Only a private school is good enough for my darling baby girl

[Dellspoem]

I can’t afford private school, I never thought I would think like this, but here I am fantasising about giving up my career in academia for a teaching gig at Jags or similar so that my precious baby can have the best.

I think it might be my area (Brixton) but the local schools have no greenery, are overcrowded and hectic, and when I’ve visited I’ve just not had a great feeling about them. The area itself is under a flight path, it’s so polluted and urgh I wish I lived in a giant house in a leafy suburb, sent my darling children to independent school and got whisked away to the maldives during half term.

I’ve become obsessed with getting a job at a private school in the countryside so we can live onsite & DCs can attend. I’ve never worked in education so this is pure fantasy but in my head I’m going to be running Marlborough pretty soon…

Often the lower wage makes it less exciting though subsidised accommodation would help Im sure

If it’s about space and greenery then move out of London and commute from a Home Counties village. There will be primary schools with grounds to rival a lot of preps. London and space is never going to be an easy ask. My state primary has a forest school, multiple garden areas, large fields, lovely airy classrooms with high ceilings etc. I’ve had other challenges with it re behaviour but you couldn’t ask for a nicer site.

But also fee remission and teaching is potentially one of the most cost effective things you could ever do if private is on the cards. One of my friends has just got a bursar job in a school where his two children will go. The fee savings more than makes up for any loss of salary. It was a very canny move.

Gosh, you really have an issue with JAGS. Big chip on your shoulder?

I’ve never been to Brixton. Still scarred from the news reports of the riots back in the 80s. Seems kind of terrifying to me.

There are really nice primary schools in Streatham just up the road but you would need to move into the catchment area. My DD is just about to do her GCSEs but I kind of regret not moving out of SW London in general now. You actually don’t have to live in Brixton. I know you just get on with it and accept the flaws in where you live, but recently I have started to question why!

Lambeth is one of the worst affected boroughs by falling birth rates, you really don't want dc in a school that isn't full doe to the funding formula.

’ve never been to Brixton. Still scarred from the news reports of the riots back in the 80s. Seems kind of terrifying to me.

Many parts of London have changed, I mean 40 years ago Hackney was completely different & incredibly cheap.

I know this is tongue in cheek, but we lived around there and, after a spell abroad, decided to completely up sticks and move to a small city in the North with good schools and lots of greenery (with a big university). It’s working well so far, but only a few months in now.

I think they think it’s trolling because the responses are so ignorant and nasty

I think it's quite obviously tongue in cheek...

OP, how old is your DD though? Is she even academic? Many people want (and can pay) for places at London independents. That doesn't mean the DC will actually get in!

I don't know about JAGS specifically, but take Latymer Upper - 1,500 children sit exams for just 120 places. It's a very similar story at the other Hammersmith schools - Godolphin and Latymer, St Pauls Girls etc. Even for those who can afford it, it's not so much what the parents want, its what the schools want! They can literally cherry-pick the top of the top. That's how these London schools get 95% 9-7 grades at GCSE.

If you want a bit more greenery and different school options, you don't need to go far. Move somewhere like Kingston / Twickenham / Teddington. If she's very academic, she could have a go for Tiffin Girls School (state grammar, no catchment).

Or go out a bit further south and there is a school - Nonsuch - which is meant to be good. Or Kent has grammars?

Otherwise, go to North London where there are quite a few grammars like Queen Elisabeth Barnet, or The Latymer School in Edmonton (not to be confused with Latymer Upper in Hammersmith which is an independent).

You don't have to stay in Brixton, is what I'm trying to say.

I so much disagree with this perspective!
IMO children without particular differences can get along fine in state schools. However, if the child has additional needs it may be impossible to have their needs met in the state sector. Private schools with their greater resources, smaller class sizes and willingness to please the customer can often meet the needs.
That's the reason so many loving parents work hard to find the fees to meet their children's educational needs.
I so dislike this "it worked for me so it will. work for every child" argument. It's smug and patronising.

That's the reason so many loving parents work hard to find the fees to meet their children's educational needs.

And parents who can't find 30k down the back of the sofa are less loving? 😆

Yes, but you haven't mentioned the type of state school. Was it a privileged one in terms of results/catchment area etcetera? I would be impressed by your post if not. However, I strongly suspect it was selective by other means.

I haven't read the full thread but I have read the OP's posts. There are various options.

I got a council assisted place to an independent school. I really hated it at the time (snobbish and most of the other pupils had little in common with me, in various ways), but, in retrospect, I wish I had had the grace to be more appreciative of the teachers. One of the issues with music scholarships etc I think is that the school might need a child happy to conform in some ways - wouldn't have suited our particular music enthusiast, I think.

There are outstanding state schools - like Brampton Manor- which are high achieving despite being in a tough, London environment.

There are very high performing sixth forms in south London, especially if you have a child who is very gifted in Maths. There are also massive sixth forms like Hills Road and Peter Symonds that can offer children a lot of options, and have fantastic Oxbridge and Russell Group acceptance rates.

And there are really excellent state grammars.

We deliberately moved to a village in an area which would be lovely to bring up children. There are also good schools locally. My husband laughed at me checking the Ofsted of local state schools before we bought our house 18 years ago, but it is great that our kids have had such good options. Mind you, the schools could potentially have changed a lot for the worse over that time, we were lucky.

We have done state all the way.

If you have a property in London, then you might well have a lot of options if you wanted to move out, or move to a grammar area.

We have also done a lot of volunteering with the kids' schools, and were lucky that the schools had a culture of like-minded parent volunteering.

I would be happy to DM you, but I'm not sure what happened to the DMs.

No, not at all. Only you are saying that.

Why the need for the word loving?