Have you taught at a private school?

[WiseLemonFox]

I’m deciding whether to send my child private at yr 7 but I’ve heard from two ex private school teachers that the local schools aren’t worth it. They said the teaching standards aren’t any better and they only get better results because they’re selective in their intake and lots of parents provide tutors. This is in Greater London. Is this true? I don’t want to pay £25k a year for hot air!!!

There are private schools and private schools - unless you can give the name of the school, it's very hard to say.

I have and friends still do teach at various private school

None of us chose to send our DC to the private schools we work at

The one I worked at was non selective so mainly full of SEN, DC who had been bullied elsewhere and DC who were the bullies elsewhere

Surely it depends on the individual school?!

There are great and less good schools, regardless of whether they're state or private

Why don't you do your own research and visit the schools?

The classes are easy to teach because they're well behaved

They have an hour of Prep after school everyday to complete set homework

I don't think your average local independent school is worth it unless the local state schools are absolutely dire

Whereas my DC attends a private school where lots of the teachers send their kids there.

In my local area there are 4 private schools. One is worth it because your child may network with people who could eventually do them favors if they want to enter a profession but charges double the others.

We know teachers in one of the others who don't send their DC to the school they teach in despite getting a good discount because they feel the classes are largely international students who tend to stay together in groups and speak their own language or SEN studeints who require a lot of teacher time.

O the whole state schools in London are much better than elsewhere. I would put her in the local school and see how she goes.

The girls can be a bitchy bunch and being so small they're stuck with each other and unable to make better friends because the classes are smaller

The girls in my form group were constantly falling out with each other

At the more expensive schools there's worse bullying and lots of drugs

At the selective schools they are pushed hard and then thrown out if not good enough to do their A levels so then have to go to the local state 6th Forms which some find really hard to adapt to and act very rude and entitled thinking they're better than everyone else

@Boohoo76

I do know people who send their DC to the private schools they work at but they're not my friends

Yup. And I wouldn't send my kids there even if it was free. Suffice it to say -the 'show' we put on for parents about what the school was like bore little reflection on the reality. I'm a swimming teacher - and 70% of the teachers I worked with wouldn't even be allowed to teach swimming in state because a) they had no qualifications and b) knew absolutely nothing about swimming. And no, they weren't there on the open day.

Depends which private school - you need to do some research.... also, it depends on the child - some private schools dont suit the child. In ours, the teachers send their children to the same school - we like the school, its pretty good.

I'm a governor at my children's (former) private school. A lot of our teachers do send their kids there, in fact the discount is a major perk for them. But I think with schools, what's right is always case by case, school by school and child by child. There's no one answer to this.

People don't realise that teachers at private schools don't even need a teaching qualification to teach unlike state schools where you need your PGCE

There are so many brilliant state schools around that work just as well as a private school

The more expensive boarding schools like Eton or Marlborough college. Now those I would send my DC to because they're a whole different level

Lots of families set up trust funds in perpetuity so all the future offspring can go to a top boarding school no matter how much they earn

So that they're surrounded by their own kind as it were. It's not even really about the education but the lifestyle and that they get the confidence and caught up in the wave of knowing they'll get into a decent uni and just knowing how to navigate their world

That said if I lived in certain parts of London or other cities I would think seriously about sending my DC to an independent / private school

@Stirmish

People don't realise that teachers at private schools don't even need a teaching qualification to teach unlike state schools where you need your PGCE

I completely agree with you that there are many brilliant state schools, but I do think that there are instances where someone can be a fantastic teacher without a PGCE. One of the best teachers any of my kids ever had was someone who had come from a professional background in the field they taught. People can come from a variety of educational backgrounds and make excellent teachers.

Depends on your reasons for doing it, on the school you have chosen and your child.
All mine are at private and I would not hesitate again. We have gone for pastoral well being over high achieving academics , but all are thriving in their own way and because they are happy, they are achieving well academically . They have a confidence that I definitely never had at their age (state educated) and they are not allowed to coast. They have been gently stretched without hot housing and have found their ‘thing’ whether it’s sports, art, drama etc . The extra curricular and school trips are also excellent. A good indicator is to look at the schools value add. Schools that only take the top 5% of kids will always get good results but they usually have a relatively low value add. A middle performing private school that takes a wider range of ability may actually be a better value for money school as their value add is higher given the ability of the pupils they take versus the results they get at GCSE and A level.
also, most teachers have their kids at my kids schools - the staff discount is a great way of retaining staff

I had a similar conversation with friends who have taught at a number of the top private schools in the UK. In their opinion, the teaching is no better than it would be in a state school, the advantage is all of the extra curricular activities, on site, which makes life easier for parents.

Ha. No it’s not one of the big names unfortunately. I’m in SE London so it would be the privates here such as Sydenham High, JAGS, St Dunstans etc. Any specific insight gratefully received - and of course I am visiting the schools and doing my own research too

thanks everyone

Doesnt it depend on your state alternative? Is it Charter North or Harris East Dulwich? What is your child' personality - how competitive are they (if they arent JAGS aint for them), do you want them to go to a mixed or single sex school. I know teachers who teach at Sydenham and send their kids there - they like it. St Dunstans seems to be mainly a school for kids who dont have a good alternative e.g. have boys, live in Forest hill and dont want to send theirs there. It's not just about private v state.

State alternative would be either Harris ED or Sydenham. Both are lovely schools as far as I’ve heard.

I would say if your kid thrives on pressure and competitiveness - JAGS is great. Not sure that Harris ED is all that nice, local teachers dont rate it. Sydenham has nice teachers but it's obviously academically a more mixed intake than Sydenham high. If your child needs to be surrounded by high achieving kids to follow - Sydenham High, if your kid is happy to follow their own tune - Sydenham is nice enough.

She’s a confident child but also quite sensitive in some ways. Not very competitive. Maybe not JAGS then! She’s creative and arty. Academically she’s excelling in most subjects so at the upper end.

My cousin teaches a STEM subject in one of the schools you’ve mentioned. She rates it very highly and they get excellent results. Small classes, well behaved kids who want to learn, plentiful resources. Her own kids also attend the school.

The difference should be clear if you visit. If you can’t see the difference with a state school after your visit it probably isn’t right, it won’t be a good cost benefit for you.

I did part of my training in one. I saw some good teaching, don't get me wrong, but a big advantage they had was less low level distribution and the kids seemed to be more driven. I don't know if the school had fostered it or if they came to them like that but it made it easier to teach them effectively. I don't think the teaching was necessarily better in and of itself but the atmosphere certainly was.