.. to think private primary schools offer a bad deal to families?

[kif]

This is really confusing me - and I don;t want to hurt feeling in RL by raising this with the people I know.

Private schools at primary level: by and large they offer a bit of a rubbish deal, don't they?

I'm just completely bemused why people persevere with them.

I hear about:

• zero to no outside space (busses to local parks) - compared to fab imaginative playgrounds at local state schools. Presumably it's required by law of a state school, but not of a private school.

• Substantial commutes to school. Who needs the extra stress? What's nicer than walking to school breathing fresh air?

• No school dinners in some cases - I find this pretty shocking tbh. Good communal eating is so important.

• Heavy homework demands on top of a long school day - leading to stress between parents and kids as they try to achieve it

and the complete killer:

• 'We'd love another baby, but we couldn't afford another set of school fees' .

very interesting Angelsonhigh, very interesting!!

The senior school mine will hopefully go to have shot themselves in the foot wqith regards to league tables as they have chosen to do some IGCSE's becasue they feel they are better preparation for A level. So they have a 0% pass rate for maths and science GCSE as IGCSE's are not counted.

I will just have to live with your disapproval swc
I think I can manage it

DD (9) is at a private primary.

The main advantage is that it is so BIG. Our local state has 65 kids total - that's just way too small.

Now she has a bigger class size, so more choice of friends, plus more opportunities for group work and clubs, teams etc.... Lots of girls from all walks of life - many from overseas (only white, very local faces in our nearest primary) Plus a hall! A swimming pool! Tennis courts! An actual science lab! An art room!

Her old school had three classrooms and a hall that doubled as lunch/PE/Drama/everything else (plus no kitchen on site so meals were driven in.)

I dunno. It's horse for courses if you can afford it of course. But we are very rural so I like that DD goes to a big, city school. It broadens her horizons I think.

ha ha gully. i recall the thread. taking shoes off or not ? what was the q re the shed again. remind me ?

I think the op must be talking about one specific private school. They're not all like that.

I think some parents of kids who are of average intelligence think that going private breaks them into the "brighter" kids category. The reality is unless they get into a good uni its not going to be a great stepping stone in life. If your child attends a top/elite private school and is only of average intelligence the school networking will probably help them in life. Private schooling for those not attending these elite/top schools will get left behind when they enter the adult world.

I know quite a few kids who went private and only got into mediocre unis and you can't help but think what a total waste of money.

'But it is weird - and tbh disappointing, with its stink of market forces winning out over childrens' welfare and proper, meaningful education.'

I sent my ds to prep because he would get a proper meaningful education there; would have games every afternoon; there were acres of playing fields; a pool; the chance to go sailing; a camp in the woods; a lovely adventure playground; a decent teacher:pupil ratio; homecooked meals with the food bought locally from the same shops I used; minimal homework at first, then as he got older, he did the prep at school before I picked him up; I could drop him at 0740 and pick up from 1700-1900; there were no bloody SATS; they taught outside the box; competitiveness was encouraged. It was worth every penny and gave him a fab start.

Message withdrawn

Sorry, only read the OP but surely it depends on the school itself as to weather it's worth it or not.

Aren you in London kif because I don't think those features are common to private primaries in the rest of the UK.

My ds reception class (state) had 30 children and one TA between two classes. Tbh I think class sizes are the biggest issue for choosing private.

My dd moved from a state primary to a private primary with plenty of outdoor space & decent dinners which is in walking distance. It's true that homework is more demanding but as someone else has pointed out, state school was boring her to death & she needed the extra stimulation. She's been learning 2 musical instruments since year 3 along with many extra curricular activities including chess, German & tennis.

Pupils who leave it until year 7 to join the school find it much harder to a) get a place at all & b) to settle in & catch up. This is important because they will sit more demanding GCSE's than at most state schools.
Our school does the International GCSE's not the Edexcel ones, which is partly why universities prefer privately educated pupils although the press never point that particular fact out, they just claim universities are being snobbish.

I always suspect those who say they'd love another baby if it wasn't for the school fee's are people who actually are very happy with the number of children they have, live a charmed life with their (only child I'm guessing) and say that to other people to head of the snidey comments about their child being lonely/spoilt/etc.

swc-are you struggling with school fees? You seem quite het up

OP your post paints a highly generalised view of private education. We are moving our DS from state to private this September purely because the school he is now is is clearly not meeting his needs. He needs SALT as he sees a therapist every week however his school does not recognise him as having a problem due to the student cohort. 90% of the school has EAL so when compared to them, he is one of the talented children when he is clearly not. He is just being measured against low achievers which is something we are clearly unhappy about.

I have also had to fight the school for him to be given reading books and he is very good at reading etc so overall we are not happy. I am very happy to forgo lush playing grounds etc for a small class size. Furthermore we do a long commute anyway to this state school so commuting to a private school should be no option. Every child would be happy to walk to school but the reality is that even if your school was next door - if the parents work the DC would have to be left at a minder who might be far from the school. In a nutshell your arguments against private education clearly do not add up

"I know quite a few kids who went private and only got into mediocre unis and you can't help but think what a total waste of money."

Really? Do you honestly and truthfully believe that the sole measure of success of your schooling is the university that you get into at the end of it all?

Oh dear
The 'she started it' argument
swc dear, why would it ive me satisfaction I don't know you
I am just sound a bit stressed
We are strangers on the internet, let it go

Perhaps those mediocre kids would not have got into any university at all.
Perhaps they were helped to find a talent/area of interest for them.

Some of the so called mediocre universities offer courses which are not available in more traditional ones and whch are geared towards a particular career path.

The point of the OP wasn't to knock private schools in general.

If anything, I'm coming to this from a position of "If I paid I'd hope to get x y z".... and then looking at the experience of (london) families around me.

The thing that surprises me is that if I had chosen to go private, the approach of the school would make it harder not easier for me to raise my children in the way that I want. This obviously refers to my specific neighbourhood schools (and my specific children). Maybe my OP was too broad brush and didn;t make that clear.

So lunches: it's not the end of the world, but I would struggle for time if I had to make pack lunches in the morning.

Similarly, the commute would be at the expense of 'quality time' walking my kids to school having a chat.

I'd resent having a heavy prescribed homework load, because it would eat into my ability to do impromptu 'fun' learning (reading a book for pleasure, looking things up in the encyclopedia, extra curricular activities). I already struggle to fit in everything I'd like to do. I'd kind of expect a school with the educational advantage of small class sizes not to rely on me to do extra academic coaching in the evenings, iyswim.

kif - if your children were at a private school, you would undoubtedly find that the curriculum and environment were more enriching than at your local school. And therefore you might feel less anxious about enriching your children's experience of life in the time available to you outside school!

This is a wid up, no?

Even someone who has never stepped a foot outside their own endz must surely know that all schools aren't the same.

DC's prep has acres and acres of green space and playing fields. It's five mins around the corner. And they all sit down to a home cooked lunch ( no packed lunches allowed - which personally I think's abit harsh, but hey ho).

I'll give you the long day, though. Thank God for the long hols.

The home-cooked lunches are a real pain, IMO. At DD's school they provide 4-course lunches that last for over an hour for the lovely sum of EUR 14 per lunch.

I'm not anxious. I'm motivated. Seeing kids learn is amazing.