Going to private school open day this morning ... dh wants to go in his jeans?!

[roisin]

Do you think this is OK? He actually knows some of the staff as he does assemblies for them, and tours round the church, so maybe that's why he feels quite relaxed about it.

He's not quite as convinced as I am that we need to go the private route for secondary (though he is coming round to the idea). And he has been to open evenings for the local comps in jeans, so...

LM - most of the state secondaries around here have already had their open evenings. Ring around on Monday as some are less than keen to accommodate parents who miss them at other times of the year. You will still have the chance to go next year but it doesn't leave you much time to make your decision as the application forms have to be in soon after.

Independents are of course far more flexible!

LM - are you looking for day or boarding?

I am thinking of independents. I know there are two local state schools to consider but nothing seems to be happening thee. I went to a parents evenng the other week and asked the techer when we should be looking at schools but she had no idea. I suppose most kids just go to the nearest secondary. I would just like to have a few more options.

open evening round with us are mostly for year 6....nothing to stop of going in year 5 or even earlier. We are thinkingabout setting one up to target children in year 5, but that would be in the summer term

Oh yoyo, there is a question! I am going through a bad period at the moment and was saying to dh today how nice it would be (for me) if our children could go to a boarding school but in reality I couldn't do that to them. So, a day school.

LM - our bad periods often coincide! Have had a frightful fortnight but the last two days have been much better thankfully.

Some schools offer flexi-boarding which could work quite well. How far would you be prepared to drive (I suppose it would have to be pretty local so you can get the others to school too)? Yellow pages will list Inde Schools I think and you could ring and ask for the prospectus. They also advertise Open Days in the local papers. Have you Googled?

Not sure what to google! Although, now I come to think of it, I am sure dh got a list of independent schools alongside state schools when we first moved here.

We are near Bristol so I was thinking of somewhere there. I assumed secodary school children would be bused in. I don't want to take them! Plus, my children already walk by themselves to primary school although when ds1 starts secondary, ds3 will start primary so I guess I will have to go back to walking him for a year or so. (the school is very nearby and no roads for them to cross)

Incidentally, apologies to roisin for hijacking the thread. I can see I might need to start my own thread on this subject soon.

Hope your viewing of the school went well roisin!

lm , there are some listed on this site ,and you can access a list by region, but I don't think all Independent schools are necessarily part of it.

It was great! We all loved it
I am so relieved.
Dh commented that it's his most expensive day out ever! But he liked it too.

Ds1 really hit it off with a science teacher and chatted happily to him about acids and alkalis, zinc, copper, brass, red blood cells, atoms, nucleii, electrons, cells, ...!

Sound good Roisin! Scarey though!

I'm dreading all this going into secondary business - well, ds1 is only in reception so no need to panic yet! Hoping beyond hopes that he passes the 11+ as our state grammars are brilliant. The alternative comp is on special measures and has a shocking reputation so....could be time to start saving 'just in case'!

You can tell me all about it in December!

Roisin, the best signal a school can send is when the teachers interact with the child and not spend time trying to impress the grown ups.

Glad you liked it. and to be cynical the school will not mind that your money comes out of a denim pocket

We both went in jeans btw, and ds1 chose this appalling outfit with 3/4 shorts, a big coat he refused to take off, and lime green socks! ROFL!

The school children and the teachers all looked incredibly smart ... especially compared to us

MartianBishop - was interested in your comment about how working in the state sector makes you see the benefits of private - would you ming elaborating? We are also soul searching over this one at the moment....

I'll Parp, myself in advance! I've gone on. and on about this is many threads, so sorry to everyone I've bored into the ground

Neither I nor dh come from a private school background. I work in a better than average state comprehensive. From what I have seen regarding behaviour of some of the kids where I work (and it is better than average!) I dont want my kids to have to go through all of that.

I know private schools are not perfect....before I get flamed

dd is very bright, ds has probelms with language and lieracy, neither would have been well served by the local state schools (local primary is poor), local state secondaries ditto.

In the past some MN have berated me for selling out, but my feeling is that I'm doing my level best to improve state education at work, my kids are not going to suffer for principles of others.

I also get the wrap around child care that allows me to go to work.

In the end it all comes down to class size. My ds is in a class of 10 with a teacher and full time classroom assistant. In the state sector he would have been in a class of 30, a yearly intake of 60. However good the teacher we can all do the maths on how much time a child gets in each school

I work in an 'average' state secondary school - I think. (I haven't worked in other secondary schools, so it's hard for me to compare, but its results are average and afaik everything else is too).

I only started in June, and I have to say that at first (when I was looking at it from a parental point of view) I was pretty horrified at what I saw in all sorts of ways. I was shocked by the behaviour and discipline, the absence of manners and politeness from students, the negative attitude towards high achievers (and not just from the students ), the general (low) ability levels, the large number of subjects taught in mixed ability classes (for behaviour management reasons, not for teaching/learning reasons), low staff morale, the vast amounts of time, energy, and resources spent by all staff including SMT fighting an endless battle on behaviour. I could go on.

martianbishop I am very confused Are you HMB????

Yes, sorry!

I've posted two threads saying I've changed my name....any more and people will think I'm a self obsesed megeamaniac.....shuffles off

Deffo brill thanks MB

Nope. I think it has to be the full DJ.

I'm so glad that it went well Roisin. I assume you will be putting his name down now?

Yes, we will be putting names down for both of them.

.. and resigning ourselves to no expensive holidays or flash cars for a long time!

Rosin just as a matter of interest

What were the other parents dressed as????

At DH school open days some are dressed casual and some smart

Most were pretty smart actually - a lot smarter than us anyway Cheers mumsnet!

Actually there seemed to be lots of parents of current children, and not very many visitors. (I think there were lots of visitors to the junior department.) But the current parents all seemed to be dressed up. The kids were dead smart too!

and there was ds1 in his lime green socks!