to think that State Schools must be shit. . .

[GraceyDoorknob]

. . .Otherwise people wouldn't pay for Private?

.. clearly a wind up and embarrassed that i didnt ignore..

If I may butt in to this high-minded intellectual discussion on the merits of private schools,I would like to make the point that one of the huge benefits of private schools is that there are very unlikely to be any badly behaved pupils disrupting the class for everyone else.If there were, I'm sure they'd be asked to leave in no time flat. I work in a state school with some excellent teachers but one of our biggest problems is trying to deal with bad behaviour - it takes so long to expel the little beggars and in the meantime everyone suffers!!

The grounds are nicer, and the uniforms are nicer at private schools.

And none of the mums have tattoos.

Doesn't mean state schools are shit.

I like the water analogy. I drink Evian because I can afford to. Doesn't mean tap water in this country is shit.

Agree with corlan. At DD's school, disruptive children (disruptive families) are asked to leave.

I was a teacher. I would be the exact same teacher in a State school than in a private school...the difference would be class size and parental involvement.

State schools are no worse than private schools, and I'll take a common, chavvy kid who actually has some common sense over an over entitled, pretentious private school kid any day of the week...

This old bollocks again!

We chose private because it was the only way to guarantee a completely secular education. Too many state schools confuse religious education with religious instruction and even those that don't are still required to spout it.

Private schools have the same teachers trained at the same colleges. They get better results because they are pressured allowed to make the kids practice for exams all day instead of teaching them something.

A lot of learning is dependent on plenty of practice.

so by the OP's logic tap water is shit too?

It's like first class in a train, normal train seats aren't shit, but some people like to feel privilaged, and they feel privilaged by paying more than others for something.

I love First Class on the train... more space, much more pleasant passengers...

It's not a full moon/school holiday yet is it?

I can honestly say that ds has had no headlice since he moved. I expect they can't afford the fees. It's worth every penny.

rubbish onebadbaby.

I hate it when people try to convince themselves that private schools are worse or flawed in some way. What utter bollox.

Many state schools have to deal with issues and problems that jeapordise optimal learning that private schools can easily eliminate (difficult disruptive kids, limited budget, large class sizes etc.) but that doesn't make all state school shit.

Ah yes, as corlan says, children who are badly behaved are politely asked to leave private schools.

Now I remember why DS1 goes to a state school. Instead of asking him to leave, they brought in a (free to me!) psychologist, and other (free to me!)outside help (such as confidence building).

Corian I have friends teaching in the private sector,that certainly isn't the case. One of my friends teaching in the secondary private sector says she's teaching some real shites at the moment. She thinks it's because they know their parents are paying for it so feel they can do what they like.

I have a friend who taught in one of the top girls boarding schools(she's now left) and she said she saw some really bad teaching.

Some teachers(not my friends and not all)go into the private sector because they feel they can't hack the state system. The small class sizes are an attraction from a teaching point of view if you're not confident. I can remember friends at college considering this for this very reason.

My sister had a boyfriend who also taught in a top boys boarding school-didn't have a teaching qualification to his name,wouldn't have wanted any of my kids anywhere near him incidently Oxbridge degree or not.

My kids are at an outstanding state school,my friends dc are at the local pretty mediocre private school. My kids are streets ahead. She fell hook line and sinker for the attractive leafy building, grounds and glossy brochure but is just too much of a snob to pull them out even though the bills are crippling.

As Violet says you get fantastic state and private schools.You also get dire state and private schools.Fact. Paying for it sadly doesn't bring guaranteed excellence along with the hefty bills. Parents paying for a private education who don't except this are fools.

Oh I agree bonsior, it is lush, but that doesn't mean normal class is shit (unless you're on the commuter train from cambridge to kings kross, that is shit).

Amen, MilaMae Having taught in both situations, you are absolutely on target.

Oh and bottled water is a tax on the daft.

MilaMae - very true.

I also think its the case for some parents that they feel forced into paying for private because their local state options are dire, and therefore are a bit pissed off about having very little choice.

Or you can have the other extreme (which you describe) where the parents pay because perhaps they were privately educated themselves and have a really narrow view of education, but actually have brilliant state options on the doorstep, and then they are pissed off about realising they've parted with all that cash and it's made hardly any real difference!

As far as I'm concerned it's less about the undoubtedly greater ability of a private/public school to get a child through exams successfully, and more about the preparedness for life that a State school can provide.

What about 'skinny water'? There's calories in this apparantly (according to the Times)

Alot of people who have access to Grammar schools moan about private schools.

Gosh there's a lot of prejudice on this thread.

like

"It is entirely about snobbery, segregation and conspicuous consumption."

If I was into conspicuous consumption I would certainly not be doing this. I would be conspicuously consuming and would have been doing for the last nine years while my children haven't even been there and I've been saving up by buying cheap toilet paper and cutting my own hair.

Tax on the neurotic.

stuckinthemiddle