Be honest - would you send DC private if you could?

[Naptrappedmummy]

If your DC is at a state school and you were offered free places for them at the local indie, would you accept? If so, why? If not, why not?

YANBU - Yes I would send them private
YABU - No I wouldn’t send them private

Me - yes I would, in a heartbeat (DD at state primary).

Same.

No. Because they are settled in a lovely school. Mayve primary if it was from day 1.

However at the grammar school were already seeing the effect of being on a low income and not having the same lifestyle as those around. I wouldn't want mine to feel like "the poor kids" in a private school.

Our local state high schools are pretty poor and I think most have issues now with behaviour, staff retention and recruitment. So, we home educate. It's probably costing us close to what the local independent schools cost (although it doesn't have to) Given a choice between state or independent, I'd choose independent. But I've chosen home ed over that, for many reasons. One being that I want happy, well rounded children, who's world view isn't influenced by private school.

Not for primary, but when I look at the secondary schools around here... probably yes.

I wouldn’t pay for my children to get an education , mine went to catchment primary and high school. They aren’t the best schools in the area on paper but teachers and ethos put the children at the forefront. I know a handful of people who were privately educated, 2 have amazing jobs, 1 was a single mother at 17 and the other has severe mental health issues and has been sectioned numerous times.

not done either of mine any harm. One has graduated and now working towards their professional qualification and the other is doing a Masters at uni. Both knew they had to work hard at school to be able to ge themselves a good job in the future.

i don’t believe these businesses ( private schools) should be allowed. We shouldn’t need to pay for an education.

For primary, no. I'm very happy with the school and the only possible appeal of private school at that age (not that I've ever seriously considered it) would be the convenience of (potentially) more after school activities on site. But that's a pretty small thing weighed against the rest - it feels a bit unnecessary IMO to place a small child in a rarified and exclusive atmosphere; I feel it's not setting them up well to mingle. I'm sure many will disagree, but at secondary that was my impression of the kids who'd gone to private preps.

For secondary - yes, depending on the schools in question, but quite possibly. I'd be looking for a school with a strong ethos and community spirit, and that might be easier to find in a private school than a massive comprehensive. To be frank, based on my general experience of the privately educated of all ages over several decades, it would also be weighing up the pros and cons of giving a child a a sense of entitlement.

By the way, does anyone outside MN use the term "indie" for a private school? Feels a bit disingenuous, as if they're just a cool offbeat alternative, although to be fair it's an interesting perspective too, because I suppose (as well as the obvious meaning here) they do potentially have that flexibility for a certain independence of spirit.

No if it was simply a really posh private school that cared only of results and ran through nepotism and hefty donations from super wealthy parents.

Hot girl winter How does nepotism affect ‘posh private schools?’

Not for primary. In fact, we moved DC1 from private to the state primary he is at.
for secondary - maybe

Never....although if Hogwarts was real I may reconsider 😅

I'm not in the UK and the focus on private schools here is not nearly so intense, so No. I'm happy with my DC's school, both from an educational and pastoral perspective.

You know I really don't think there are. I've found state schools around here have more problems with what bag you carry/trainers you wear etc than the private schools. Maybe because the private school kids don't need to prove themselves or try to make a point that they are haves rather than have nots. I've never had any of my dc teased about not having the right kit ever

We went to a local much desired and famous private school to look around. My verdict was that we prob wouldn’t choose it if it were our local comp - kids so disengaged and entitled. My 3 ARE in our actual local comps; they could go private; they are happy and with wonderful diverse and amazing friends. If I was paid to send them private, I’d think about it. Free places - no.

No
Am implacably opposed to private education

Yes I would. I've had friends who did private primary then state secondary. The kids did really well as they were way ahead and had a fantastic work ethic.

Got loads of money. Can easily afford it.

Do not want to.

There's a lot of value in having to work harder to get to where you are going. In knowing a bigger range of people

Assuming indie schools aren't well-rounded and diverse is just ignorant.

We could have, we didn’t.
did consider with one who has some learning challenges but he wanted to go to the local comp, and that’s where our own preferences were.
they’ve all been to/are at uni and have thrived in their chosen career paths. All good. My DD complains that she had to sit with rough lads in Maths. Tbh she’s enough of a princess anyway.

Yes we too could afford it but it’s not for us

Interesting that the comments don’t match the votes, a bit of a shy Tory effect going on?

Literally this. We looked at private options for secondary level and decided against.

Definitely not. My daughter was offered the maximum scholarship for two prestigious local private schools when she was in year 6, which would have made the fees almost affordable, but we turned them both down in preference for a grammar school place. We didn't consider private education for primary partly because I was a stay at home mum and it would have been too much for my husband to afford but because we live in an area with excellent state primary schools. Private education really would have been a last resort as I wanted my daughter to have a well rounded education with children from ordinary families like us.

Absolutely not. I am ideologically opposed to them, but also we have several excellent secondaries near us. DH went to one of the top public schools and had a fucking awful time - his mental health was destroyed by bullying. People think you can buy your way out of bullying/poor behaviour but it simply isn’t true. Not to mention the massive sense of entitlement a lot of privately educated kids seem to come away with.

Pathetic

The private schools near us get far worse results than the local state school. My child are both very bright so there's no way they'd do better in the local private schools

I'm not keen on privately educated people.

I'm not keen on prejudiced people like this poster