Moving from Independant to State, does this sound like a good idea?

[icarriedawatermelon2]

DS has had 2 years in pre prep and is due to start Year R in a state school this sep. The pre prep has been AMAZING and a great start for him. I may ask to do 1/2 day flexi school so he can have 1:1 tutoring in maths/phonics and a music lesson. I think this would be a great way of giving some extras which tbh the state school wont be able to give as the class size is 30.
Do you think 1 afternoon a week out of school would be a problem in any way?

My daughter has been taking ballet lessons for years. In her class the kids attend a range of schools from private, grammar, faith and secondary modern. It is a great way for the girls to mix and make friends outside of school.

yesdiscussion just be happy with your lot won't you? I mean, just stop that moaning.

wordfactory wanders off humming, as she hands her DD's ballet tights to one of the servants.

Are we really saying state primaries should offer free out-of-hours ballet classes to all children?

discussion - IME that applies to extra-curricular activities offered by schools whether they be private or state. If you want your child to do 'proper' ballet with exams etc or to have to be taught to swim properly you have to go to outside providers and pick the one you're happy with - and you usually get what you pay for.

That's the thing though isn't it. The state school is providing a second class education and we should be happy to have it and know our place. We aren't supposed to have cultural aspirations for our children or expect them to have the same opportunities at school as children at private schools.

TheOriginalSteamingNit I don't know if the numbers have risen but anecdotally we know lots who educate their children privately; I'm not just talking about the parents at my DS's indie school but people I work with many were not educated privately themselves. We used to live in a county with grammar schools and there certainly has been a huge increase in the number of "crammers for the grammars" again most of these parents were "first time buyers" (wince). When I was a child (the dinosaurs had just become extinct) I would say my friends were from similar comfortably off professional middle class back grounds to our current friends but only 2 went to indie schools all the rest of us went to local schools and definitely no hand wringing. As I say this is only anecdotal!

I think the ballet was just an example. I personally think offering intensive chess club as our local primary does is a brilliant idea. I agree that paid "pop dancing" is a both exclusive and not very ambitious.

TOSTN, the school required payment for this pop dancing class and it was quite expensive. I'm not suggesting they should spend the school budget on ballet classes for infants.

I'm merely surprised that if they were going to offer a dancing class and expecting parents to pay for it, that they couldn't offer something with a little more cultural value.

Well, I don't actually think ballet is somehow better than modern dance- and I speak as a dancer's mother. I think that is a bad example. Now if you had been talking about the foam javelins........

discussionoftheday Most private schoold offer these as extras on top of regular school fees. It's no different for parents of state school children, if you want your child to do the activity then you have to pay up.

But why do out of hours clubs have to be 'ambitious'?

I really don't see how not offering free ballet equates to a 'second rate education'!

happygardening, like Sue52 I thought numbers had gone down because there have been a fair few news stories about private schools closing/amalgamating. But it is hard to say, not really knowing what was in the heads of parents of my generation I guess.

Oh I think we should leave ambitious stuff for the rich folk.

OP - is there no way you could keep child at private prep ? (in the state sector we'd called it nursery, pre-school or playgroup - 15hrs a week free, type), its just I can't see that you could ever be happy with a state school, even an outstanding one given that what you'll be comparing with is such a wonderful pre-school experiance for your child.

Everything about state schools will be wrong for you, today it's not enough 1:1 music and sport, then it will be not enough 1:1 reading, infrequent changing of the reading books, teacher using guided reading books that don't stretch little Tabitha as much as her 1:1 phonics tutor etc etc.

Really save yourself from years of badgering the state school teacher to emulate a system that for a few grand you'd be much happier buying down the road.
Really state ed just isn't for you is it.

Oh come on, do you really think that modern dance and strutting like beyonce are the same thing? Really? And that it's appropriate for 5 yo to be taught to strut their stuff and wiggle their hips? Really??

My issue isn't that the class had to be paid for although I know this sort of thing somes up regularly on MN. I'm fine with that and I'm also aware that dancing lessons at private schools require and extra payment. What i'm shocked at is the low expectations by the school and that fact that when they have the opportunity to provide something of worth they turn that opportunity around to make it worthless. 'Gold into paving slabs', anyone?

I'm glad I had the wherewithall to get myself and education so that I can support my children.

And actually if there's one thing every school should make time for in their timetable, it's 1:1 reading at infant school age. Whether that is done by TAs or by parent volunteers or grannies and grandads from the local community, that is one thing they should not be scrimping on.

There is no excuse for state schools to offer second rate extra curricular activities. Although of course the problem for activities like fencing is that you do need money to purchase the equipment, I'm not talking foam swords here, and its very expensive and would have to be bought in a wide variety of sizes etc. All impractical if your only running it for one term!
Indie schools generally charge the parents for the activity and assuming the activity is popular keep running it thus can justify the expenses of the necessary equipment.
I am unsure what the solution to this is. Outside clubs I hear the pro state crowd shout but we live in a rural area and for example I happen to now that my nearest fencing club is 30 miles away! Ultimately its unfair on those children who don't get these opportunities but life is unfair.

Ballet is fine, pop dance is fine, it's all good - but truly, for an out of hours optional group for small children, I do not see why ambition should be all in all!

What will have happened, anyway, I would imagine, is that someone will have said to the head 'I teach dance to small children, would you be interested in my organising a club at your school' and then it will have happened. Not the head saying 'hmmmm shall we offer classical ballet or bouncing aimlessly around - oh no, not ballet, it's too elitist and ambitious for our piss-poor ambitions'.

sue52 I agree about numbers falling currently but I'm thinking about the 70's (reaching for the hair dye) so I don't know if numbers have risen or fallen since this period.

I agree about the clubs. I don't need my 6 year old to learn how to do 'fitness', in a classroom with the tables pushed back against the wall, even at only £2 an hour. I do it for the childcare (its an hour after school). I'd like her to learn how to do athletics, properly. It can be fun doing something really really well you know.

Snob reasons ...hmm that's a can of worms! I like well spoken, polite children. If my children are going to be influenced by the children around them then I want those children to be nice middle class kids, with spark and a love of learning. I want my children to learn latin, to speak well in public, to excel at sport or music or SOMETHING. I can't get that at state, or I can't RELY on getting that at state. I want to be totally confident that my children are getting the best education I can provide for them and that comes for me in the private sector.

hupwothree that certainly is a can of worms your opening there. If you want my advise you'd better run for the hills!!

Don't worry - that can of worms is too revolting for me to want to go and prod at it .

You are quite funny though happygardening as I know you are adamant that you don't educate for those reasons. I bet you do. I think all parents at indies do. If they didn't they'd be at state.

i think prep schools are low in numbers but senior schools are increasing.

Those worms are too horrible even for me. I try very hard not to think that badly of private school parents. It's depressing to have my suspicions so comprehensively confirmed.