I send my child to private school because....?

[jabed]

Well, I don?t actually, I just work in one. But it seems to be a constant source of questioning on MN and given the current news articles (I have been reading the DM and Tory graph online) about how many of our left wing leaders hypocritically claim to be egalitarian and socialist whilst buying education for their children , or have had education paid for by their own parents. I just wondered, what is it we expect from education, and why is it some of us are willing to pay for whatever that is and how they see that as worthy of their money.

There you go. :)

Read all the all hundreds of threads on here already about it, not another one, please...

Well thats the end of that then. Goodnight.

Because state schools don't employ teachers with decent qualifications. Some accept teachers from universities other than Oxford or Cambridge In fact, in my extensive experience, the vast majority of state schools don't employ teachers AT ALL.

Also, all state schools teach pointless qualifications like BTEC Childcare and Performing Arts purely so that they can pretend their students are capable of achieving A* grades and also to push them up in the league tables. I want MY children to learn real stuff, none of this Micky Mouse nonsense.

The main reason though, is that all state schools are full of rowdy oiks who can't speak properly, are generally pregnant by the age of 15 and have no aspirations. All of this is the fault of the schools.

Thank goodness I made the sensible decision to get a job which allows me to pay school fees. Those of you who failed to be as clever as me are DOOMED.

There. Think that just about covers it.

... Looking for a 'like' button for EvilTwins.

Have you forgotten that all state schools are surrounded by barbed wire fences and gun emplacements to keep the kids in while they are taught hairdressing and bricklaying - without using actual bricks, of course because of health and safety going mad all over the place.

Hadn't forgotten that, Seeker - didn't mention it because IMO it's a good thing. Imagine if the barbed wire wasn't there- these common children might be able to mix with naice children like mine

Ah, yes. Good point.

Is "because I can " the right answer?

No pianomama its not the right answer because that will bring all the "its not fair" brigade out of the woodwork!

I send mine to private schools because they are nice-but-dim, and need to be spoon- fed information to ensure it gets into their thick-as-planks heads.

"Because I can and I want to" is really the only sensible answer. Anything else sounds self serving, snobbish, ill informed, smug, arrogant, or just downright silly. Or any combination thereof!

I don't-but if I did it would be for small class sizes.(something the government says does't matter, but they are wrong IMO).

I am in the process of moving DD from state to private, so think that it is an informed decision rather than a kneejerk one.

Sadly the main reason is indeed to get away from those children that have no interest in learning and disrupt lessons on a daily basis (no streaming or setting at DDs state school). Some of them make the lives of engaged children, of all abilities, an absolute nightmare.

Secondary reasons include - smaller classes, better resources, more extra curricular opportunities, ability to drop certain subjects at end of Y8, separate sciences from Y7 and more hours of English and Maths (to the detriment of ICT and RE admittedly).

But the main reason was definitely the behaviour - when we viewed the school on a normal day, each class looked more like a university seminar really, respectful, engaged, able to share a joke with the teacher without it all descending into chaos.

We never planned to send our DD to a private school, but she was very badly bullied in our local primary, which is a good school in other ways. The bully was from a 'nice' family, parents were teachers (in other schools), and one parent was a school governor in DD's school. The school had a bit of a problem in dealing with bullies, the HM sort of denied that it was going on, and used to blame the victim. Quite a few children moved schools for this reason. HM has now retired, there is a new HM, and I think things are better.

DD is very happy in her new (secondary) school, and is now much more confident.

The bully is still behaving in the same way apparently.

Interestingly one of the things that my DCs otherwise rather mediocre state comp does well is deal with bullying. All 3 of my DCs have said that it isnt a problem in the school because it is dealt with quickly and effectively.

I wonder if sometimes the bullying problem in 'nice' schools (and I include all schools less rough than my DCs in that category!) stems from an underlying assumption that 'nice children dont do that'. However, IME nice children bully just as much as the rough ones!

"Sadly the main reason is indeed to get away from those children that have no interest in learning and disrupt lessons on a daily basis (no streaming or setting at DDs state school). Some of them make the lives of engaged children, of all abilities, an absolute nightmare."

Agree. I have lots of friends with kids at our local state secondary and haven't heard much good about it . And chances of getting in a non-catchment school are very slim.

My serious answer as to why I send my children to private schools is:

One son attends a bilingual school which will allow him/us to choose either the English system or the French one later on in his schooling. This option is not available in the state sector.

My other son attends a superselective prep school whose facilities and options given are only available in a handful of private schools. Because it is attached to a top 5 senior school, he can continue his education unencumbered by teaching towards any test (well, until Senior School).

As we are an intenational family and it is most likely that my sons will not go to university here or live here as adults, I wanted to educate them in an international setting to top international standards. Unfortunately, this is not available in the local catchment primary which is in special measures, or even the non-catchment OFSTED outstanding primary.

Because I am religious.

Because they are really happy there. And they hated the state school.

Bullying happens anywhere. The two worst examples I have come across are in a top London prep and at one of the well known public schools. And independents don't actually have to have an anti bullying policy. The aforementioned London prep doesn't. As my friends have found, to their cost.

It is a huge to mistake to think that private education escapes bullying. It happens everywhere-it is how the school deals with it that matters.

Agree with bullying. It goes on everywhere. The school may just listen to you though if you are paying and may decide to put your money elsewhere if they don't look into it.

Not had personal experience of my dc being bullied in private though.

Because DD1's birthday is 30th August and I wanted the option to be able to choose what was best for her (academically, emotionally, physically and socially) rather than be dictated to by the LEA because of an arbitrary date. She turns 5 next month and will be repeating reception - giving her a massive advantage. It is most definitely the right decision for her.

Oh, and because I can and because I want to!

I actually think the writing is on the wall for many independent schools. I'm not talking about Eton et al but small non selective/fairly unselective independent schools in "nice" rural areas. We have two near us both have significantly worse results than our local comp. We are in recession, as yesterdays figures proved, that we seem unable to get ourselves out of, some would say the natural cycle of a capitalist economy: boom and bust. Our European neighbours are going down the tubes the situation is becoming increasingly serious many parents are struggling why pay for something when you can get better education for free? For these schools there only hope are children from abroad but these parents are also going to become increasingly more choosy and are not going to be happy to send Huang to some unknown out in the middle of no where but will be aiming them at the cream of independent schools instead.