Is this a typical primary school day / experience?

[ThinkingIsAllowed]

My son goes to private school and I can't decide if it's worth the money. Could he get this experience at a state primary? He's about to finish Reception.

• starts 8.20am, senior teacher always waiting by the gate to greet each child by name, and expects to be greeted back by the child
• writing, maths, phonics etc in his class of 12 children that has 1 teacher and part time TA
• calm class environment, no disruption
• forest school once per week, including things like making a campfire
• learns to read with actual paper books! No tablets. The teacher or TA reads with him most days
• sports 3x per week, including swimming, dance and PE
• club until 4.30 every day, things like art or sports
• after school care til 5.35 if you want it. Colouring etc
• a lot of contact with the teacher. If I ever have a question I can email her and she replies within a day, or can meet with her, or she will proactively email me to check something or make an observation (eg she wrote to suggest he might be ambidextrous)
• lots of outside space so the children help occasionally in the vegetable garden etc
• good quality food, cooked on site
• 3 school trips this year

It seems like a good school but we pay a lot for it and if we can get this experience outside of the private sector that would be good!

After school until 5.45, paid for but not expensive and the kids are so happy there.

Sports clubs my son attends out with school not as part of school but costs of extra curricular is way less than private school costs.

Our school uses seesaw, if I message in the morning I get a response lunchtime or 3pm typically.

My son's P1 teacher was the stuff of dreams. She was off ill for a few weeks after a surgery, my son really struggles to do homework but he was excited for a piece of homework and completed and sent on seesaw and she read it and minutes later sent him a voice note telling him how proud she was of him and encouraged him to do a little more stretching in his work. It was honestly one of the most lovely interactions I've seen my child have

I work as a TA in a small village school. There are 78 children. Currently in reception there 10 children with one teacher and one TA. Lots of those things are available at our school. The meals aren't cooked on site. There's clubs but they are not every day and change termly/yearly. Swimming is in the national curriculum but they don't do it every week

So jealous. Our school is especially bad at this but none of the local schools offer a LOT.

From the looks of things the main difference is class size in a state school, no way will a class size be under 20! I think things vary with activities and facilities but they also do in private school 🤷🏻‍♀️

My son is Reception age. Our school is:

Rural village school, 1 form entry. Varies from 15 to 30 per class depending on intake.

Head, deputy and other staff all on playground greeting children every morning.

Lots of green, outdoor space, forest school, adventure play, additional play on a huge field with equipment.

Swimming pool and lessons - £20 per child for the year.

After school clubs (free) from Year 1.

Wraparound care from 7.30am to 5.30pm.

Music lessons, Rocksteady also offered.

Platinum Sports Award.

Class trip once a year.

Lovely environment, very little disruption. Exceptionally happy school.

No mixing of ages in classes.

Teachers very responsive and helpful from Head all the way through.

No ipads, just books.

State primary.

I think the main thing is the class sizes.

Everything else you can pay for - sporting and other hobbies, childcare after school, forest school activities etc. And it's a lot cheaper than private school fees.

You are paying for high ratios, less disruption, more physical activity and space, personal contact. Further up the school those cocurricular opportunities are likely to expand and the calm environment may change.

DD is in yr1 and ours would be:

• starts 8.45am, drop off at classroom door while teacher stands slightly inside and determinedly tries not to make eye contact
• class of 29 children that has 1 teacher and 1 TA
• learns to read with paper books and gets a library book once a week, though we could have done without the one entirely in Hungarian
• PE 2x per week, including dance and yoga. PTA pay for the dance teacher
• clubs at lunch and after school, lots of variety but from yr1 only. DD has excelled at French club apparently, and has learned a whole 3 words in nearly a year, sigh.
• after school club til 6:00pm but only if you put them on the waiting list at conception. Still waiting for my Wednesdays…
• the PTA spent £££ on a sensory garden but only year 3 and above can access it as it’s on “their side” and the little ones are not allowed on the field as their small feet ruin the grass
• food cooked on site and lots of variety, of which of course the kids all only eat pasta or a jacket potato each and every day. It’s free throughout school as we’re in London (just!)
• we have a lollipop person

Clubs are all extra / paid for. But it’s a lovely school with a good community, the HT is great, no pervasive bullying problems, and the kids are a pretty happy bunch.

Thanks again for everyone's comments.

Really interesting to see the variation in others' state experiences, and also sad that there is such variation. I don't want to have to pay just to guarantee a good state-like experience!

I know we could do state + top up weekly swimming, sports and other things outside school, but literally when do you do it? At the weekends? We have two full on jobs plus other (younger) children, so we hoped that private school would be academically pushy and a nice environment with good extra curriculars, so that we don't have to do those things in our limited free time. Perhaps that's unrealistic

Behaviour and class sizes will probably be the key differences

That's legitimate, op. I work part time so I can take the kids to swimming and hobbies after school, which I then pay for. If they were in wrap around, which I would have to pay for, then they couldn't do the hobbies. You pay for school and you get everything included. So maybe that is best for you? Assuming money no problem.

@igelkott2026but when do you do those things? After school at 3.30? That would be literally impossible with our jobs

My daughters primary school is exactly like this apart from the class sizes are slightly larger.

@Monvelo you're right, maybe that this the question. Do you work less and organise all the extras yourself, or pay private fees and expect them do it all for you... Re money; it's doable but I'd rather not pay it if I can get an equivalent experience for free

You won’t get equivalent free. One to one reading daily for example is far less manageable in a class of 30 than 12. Many schools use parent helpers to increase frequency, help in classroom and on trips , but not all schools have a parent community to facilitate this, especially those working or with other caring responsibilities, which can mean some children feeling left out . Having resources available on site saves a lot of ferrying around for parents and is convenient if activities can take place during an extended school day but do check the quality is comparable,

We have gone the other way. We done the first year at state school and moved to private for year one.

We only had 20 in the state class and 40 in the whole year.
Due to small classes they have now mixed year 1 and 2 together which we were not keen on.

The expected behavior has been higher at the private school then state. Our child was one of the good ones in state always getting awards and points. Private school was a different level of behaviour required and my daughter had to learn that quickly.

Not all parents at state school are interested in education and just see school as childcare. We had many children never do a full week as they stayed home to play video games. We haven't had that at private school.

Lot's of hands on learning in private school as smaller class size. Class of 12 will be 11 in year 2.

We wouldn't change school again unless we really couldn't afford it. It's been a wonderful year with lots of great children.

A friend said our daughter seemed less anxious since moving schools. She had some children with high needs in her state class with very loud, unpredictable actions so I can see why you would be a little on edge all the time.

If you could get for free in state everything you get in private, private schools wouldnt exist

No you dont get 12 in a class in state. But i wouldnt actually want that, its not a lot of choice socially.

Most of if yes apart from the very small class but just as all independent schools are different so are all state schools .
In my opinion what they will get from state school that they won't get from a private school is experience of mixing with a wider variety of children.

Sounds really nice. I was fortunate to apply to a state primary school out of catchment and they are quite similar but dialled down a bit, so smaller than average class size but 20 not 12, forest school, gardening and good PE yes as we have a great coach team who manages both, 2 - 3 trips a year, same afterschool club system with regular clubs til 4ish then a very good value childcare club available til 6 if needed, food not cooked on site but good lunch, fruit and milk provision, class pet and nice extras like hatching chicks, fayres and lots of events we are invited to. Love their primary school

'starts 8.20am, senior teacher always waiting by the gate to greet each child by name, and expects to be greeted back by the child'
Ours starts at 8.55, head greets each child the same as yours, and also says goodbye to them at the end of the day, knows every kid by name. There is a breakfast club but we've never used it

writing, maths, phonics etc in his class of 12 children that has 1 teacher and part time TA
There's about 25 in a class but that's mixed years, so a similar number per year, teacher, full time TA and often a second TA

calm class environment, no disruption
no idea, mines adhd so is the one not sitting down!

forest school once per week, including things like making a campfire
forest school is one year group per term, with the other year groups doing dance or swimming

learns to read with actual paper books! No tablets. The teacher or TA reads with him most days
they do have access tablets but have paper books and read to a teacher 2-3 times a week

sports 3x per week, including swimming, dance and PE
Daily exercise here, swimming/dance/forest school once a week, lots of general outdoor time

club until 4.30 every day, things like art or sports
paid club once a week, free club once a week both until 4.15

after school care til 5.35 if you want it. Colouring etc
no after school care other than the 2 clubs mentioned above, there are childminders/wrap around care in the village if needed

a lot of contact with the teacher. If I ever have a question I can email her and she replies within a day, or can meet with her, or she will proactively email me to check something or make an observation (eg she wrote to suggest he might be ambidextrous)
Ours will come talk to us at the end of the day, I can email any time if needed and have a meeting with a couple of days notice, kiddos teacher is going to stay after school to help me with some ND assessment forms soon

lots of outside space so the children help occasionally in the vegetable garden etc
good quality food, cooked on site
Decent food but is cooked off site due to tiny kitchen, we have chickens and I think there's a veg garden but I'm not 100% sure, lots of outdoor space, about as much as the indoor space! The kitchen is used for cookery lessons (I think that's one of the term rotations along with forest school/swim/dance)

3 school trips this year
We are up to 2 trips in 2026 so far for my kids year group with another 1 booked for next week. They do residential trips from year 4-6, and pantos every year

Our school:

• starts 8.40am head at gate
• writing, maths, phonics etc in his class of 30 children that has 1 teacher and part time TA
• Calmness depends on other children
• No forest school
• Mixture of online and books. Might read once a half term
• sports 2x per week, swimming 1 term only year 5
• clubs are oversubscribed
• after school care till 6.30pm £16.50
• Little contact with the teacher.
• No veg patch
• good quality food, cooked on site
• 1 school trip

My kids attend our village primary school. DD is in a Y3/4 mix of 16 children. They are greeted by the headteacher at the gates every morning, they have a huge field, outdoor swimming pool and forest school, a dance teacher comes in once a week. They get some laptops out once a week but everything is done with books and pen/paper. With it being such a small school the extra curriculars are limited, there's generally only one option a day but they have drama, gardening, football, netball etc. DS is at preschool and will be in a reception class of 12 children next year. It will be mixed in Y1/2 though so he'll be in a slightly bigger class. It's pretty rare to get all those things from a state school, but I'm really exceptionally happy with ours.

I can't comment on reception but have worked in year 1 and 2.
starts 8.20am, senior teacher always waiting by the gate to greet each child by name, and expects to be greeted back by the child
greeted on the gate by the head or deputy head. Class teacher at door to greet. When available class TA helping children with a settling activity
writing, maths, phonics etc in his class of 12 children that has 1 teacher and part time TA
30 children in a class. The day starts with English, then phonics which is grouped based on ability. Break. Then maths. They always try to have a TA in all year groups to support the morning. Phonics groups can be lead by a teacher or TA. In lower years TAs also take some groups for English and maths so there is a smaller group worker with an adult.
calm class environment, no disruption
depends on class and teacher
forest school once per week, including things like making a campfire
we don't have a forest school but other local state schools do. We try to do outdoor learning but this could be improved on
learns to read with actual paper books! No tablets. The teacher or TA reads with him most days
no tablets here either (can't afford that!). Paper books. Phonics is in a group. I try where I can to listen in to children.
sports 3x per week, including swimming, dance and PE
twice a week, once indoors once outdoors. More focused on movement and coordination in KS1
club until 4.30 every day, things like art or sports
after school care til 5.35 if you want it. Colouring etc paid for after school club for those who need childcare. Each term there is a club list, there is usually 2 activities for each year group to be able to choose from
a lot of contact with the teacher. If I ever have a question I can email her and she replies within a day, or can meet with her, or she will proactively email me to check something or make an observation (eg she wrote to suggest he might be ambidextrous)
equally responsive teachers
lots of outside space so the children help occasionally in the vegetable garden etc
large field and playground
good quality food, cooked on site
same
3 school trips this year same

Our state school offers all of this but there are 30 kids in the class.

I think you will usually get more from a private School generally .You are paying for this kind of wide education.State less so .although some are very good