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?

Privilege attracts and augments privilege. In education you either get it in private schools or you get it by using state schools and buying the extras that come with the fees in private schools. At least in the second scenario, children get a wider social experience.

The difference, in senior/high school,vis having more kids and parents that don't give a monkeys at state school who cause the hassle.

I would say our state school has possibly better teaching and facilities. But the teachers are having to work damn hard against the losers who want to cause hassle inside, and outside classes.

If your child is resilient state is great,.if not go private.

@Wheelz46
A child willing to learn will likely get the same results regardless of what school they attend

That’s clearly nonsense. The school environment - including peer group, class discipline (or lack of it), school ethos and student expectations, class size, extracurricular activities etc all make a huge difference.

I’m a high school teacher in an inner city comp. Our students P8 is one of the best in the county so we obviously do the best by our students.

As a side note, I do some private tuition. Having tutored students from both sectors, I can say that in our region at least, I would feel very let down, given the quality of my subjects teaching in the private sector. Waste of money

@Timeturnerplease

The progress those children made was eye opening. You just cannot replicate that with 32 in a small classroom, 11 on the SEND register and several with serious home/safeguarding issues. I know this, because this is the cohort I had last year. Same school, same leadership team, me an even more experienced teacher

That’s the truth. State, generally speaking, simply can’t compete with private. However, of course state schools can vary widely in terms of their intake etc.

@overthehill5 perhaps, I don't know.

But what I do know is that their results are "well above average" in the national stats released last month. So they're doing something right.

They definitely don't take time from science, but I'd be prepared to believe music and drama are not given the same considerations by the head. There are also fewer subjects on offer at DDs old school than there is at DSs school (but that is to the total detriment of their results across the board...which are "below average")

For those that share how well they did years ago in state schools, me too, but behaviour of kids has gone south.

@GoGoGo2.. Sadly those "loosers" are probably dc who were told they were naughty and thick at primary school.. They may have undiagnosed dyslexia and couldn't read like their peers and forced to read via phonics.
They may have dyscalula or adhd and couldn't sit for long and told off for being naughty.. These dc become disenchanted very quickly and then have low self esteem.
When you have missed all the basics in English and maths and don't have the executive function on how to learn, what else are you supposed to do in class. When you have no understanding of what going on and you have been told you are thick and naughty?

@overthehill5 not if you believe some posters on here because private school kids are all self entitled wankers 🙄 who, I presume, walk around with a big sign around their necks proclaiming that they went to private school just so you can identify them as such. Luckily this means you can also avoid them because their main aim in life is to not mix with plebs and commoners.

Back on planet earth no-one actually cares where anyone else went to school and the 2 rub along quite happily in life and work without the subject ever coming up.

😂😂 You’re basically admitting that you and your friends are all only on 6 figure salaries because your parents paid for private school. Congrats! I hope you feel really proud of your personal achievements.

Because they can hide behind anonymity on the imternet. You can bet your bottom dollar that they wouldn't have the guts to speak to someone like that in real life. Sad really.

@anotherside nonsense in your opinion!

My niece attended a state school, listed as 'good'. Additionally there were a few unruly students who disrupted the class, the school dealt with those students well and it never affected my niece, like I say, willing to learn is also key to a good education.

Received mostly 9s and is now a doctor but I suppose you would just assume based on her results and career that she was privately educated!

So in your opinion you would think she went to a private school?

I have just taken my DD (with SEN) out of an outstanding secondary state school. It completely broke her. And it definitely didn’t provide an outstanding education. I can well believe private school would have been better. Her state primary was wonderful however.

Sport every day sounds awful. DS is counting down the days till he can ditch one of his two PE lessons each week. But in general I guess a private school will be "better" as the parents will demand results and experiences for their money.

Yes, wonderful it could be like where I live where we have grammars. Yes, the Grammars are marvelous so those children get an excellent education. All the Comprehensives are dire, though. So the majority of the children don't get a good education. Fantastic.

Also private schools have parents who can pay to remove disadvantage from their children. The kids will always be well fed, clothed, have their own study space, clean home, activities etc. The parents can throw money at nice properties and hire cleaners, nannies and other help if they can't or don't want to deal with domestic stuff themselves whereas state pupils are often left to get on with it and fend for themselves in disadvantaged households.

No. The difference is, at least in my case, that I did significantly more at school than my friends who went to state schools. In simple terms I was at school for way more productive hours than they were. I also had a very different approach towards education than they did, in part school led but also influenced by my parents.

Many of them now have very modest careers primarily due to lack of opportunity rather than lack of ability.

It is the same in all walks of life. Why do so many sportsmen and sportswomen have offspring who also end up as professional athletes in the same sport? I doubt they are all genuinely the best there is but they will have had the best opportunity to showcase their talent because they will have had far more exposure to the sport from an early age.

@Charlie2121 "The average private school is light years away from the average state school."

3 times the money can make things look a lot better.

At my Dd's school they had an actual woodland area for 'outdoor learning' (forest school.) On top of that they often did lessons outside. The woodland area was often used for various types of hunt!

I'm happy to pay for smaller class sizes, more facilities, more extra curricular activities etc. I also pay for a state place I don't use so that helps subsidise the state sector. Everyone benefits.

That's not true at all.

It kind of is, even if the differences they are paying for aren't ones you'd value. Some people will pay a lot of money simply to be able to choose the kind of schoolmates their children will have. That's still a difference.

3 times the money can make things look a lot better.

3 times the money can make things be a lot better.

Hmm...
Bearing in mind it was a taster day you may wish to take some of what they tell you with a liberal pinch of salt. How would they even be able say from a day that he is two years behind their curriculum?!

Personal experience of private schools where I live is that many are actually run on an absolute shoestring and are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet. I went to look around one local school for a teaching position. Asked where the laptops/iPads were only to be told they didn't have any. Then during my informal chat with the head was informed that they were leaving the teachers pension scheme as it was too expensive.
A friend sends her children to a very well know school where her daughter is taught English by an RE teacher as the teachers are expected to teach across the school due to staffing issues.
Some are definitely worse than state schools, despite not having to submit to the same level of accountability and scrutiny.