to be irked when a private school kid tells mine how MUCH better her school is...

[BernardsCat]

grr
And it aint necesarily so

"if more children took pride in their school and education then it could make a huge difference. "

Very true. Have worked in a (state) school which really promoted a healthy pride in the school and in belonging to the school and it was wonderful ad worked so much in their benefit. Was an excellent school and the children were proud to say they went there.

The thing at DS' previous (state) school was that there were 30 children in the class, a small number of parents were complete scum didn't give a shit at all about their children, wouldn't turn up to parents' evenings, another proportion had just got off the plane from Poland (it was a Catholic school, had quite a lot of new Eastern European immigrants) and didn't speak English, some were just 'normal people' with busy lives and not necessarily a focus on their children at school, and then there were a few highly motivated parents who would help at fundraisers, etc.

Difference at current (private) school is only 16 children in the class, expectations of parents to get involved are very high - not answering letters sent home is not an option, a substantial proportion of the mothers are bored Oxbridge graduates with nothing better to do than organise fetes, pretty much all children are having private music tuition, and as they get older do ridiculous amounts of after school activities (several nights a week), sports - opportunities that I only got when I started at my posh comprehensive (ex-grammar), and certainly not at age 7.

And so what was normal attainment in the state school is woefully subpar in the private.

someguy, I think you might need to get your ds to help you out with grammar. Last sentence needs looking at.

very bad mannered to boast