Do Jamie Oliver's children attend private schools?

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

Just been watching his C4 series and wondering.....

Teenagers need lots of exercise. Private schools tend to make sure they do and force them to do Duke of Edinburgh awards, 2 and 3 day country treks, hard labour in a sense and you do CCF and if you're pacifist you help OAPs etc as I'm sure lots of the better state schools do.

So I certainly think there should be more compulsory physical exercise for teenagers. Do they do cross country runs and things like that where the whole school has to take part these days in state schools?

Are you on a different thread, Xenia?

bamboostalks sorry but I think Jamie is far, far richer than his parents ever were, that's makes him upwardly mobile. His own parents probably worked exceptionally hard and set an example. No need to be too abrasive: he's trying to do good, he may do good and he's doing no harm. I'm glad I don't get so wound up about celebs..

Not sure that Fiona's using it as cheap entertainment or self-promotion, either swc...

I don't warm to Jamie Oliver, but how many people are going to actually be able to sensibly and compassionately cover the subject of why kids are failing in education? I don't think any single person could possible attack it from the right direction, for obvious reasons. So yes he's arrogant and probably more than a bit dishonest about his life story but is that the problem really?

incidentally I think 3/4 of the problem is that too many parents are unable to meet the needs of their inquisitive, sponge-like toddlers, and start off the process of killing the joy of learning. Then they get to school and teaching to exams takes over from the off.

No point in blaming the teenagers for being lazy when they've been brought up on a diet of daytime tv and computerised leisure (not to mention seeing parents not working but that's another thread).

I can see why some think JO is annoying but what has he really done thats so wrong?

He's highlighted the fact that our schools are feeding our children crap and that this continues in many homes too (they don;t just make turkey twizzlers and smiley faces for schools do they) and that there are children coming through the education system and not getting anything from it.

Now I agree that just beacuse these dream school teachers are good at what they do, it doesn;t necessarily make them good teachers so can't see how this will work out (am also not really interested in watching the show, agree he should stick to cooking!)

Not everything JO does is in the press. The first 15 was on TV but thats carried on and there's been no more TV shows about it.

Good luck to him, hes a hard worker and an inspiration to many, he's never going to please everyone and if you don;t like him, don;t watch.

Yes, his girls do go to private school. I would not be surprised if it was security issues that made state school unviable for them.
I give Jaime Oliver a lot of credit for talking about and DOING something about school food, youth unemployment (the Fifteen foundation) and education. He is entitled to have an ego after all he has achieved.

I wouldn't have thought his chidlren were any jore at risk in state schools than Cameron's are or Ms Millar's but the politicians are required to sacrifice their children on the altar of their careers and the rest of us aren't.

Paul McCartney's grown up DC's all went to state school. He is a tad more famous than JO.

The problem I have is that I don't really understand the point of the programme!

We all know that the education system fails some kids but that is not necessarily the fault of the teaching staff. They are not failing/opting out because their lessons are dull and uninspiring. There is so much more to it than that. And being knowledgeable in your subject does not automatically make you a good or inspirational teacher. So I'm not quite sure of the point really.

I'm not necessarily a big fan or Fiona Millar but I don't think you can say she is unqualified to talk about state education in this country.

But to be fair, Millar+Campbell are not sacrificing their kids for their careers, Xenia. Rightly or wrongly they actually believe everyone should send their children to the nearest state school.

Oh and FM was chair of governors of her children's state primary so she does have some experience of how state schools operate.

I think he's a good chef - great on television, and does good recipes. And I think that he has made a huge, huge difference to school meals. Jamie Oliver was the catalyst for a whole lot of change which meant that a lot of kids (yes, yes, in state schools) don't get fed crap every day. It's fine for the middle class kids whose mummies have been feeding them Annabel Karmel pureed broccoli and artichoke from 6m, but the ones on free school meals now get something healthy at lunchtime.

Don't think the private school thing relevant to this debate. The kids in the programme are sadly representative of a whole chunk of society and anything to inspire them is worth trying.

bamboostalks by mixed I just meant boys and girls..... I know some girls schools which are much much much more up themselves than the school we are discussing.

Sorry, I forget that there are single sex primaries sometimes!