no private school DC would be bright enough for grammar 😆. OK then
So let us keep our thick DC at private school without VAT and remove the burden from the state.

No simply replying to the presumption that all kids leaving private schools would walk into all the grammars.🙄

Clearly this won’t happen so those in top grammar areas will see even greater competition

Outreach programs are already happening and I don’t see why they can’t do that. Unis are now looking at whether applications are from state or private.

I never said they would walk into grammars. No DC does, whether from state or private. However private parents would have the resource to increase chances through tutors etc.

Your idea of no private to grammar won’t happen and like it or not parents with funds use top grammars well

That will increase with the Labour VAT policy you are keen on

https://liveapp.inews.co.uk/2024/05/16/private-schools-claim-labours-tax-plan-will-trigger-a-special-needs-catastrophe/content.html

Cambridge University has just scrapped its state school admission target, because they realise that looking purely at school type is not the best way of attracting the best students.

With the private schools curriculum being 2+ yrs ahead, they should be able to walk into a grammar easily!

No KPIs associated with this claim right?

Who said that private schools run 2 years ahead? Maybe the top ones do but most run pretty much in line with state. For most parents the point of private school isn't results and that's what people outside of the private sector don't grasp.

Can you un-grasp us then ?

?

Not all of us have access to grammar schools.

Arguably it makes more sense to tax grammar school parents more on a means tested basis than taxing private school parents more.

Anyone getting into an academically selective private school will walk into any grammar of their choosing.

Grammars were used as a backstop in my area for parents who didn’t get their children into highly selective private schools. VAT will mean that many now can’t afford private so will target grammars at 11+ thereby reducing opportunities for others.

I’m not sure who benefits from that.

I think it would be more realistic to call them "secondary modern areas" not "grammar areas"....

I agree. Those children make it to selective schools because of tutoring. Not because of higher standards of academic curriculum in private schools.

I would never pay for group tuition. If I’m paying, I want individual 1-1 from top tutors that I choose.

Them saying your child is "two years behind their curriculum" is just them telling you they have a different arbitrary standard to hold your child to, not a guarantee that he will meet it.

My DS went to one of the most famous boys boarding schools in the world extra curricular did mean extra learning in the sense of “learning subjects” plus 60-70 extra curricular activities offered every week. But so it should the fees were £35k a year and I haven’t looked recently but I believe now in excess of £47k. But this is unusual, only a relatively small group offer this and have of course matching fees outside of the reach of the vast majority. I know because I’ve worked extensively in the independent sector. Frankly many independent school are not offering much more than a good state school, they know how to appeal to parents they employ people to market their schools but underneath it all the I’m not convinced that the difference is a big as you think.
They love to tell you that there children are 2 years ahead of their contemporaries in the state sector and of course many do have dedicated subject teachers from yr 2 and science labs etc and amazing sporting facilities which I suspect make subjects more interesting but academically if your child is at a good state school then eventually everyone catches up. Neither of mine went to school till they were 6 and 7 both caught up in a couple of terms and one passed his peers very quickly and went on to get top grades at 18. Prior to school they’d lead an outdoor life developing their personal skills and understanding of the world around them instead which now they are adults I think has stood them in good stead.

A bright child will do well which ever school they go to.

Research has shown one of the most accurate predictors of a child’s ’success in life’ is whether or not they had a secure and supportive family upbringing.

For me private schools are about facilities and opportunities. Simple as that.

The private school can get through things twice as fast as the state school as there are half the number of students. They therefore have the capacity for covering more and varied topics/sports/skills in their day than a state school.

If you have 30 kids sharing 15 keyboards or computers, you need twice as long for everyone to have a go than a private school with one instrument or laptop each.

If you go around the class and ask each child a question about the work or to comment on a task or to talk about their weekend or to line up for lunch or hand out books/worksheets, everything takes twice as long as if you had 15 people doing those things.

We pay for private 1-1 specialist support for select subjects and activities. They are thriving, high achievers

If they are high achievers why do they need private tuition? Or are they for subjects not taught at their school?

It is not a 20% plus fee rise per year. The 20% rise for VAT will only happen once not every year.