To ask why you send your children to private school?

[WhatWorks]

Just that really. I think it would be interesting to see the spread and variety of reasons why people make certain educational choices.

For mine, it's about the values at our catchment state school. I am sure that most schools in most areas are quite inclusive. Unfortunately, children at our local school say things like "I don't play with (insert ethnic minority here) children" to non-white children. If they like an ethnic minority child, they tell them "you aren't (ethnic minority), you're white like us." Teachers do nothing about this sort of behavior, so we've gone elsewhere.

So, what are your reasons for sending your child/children to private school?

I'm not in the UK. But my DC are in private secondary as it was the only school place my eldest was offered. And it's smaller and co-ed which isn't a mix otherwise available in my town.

But not in the UK and annual fees are under £4k pa. Which wouldn't have covered one term of the local private secondary where we lived in England.

@NotGoingToLie diversity comes in all different forms. But for us he will be exposed to different cultures, religions and beliefs and be accepting that everyone is unique. Far cry from his current school where there is one black child and some of the parents weren't happy he was at the school - shocking. The school can't help the lack of diversity but I don't want my son in an environment about that.

In response to your comment about "riff raff" I want my son to go to school to learn, be the best he can be and have the best experiences. I want him to experience all walks of life and understand that he is privileged to be able to go to the school we're sending him to, it's nothing about the riff raff....in fact we probably are the riff raff! Why should I be ashamed that my husband and I have worked bloody hard to be able to be in a position to do this and want the best for our son?
What would you do? Leave your child in a crap school to just about scrape by or do all you can for them to have the best?

@NotGoingToLie to add @AbsentCause put another argument far more eloquently than I can rewrite!

Smaller class sizes. Better teacher student ratio. More one on one attention. Better resources and more emphasis on extra curricular education. Ethos of school was well rounded and supportive.

The extra curricular offering. Clubs every lunchtime, and the ability to play in music groups, which are extremely limited at our local state school.

Also modern language provision - our local comp offers one, vs three on offer in the private school.

And finally, because we can afford it. If we couldn’t, we’d have moved into catchment for better schools instead. Like good middle class people.

By the way, to the poster who thinks it’s to avoid the riff-raff - I am the riff-raff - grew up one of the poorest families on a council estate, and got out because I was lucky enough to have a fantastic state education so I take education very seriously. I wish state education was more consistent across the country, but there is literally a postcode lottery. I hope Labour are serious about investment in the sector - it’s badly needed round here.

Class sizes. That’s pretty much all it comes down to for me, DS does much, much better in smaller groups both socially and academically. That in turn makes him do better and feel more confident.

It’s certainly nothing to do with facilities, demographic, location or peer group.

Something I see a benefit from is how often his school reports back to parents. We get a report or sorts every half term, short form at the end of a half term and long form at the end of a term. I don’t think the oversubscribed state schools local to us do this (understandably), and I find it very helpful.

Agree with PP re: better/more feedback and communication from school to parents, both formal and informal. My friends with children at the local state school are disappointed by how little feedback they get from the teachers and some have even had parent/teacher meetings scrapped altogether. We get regular and hoc communication, in the form of photos, feedback on class work and homework, as well as termly reports and meetings. It makes a difference.

People's opinions of state schools on mumsnet are disgusting and full of entitlement.

95% of british children are educated in our state schools.

Your children are not special, they don't deserve better than everyone else because you can drum up thousands of pounds to pay. If you truly think state schools are SO bad, change how you vote so all our children get something better.

@Futb0l Why would they care about the current crisis in state schools when they have the money to pay to pay for a private education their kids? Not their problem is it?

Covid- local state school was occasionally sending homeschool twinkl sheets to be done but very little input. Private school did full timetable of lessons even 1-1 reading over zoom!

Oh and that children go from a 1-8 ratio (I think) at pre school to 1-30 at reception. The private school had a teacher and TA for a class of between 16-20 (and that still looked like hard work).

well I’ll be voting Labour at the next election

but in the meantime parents taking some kids out of the state system to pay for their education privately surely helps the state system? It’s not like there’s room for the extra 5%!

If Labour does get it, they are going to go ahead with the 20%

It's too much for us and a lot of our friends. When you have two children, it's no joke

If you truly think state schools are SO bad, change how you vote so all our children get something better.

Our local state schools are fantastic (though selective). Our decision was based on excellent sports facilities, specialist coaching and matches every Saturday (and midweek as well on occasions).

Omg dd2 state primary was absolutely terrible in covid times. Hopeless. We were left swinging in the wind. Dd2 secondary was brilliant though they got online school going in the same way as my sisters kids private school. So to be fair that was school not sector specific.

Lots of reasons really. Smaller glass sizes, better behaviour / focus on learning, lots of music / sport.

*If you truly think state schools are SO bad, change how you vote so all our children get something better.

Hahahaha. As has been repeatedly pointed out on mumsnet - people (5%) with the money to use private don’t magically have more clout than the 95% with kids in state school.

some states schools are good. If we get into one of those DD will go there. But it’s not good on the stats and I’m not sending her to a catchment school that has lost all control of behaviour, has to call the police to deal with the fights, and where the teaching is noticeably getting worse.

@Futb0l

This is a very unfair comment. If you are lucky enough to live in an area where state schools thrive, then good on you.

This is not everyone’s reality.

The education sector is crumbling, literally and metaphorically speaking.

I cannot afford private education but I did apply for bursaries. We were rejected. My daughter will be attending a state school.
I work in secondaries in my area and I am scared. Yes I said scared!

If we vote in a new government, when do you think we will see these changes?

There hasn’t been money in education for a long time, even if there was, will it change the ridiculous pressures that teachers now face?
It goes deeper than this. I can only hope that something changes drastically.

As many have said a major issue is SEN. Schools have quite a lack of knowledge in this area. I speak from working in inner London and then outer London. I am aware this may not be the case everywhere.
When I moved to outer London I spoke to the SENCO and was highly concerned about her credentials. Her lack of knowledge was worrying. I discussed this with the headteacher. It turned out she was not a qualified SENCO. The school have now employed a qualified SENCO and the previous ‘SENCO’ is now the inclusion manager.

Its not always about entitlement.

My DD has ASD, sensory issues and Dyspraxia, and was horribly bullied in years 5 and 6 at her state primary school. We applied for an EHCP to get her into a SEN school for year 7, but this was refused.
All the local high schools are huge, and after looking around four we realised she'd find the environment completely overwhelming.
We made the decision to enrol her at a small private school that had very small call sizes and a reputation for being great with dyspraxia and similar.
She has just finished school, now aged 18, and loved the experience. We were not high earners, especially not when she first started, and it was a big financial deal for us, but she was surrounded by other quirky kids who accepted her, and she had friends for the first time.
Worth the sacrifice of not having new things and holidays for the peace of mind it gave us.

@Futb0l and @LorlieS all children do deserve better, and a great number are being utterly failed by the state. I think even the schools that many in this country consider ‘good’ are pretty poor tbh, and focus on the wrong things / really only serve a small subset of academically oriented neurotypical children. Funding is a dire problem, but my issues with state education run much deeper.

I haven’t seen much from labour that suggests they will make schools (or nhs) better. Promises of more funding are meaningless unless paired with concrete plans for where that funding will come from. The proposed VAT policy is a joke - window dressing to distract their base voters from the more difficult choices that would need to be made if promises for additional funding are to be achieved.

Many of us who use private schools pay phenomenal amounts of tax in part to subside state schools for others.

We are not the enemy.

My son is autistic but very bright and d struggles in large groups. He's done much better in a smaller class when younger and is settled in the foundation that his secondary school belongs to.

Honestly. A more traditional style of education that is pitched at the appropriate level. Homework that is actually marked and individual feedback given. Responsive teachers and SLT when needed.

This. I'm so sick of being demonised for my choice of where to send my child to school. And by the way, I'm a lifelong Labour voter and will definitely be voting for them again in the upcoming election.

Who demonises you though? Friends and family do a mix of state and private would be very odd not to mention incredibly rude to comment on another parents choices.