If someone offered to pay for private schooling, would you take up the offer?

[janiesmith10]

If someone offered to pay for private schooling - primary and secondary - would you take up the offer? Freely paid for. No strings attached.

It's hard. Yes, private schools can be great. But it's not your money, and if you can't afford it in the case of money drying up the child may suffer in transition to state school environment. Especially if it was to happen at a crucial time.

If it was grandparents money - what if they deteriorate and need care instead? What if you fell out with the person and they pulled funding? What if there is a price increase and they can't cover it?

Theres no such thing as string free money as people have said. Unless you have it all upfront, to last right to the end, it wouldn't be a risk I'd want to take.

Does it involve Friday night dinner in return?

DS' grandfather is a millionaire and offered to pay. I turned it down. He's now 14 in a state school and is a very high achiever expecting top marks at GCSE, does plenty of volunteering and extra curricular activities. I can't see how private school would have bettered that.

Not for Primary, but maybe for Secondary. I'm a secondary school teacher in a comprehensive and have watched the Tories strip sport, art, dance, drama and anything else extra out of schools over the last years. My school is very good, but there's no way we can compete on the extra curricular stuff in private schools.

If I can use my windfall for extra curriculars and a person to take them about to everything then I'd much rather do that. I'd rather they were able to learn with a full range of children.

I think private education causes societal harm, but I also completely understand why people make that choice in the system as it is.

No. I don't agree with it, never have done. My parents were privately educated. I refused to do the entrance exams at 11, we could afford private but my DC go the local comp, it's not great in terms of education and behaviour but they're happy there.

Yes, definitely for my second child. First child, only if I found the right school. He wasn’t academic so would have benefited hugely from smaller class sizes, he may have struggled to keep up (ADHD, ASD & Dyslexic). DD is academic but hates the social stresses of school. She would benefit from the quieter, more structured smaller classes (likely ASD).

No (or at least not unless my children had an awful problem with their school and I had exhausted all other options so was desperate). I suppose I would rather private school than home education.

I already feel like my daughter feels a bit like the 'poor' one in her state school in a middle class area - noticed how different her holidays are to her friends, how nice their house is to hang out in etc (and I'm lucky she has no interest in fashion / brands or that would be another thing!). I can't imagine how she would fit in / keep up with affording the social life etc with private school kids as she got older!

No. Because my DC are both happy and doing well in an excellent state school. Their friends all live in quite a close radius and they can walk there easily.

I firmly believe that everyone should have access to the same quality of education. So I don't really support the existence of private schools. But I know we are lucky that DC have good state provision. If either of them were really struggling and I thought they would benefit from a different school then I might consider it, but as things stand I wouldn't move them anywhere.

No, and I say that as someone who attended private school.

no.

I always dreamed about sending my girl to a alternative Summerhill style school so maybe I would have done that.

No, we would have chosen private school if necessary but have such excellent state schools here that we didn't need to. But in an area with awful schools then absolutely I would.

Absolutely

No, I don't think it would be a good fit for my DC. I was privately educated and bullied. It wasn't a positive experience for me..

No way. My kid would be the poor relation. It's a shit feeling.

Yes. We live right next to a private school and it looks amazing.

Not mainstream private but there is a lovely woodland primary I would send kids to. It's outdoor learning and small groups and looks amazing but £5000 a term so a whole year would cost more than I earn in a year after tax for just one of my kids

Maybe, depends on the schools and on my children. Having worked in both sectors, it is really school dependent rather than state/private, some private aren't as innovative and would be classed as coasting by Offsted, some are run in a very corporate way and breed entitlement into their pupils+parent attitudes are disgraceful. Some private schools are just incredible and I absolutely would have loved to send my children there for a more well rounded experience, as some offer much better sport and trips etc.

If I'm honest it depends on the cohorts of children who'd be in my children's classes too, as a smaller class with awful children can be worse than a larger one with more chances to play with others instead, equally a smaller class gives more breathing space to a shy child.
So it depends.
We chose to spend less on state, make up the difference with private tuition in sports etc. And spend money on a house in a better area so the state schools were outstanding.

No.

I'm ideologically opposed but even if I wasn't there is no need. Our state school gets better results than the private local one, the classes are small and I prefer my children to a get more rounded education. The SEN provision is far superior too.

No point really.

Yes because our local state schools are dire and both of mine would have massively benefitted from smaller class sizes.

No, because I'm ideologically opposed. But I know I'm lucky to live in a country with a decent education system, and our local school is good - might find it harder to stick to my ideals if faced with terrible schools.

.

For those of you “ideologically opposed”, would you pay for private health care to save your child?

You do realise that for many parents paying up for private school these days is to “save their child”, it may not work out quite as intended, but that is exactly what has happened to a number of parents with children with SEN.

Yes

Yes. And I used to work in public schools.