To want Mumsnet to split the education topic into "state" and "independent"?

[PtolemysMummy]

Because I want to talk about fees, sibling discounts, tuck shop, lakes and acres.

PM There is something large and wooden sprouting from your clavicle.

You want privilege AND love? Wow.

Hullygully are you my neighbour?
(Do you support HKR,the Tigers and think Dean Windass is a star larker )

In answer to OP PMSL

Sorry- mrc I'm not stalking you... but didn't realise you were looking at independent sector. CAT me!!!!
You will seriously struggle to get a place for your 5 yo I'm afraid (in B h a m)

CaptainNancy, oh please don't tell me that. I had started to think that B'ham was a better option than Bristol.
Tbh, I really don't want to move as I feel settled for the first time in years and the DCs are very happy where they are. In the last 5yrs we've done London, Glasgow and Cardiff and at the moment he's in Manchester.

Are they very oversubscribed from very early on then? Should I start enquiring now?

Well- for intake next year (sept 2009) Blue Coat, Hallfield, Edgbaston Girls', and Westfield (boys) are full, yes. I'm not 100% sure on St George's or Norfolk House.
Did you say RC possibility? There is Priory, but as RC not poss for us, I do not know about places/waiting list.
If you're looking at Sutton Coldfield for living as opposed to Edgbaston/Harborne, there is Highclare, but I don't know about places, as it's too far a journey for us, so didn't inquire. Highclare is an excellent school though.
Re The state schools mentioned on the other thread- Harborne is mostly Boden Mummys (without the fees), Bournville Infant is more mixed socio-economically, but it is a really lovely school. There are others too, especially if you'll consider faith schools.

Is that a real name?

op: Not all parents who send their children to independant schools are like this. I've met alot who are down to earth and human. Alot of them work doing anything they can to send their children there. You may be blessed with excellent state schools, alot of families are not. I don't stand at the school gate and talk about ski holidays/cars/tennis/lunch/cleaners etc. Maybe you should find a school for your children that has normal parents in it who are doing what they think is best for their children rather than the obviously poncy school you have chosen for your children at the moment, if indeed they are at a private school and you are having a pop at people like me who take their child to school on a bus, work every hour I can, never go on a holiday, never buy new clothes unless they are in the sale. I made this choice for ds, like others do to. Give us a break.

Avenanap, some even understand satire!

Hmmm. Maybe some need to see another perspective.

I know this thread is a wind up, but I heard a mum in my local park calling "Ptolemy, come and put your shoes back on". This is in a park in a small Scottish town where the main inhabitants of the children's play area are elderly drunks. I dread to think what the playparks of posh areas are like.

Yeah, it's a wind up. op has started a couple.

Poor child though. She'll be bullied big style at school. Posh parks are probably full of nannies.

Feeling chippy today?

By the way, your list is inaccurate.

Boden (NOOO - people with money don't buy Boden)
Volvo XC90 versus Mercedes ML (er nope - think again. Try indulgent smile over husband's new Ferrari)
Waitrose or M&S Simply Food (Nope - M&S ready meals would be frowned upon)
Best Ocado delivery slot (Well you're closer here)
Tennis club fees (are irrelevant because not expensive)
Salaries (Vulgar. And anyhow, most wealthy people are not salaried employees. Or did you mean the cost of employees?)
Les Deux Alpes versus Courcheval (Nope. Wrong again. WHISTLER is the destination of choice)
Bonuses (Possible)
Waggamama's new menu (NO NO NO, all wrong. Go back to basics)
Multiyork sofa seat cushions - feather or foam? (Now you cannot imagine that anyone with any money would shop at Multiyork, can you? And what do you mean feather or foam? The answer to pillow questions is always feather. In fact pillow questions wouldn't be asked, just taken for granted)
Romania versus Poland (for cleaners not for holidays, obviously) Okay, bit closer with this one but you need to factor in aupairs and nannies
St Andrews versus Exeter (university) All wrong. Entirely and irredeemably wrong. St Andrews is in Scotland for fark's sake ...
Farrow & Ball paint colours Possible but surely the interior designer takes care of these chores?

You don't get posh parks:- you have estates or grounds. When you have more than half a mile to get from your front door to the top fo the drive, there isn't much of need to go to the park.

And to be truly representative you don't want to have a separate "independent school" board on here, where anyone could see it or praticipate, you need a closed group accessible only to those willing to pay.

It's Oxford uni rather than St Andrews or Exeter isn't it?
We never discuss money either, you can always tell a wanabe by whether they show off their finances/car/house etc.

OP

What a stupid thread. Who cares?

More importantly

I bought a feather sofa last year . I love it. I have a room with just a tv and a big sofa.
I am simultaneously chavvy and posh.
One of my friends is a bit snobby about things and the room freaks her out -
sofa fab but big tv aarrrggghh

LOL. I think most people have a bit of chav in them.

Oh please don't split up the threads!
How else am I to stay in touch with what goes on in my community or appreciate diversity?
Were it not for , gulp, state school threads I would know nothing of private tutors to help those poor deprived children get into grammar schools or buying houses in the right catchment for an 'outstanding' school. I'm so hopelessly out of touch, for you see.

surely it is always oxford? don't cambridge discriminate against the independently educated?

Message withdrawn

[sigh]. The discussion isn't about Oxford and Cambridge per se but about the individual colleges, because of course you have to apply to and be accepted by the college. So the "schoolgate"/dinner party discussions are more about with which college admissions tutors are more approachable these days, and who has the right connections.

Honestly the state school infiltrators are really giving themselves away here.

Pagwatch, you can have any size tv that you like provided that there is not one in the drawing room.

ooops! busted

blooming

tssk

the only time i have a bit of chav in me is when i shag the gardener.

Pag

LOL