Does anyone REALLY send their children to private school?

[Mosschops30]

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I think the 'test' thing depends on the school.

In the school that my two go to, there is not test. I know that other schools do test. You would have to ask.

We were never asked to prove that we could afford it. You pay a term in advance. If you don't pay, the kids don't go to school!

look into the small print of giving notice to quit, how much notice you have to give etc

That's not our experience of the school DS will be going to, Mosschops. Part of the reason we liked it was because of its inclusion policy. By that I mean the accept children of all abilities including those whose SN make their behaviour more challenging. BUT they have the appropriate support to deal with it.

However, I'm quite sure some private schools will be concerned with performance only. That's why you have to visit and make your own mind up.

Just pulled out the brochure. No test but an informal interview between head and child if they're over 7.
No proof of income required. Fees paid monthly or termly in advance.
1 terms notice required.
HTH

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have they got a website, mosschops? often that will contain most of the practical info you need, and give you a flavour of the place.

My dd's school which has a language unit very often has to take children from private schools because they are unable to give what the unit does.

Can be a bit of a culture shock to say the least!

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We have just worked out that 2 kids in Edinburgh with before and after school excluding uniforms, but including meals requires, at a tax rate of 40%, gross earnings in the region of £35,000.

Mmm, think we will stay in the sticks!

As others have said, I think you need to try and suss out the place a bit more because these things vary so much from school to school. All the local private schools (of which there are many, about 40% of kids here go private at secondary level) do tests, even for reception. One of my friend's children was rejected by one school because he couldn't draw a circle, even though he could already read. Someone else I know had two children at a private secondary school which then refused admission to her third child because he had dyslexia. There are clearly many non-selective co-operative schools out there judging from other posts on here, but you can't be certain from generalisations.

That makes me feel physically sick Tamum

even if we could afford it, I wouldnt send either ds's to private school, there is nothing drastically wrong with the state schools in the area that we live and also, Dp's parents payed £14,000 a term for both him and his sister to come out of school with less qualifications than i have from an inner city comp.

I believe that if a child has positive imput from parents at home there is no reason why that child should not leave school with just as good grades as any child attending private school.

Tiredemma - I think you are right. The only thing that even vaguely concerns me about ds's state school is the class size, but OTOH their results have been fantastic for as far back as I can remember (I grew up locally so I know it's always been good). In addition, I'm a SAHM and I think the fact that I can pick them up from school and give them one to one attention with reading and homework at a reasonable time of day will probably make a difference. Perhaps some of those at private school don't have that luxury because their parents work?

If i had the money i would send all my kids private because I prefer the uniform

I wouldn't send my dd private as there are a lot of good state schools here so I don't think it would be worth it tbh. If that wasn't the case I would consider it but generally I am with Dino, Fairymum and co.

Depends on the school FM.

We have chosen private for ds2 - partly because of the wraparound care issue (it's essential for us), but also because the local school we would be guaranteed a place in has a terrible reputation with SN- especially with the autistic spectrum - I've met a couple of mothers who have said their children were "driven out" byt the school, and was told it was bad by parent partnership. DS2 isn't autistic but his elder brother is, so I just wasn;t comfortable sending him there. Having said that the school we've chosen (£3k a year) is quite different from the other private school locally.

As everything depends on the school.

oh and the school we're sending ds2 to, does have a good reputation with high functioning ASD (from talking to parents), so should be fine.

I am quite shocked that so many kids go private at secondary in Edinburgh (40%!!) as I have always thought we have an excellent state system. However we are a city full of middle/upper clas ponces!

A word of warning to anyone seriously considering private school as an option. There may come a time when you can't pay the fees (redundancy or the like) and then what do you do?

I know somebody this has happened to and it aint pretty. The response to the dwindling finances was to beg, borrow and steal so that there kids could continue in the schools they were in. I cannot understand the irrationality and fear that seems to motivate these parents but it sure aint good for the healh of the family.

It's like a kind of madness has taken over and reason has flown out the window. It can only end bad which won't be much good to the kids.

I also read an article in a Magazine about a family in a similiar situation and when they hit a financial black spot the mother became a prostitute unknown to the husband so that the schooling could continue. It was a really sad sorry tale. My friend hasn't resorted to this!

I work in a private school in France. When they employed me they knew that I had next to no experience of teaching, I had not worked with children before, they never asked for any of my certificates and they never did a police check. I take classes of 14-15yos on my own, but have also taken classes of 8-9yos. I also had an interview in a private primary school, again I had to ask them to photocopy my certificates and my Police Check certificate. They offered me the job taking classes of 8-9yos by myself but I couldn't take it due to lack of funding.

As far as I am aware, the system for employing teachers in private schools in the UK is much the same. Compare this with when I applied to be a teaching assistant at a state primary in the UK, they couldn't do enough checks on me! Plus the interviews for teachers are pretty rigorous, you need a high standard of education in pretty much everything, not just the topic that you'll be teaching.

So based on that, I'd vote for state!

Eaney, most private schools offer an insurance scheme whereby if you lose your job etc, fees will be paid.

I keep posting this, and no-one ever seems to read it

State schools in the UK employ people who are not qualified. I worked as an unqualified teacher while doing my PGCE.

Private school also do this. The number of unqualified teachers in either sector is small. there are none in the school my kids goto

That's intersting HM but the situation I know of is not a job loss as such but a company that was thriving is now failing. I suppose bankruptcy will be an option.

The story in the mag I read was to do with the low interest period on their mortgage reaching an end and this having a knockon affect on their other finances. They just couldn't make up the shortfall.

Indeed MB. The beacon school I mentioned earlier had a TA take a class for 5wks whilst the teacher was off sick. The Head would go into class at 3.20 so he was there when the parents turned up!