What are the main differences between a private "primary/prep"school and a very good primary state school?

[bettiejane]

My daughter is due to start nursery in a private schools nursery dept. We were wondering what the main differences would be when she actually starts school with the 2 different types of school?
Obviously the fees!

But our local state primary is very good and oversubscribed,so she may not get a space. Is it really worth paying out for private? Especially if I have to work an extra day!

Any views?

Blessings -- Ouch! Well, it was pretty successful until we found we had kids with special needs, who don't fit in standard-issue schooling (and childcare) of either variety. Hence, at least in part, the absence of stellar private-schoolifying career.

DH and I just went to (state) school. Tried hard, did fine, assumed the kids would do the same. Our kids seem a little more complicated than that (but at least they are a sure-fire cure for any careless smuggery we might otherwise have fallen into).

Umm, yes, Squiffy, I wasn't going to add in the 'plus wages of full-time 1-to-1 helper' to my £10000 per child, as I assume the OP is going to have to factor that one in!

Lancelottie,
I too went to state school but the academic rigour and discipline seems to have totally disappeared and now it's wishy washy, non competitive and a basic education. You may well not get into Cambridge if you went through the current primary system.

..that should have said 'the OP is NOT going to have to factor that one in.'

BG -- you may well be right, who knows? Depends how borderline I was to start with (and as you don't know me, my online alter-ego is going to assume that she was a dead cert ).The question is pretty academic, so to speak, for at least two of our three anyway.

I would like more feedback from our state schools. I know many prep schools give termly reports & some even give a short report on progress every couple of weeks.

Our state school seem to desire to shroud the timetable and delivery of curriculum taught in mystery. We are told the teachers 'just want to teach' and it is strange & frankly irritating the parents seek to know more. We want to help teachers support our children so I am rather bemused. Sometimes end of year reports highlight things that could have been nipped in the bud much earlier.

At the start of the year our teacher said she was fed up with parents traditionally flagging problems the children were having far too late on. I was surprised, I expect them to tell me early on if my child is facing problems academically or otherwise.

Our school won't tell us how our children compare to their peers & I believe this is state school policy? I can see the sense in this on one level but if we knew we might get a glimpse of potential problems/issues as I have described above?

I understand all your points, Cortina - yet more evidence that your dc's school are very strange though! Most teachers/schools aim to share difficulties as early as possible, although I also know from MN that yours is not the only school which doesn't do this.

Comparative information does legally have to be reported at the end of Y2 and Y6 - you should get your child's teacher assessment (and test results, if in Y6), plus a table of data which shows the attainment of the cohort and a table which shows the previous year's national data to compare against. This is a legal requirement, so has to be done.

Thanks, so they are obliged to make the Class Y2 results public? Is just a percentage usually given for each level? I think that's how it's released. You wouldn't get data on each individual child in class?

Yes - the teacher assessment class data, as a percentage of each level/sublevel if level 2 Maths, Reading or Writing. No way would you get other individual child's data - why would you need it though? You would be able to see where your child's attainment lay within the cohort with that info.

Not public, either - but reported to parents of children in Y2. Soem schools put this in their prospectus, but they aren't obliged to.

Since you asked about good state school I'll reply as someone who can easily afford private but has chosen not to.

Firstly, yes, the class sizes are 30. I have no issue with this at all and when we looked at both state and private schools were put off classes of less than about 22. I think that the bigger classes give a far better opportunity for children to find their niche. In a good school such as ours which has a teacher and at least one assistant even in juniors this isn't a problem at all.

It's academically excellent and my very bright DS is constantly challenged and extended whilst the less able children are well supported.

There is far less testing than at the local private schools, no end of year exams and I'm happy for them to do SAT's. There are parents evenings every term and a report at the end of the year. Absolutely ample.

It has excellent pastoral care, great rapport with the local community and the children are happy, well behaved and confident. Discipline is high and I would say that given that many of the children have either older or younger siblings in private schools most parents feel the same.

My DS is working about 90% to the level of his peers in academic private schools. His handwriting isn't as good and his creative writing isn't as advanced but his other skills are very close and he's way ahead in maths. The schools offers plenty of afterschool opportunities and music.

What isn't as good? There's little emphasis on art and music and there's not enough sport but for primary level none of those are a deal breaker for me. My kids are happy, challenged, well adjusted and more importantly than anything for me, they're part of the local community, walk to school and have all their friends on the doorstep.

Like others we pick up what they miss out on at school with out of school activities which are full of private school children so they're obviously not getting everything from their schools.

Secondary is a different matter and I will probably send mine privately at 11 because of the extra curricular and broader timetable but for primary we've no regrets at all.

I do appreciate that we're probably not the norm and our school is mostly professional parents, DS's class off the top of my head has parents who are hospital consultants, Bankers, City Lawyers, Hedge Fund Managers, dentists, an actuary, Managing director of a public company, partners in management consultancy, and who were privately educated themselves and it's reflected in the way that the school had developed.

I think it depends on the schools. My local state primary is better than the nearest private, so for us it was the better choice.

I find that the state school is good at extending childrens work, and there doesnt seem to be any difference in the academic level of the top performing groups.

The ethos at the state school is much better - extremely good head teacher, and a warm, inclusive atmosphere. The private school by comparison was 'cold'.

The private school did have better games facilities, pitches etc, but the interior of the school itself was dirty looking.

I think that we will use private school for secondary (because of the comparison between the state and private options open to us), but for the moment we are very pleased with things as they are.

I didn't mean to come across as smug. I just think that there is a lot of fear generated by the sometimes unchallenged assumption that private is always better.

There are things you miss out in if you go privately. I did. I missed being part of my local community. I am also a teacher and I wish that more professional bolshie parents would send their kids to state school and collectively kick up a stink when things aren't right.

It would benefit everyone in the longer term.

I do appreciate that it is never a straightforward choice and that you are the only person who can know what is best for your family but the mantra that private is better and that good state schools are rarer than hens' teeth is blinkered and damaging. Why should state school kids endlessly have to hear that their education is second rate? How does that help anyone?

PS We could afford private but choose not to. We are both Cambridge grads and feel amply able to support our children at home and we do. ENORMOUSLY. And we are lucky to have great schools near us with lots of kids from a wide mixture of families

BUT

if one of my kids was really miserable... of course, I'd move heaven and earth and even out of the state sector to sort that out.

PPS

I'm not looking for excellence. Good enough is my watchword. That's possibly another difference.