Going private at year 7

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Hi
I have one child year 8, one year 6 and one year 4. They are all at a school classed as outstanding by ofsted. We have been fairly happy with the school. It is in a very affluent area and so come year 7 and year 9 there are a fair few kids leave and go private. For our older two kids their best friends are going private next year. It has got me and my husband thinking that we should do this, although it would be a squeeze for us.
So my question is has anyone moved a child to private around year 7-9 who was already doing really well in a state school but has seen them improve a lot since the move to private - or maybe not improved very much, which would be good to know as well.

Ds also probably doing L6 maths but so are many in his top set.

I moved my eldest DS from state infant to private junior school. His state school was outstanding and in very affluent area. (So no need to move him to be with the right crowd - not that we would!)

I moved him simply because he would be in a smaller class and get much more individual attention than in a class of 35 in state school. The teachers were great in the state school but the system simply did not give them the time to do their best with the kids. Amount of sport was far better in the private school which was also my son's passion.

I am pleased to say he blossomed after the move. Would he have done as well in the state system? To me the state school was more of a gamble whereas I knew he would personally gain more from the private school. That is individual to each child and family.

On another note, please don't assume that only private schools have wealthy, posh parents. Around here there are plenty of parents like that in the state system and the most arrogant parents I ever met were in that state school together with the most ostentatious flaunting of money! Yes lots of kids at my 3 kids' independent schools have posh holidays and ponies (so did many at the state school) but no one seems that bothered about it. They just accept each other for who they are and are just as interested in someone's holiday in a caravan in Wales as another's in a villa in the Bahamas!

I honestly think that very bright kids can do well anywhere, especially if they are working with other kids that are also doing well.

It was important for me to find a school that was well rounded, and with good pastoral care, and not too far from where we live so he could make local friends. Ds is a bit geeky, and I wanted a school where being that is cool, and where all the children have a chance to shine in something, be it drama, singing, maths or science.

We have two children, it is already a stretch to pay for one in private education. However, ds2 is so easy going I think he could fit in anywhere. He is never concerned with what other children think, and will do his own thing even if he is the only one doing it. For ds1 it is more important to fit in, and be in a crowd of like minded.

DDs DF has just got perhaps one more GCSE and the odd A* more than she'd have got at the local comp. Nothing that will make any odds at all on a university application form. She's done all sorts of things most of which she'd have done any way and she's lovely. Anywhere that interviews will give her an offer.

Honesty, I can't help thinking her school fees would have been better in a savings account for university.

Yes that's what I'm trying to get my head round - the odd extra A• here and there won't make much different - but 3k put away a month (not that we would) from now until university would mean they would leave without debt.

I am struggling with the same.

We are currently weighing up moving back to Norway where he will have just a normal comprehensive (unless he goes for IB on the International school) and free university education, or stay here where he has a fab (but expensive) private education and later on equally expensive but good options for Uni.

Is education worth more than general quality of life?

In Norway we will have a fantastic house, more disposable income, family, friends, abundant outdoors activities. We will be able to afford a camper van, and holidays abroad.

The point made by talkin earlier on basically sums up the answer in a nut shell. There are some rubbish independent schools, mediocre ones, good ones, many not offering much more than an excellent state school. Then there are a relatively small number offering a completely different level of education and we're not just talking about the odd extra A*.

Agree with happygardening about quality of the independent school. Howevever quality isn't just about taking the top academic achievers. My DD's independent school takes a lot of kids who have been rejected from local grammars and other independents. Yet the school regularly outperforms these other independents in GCSE and Alevel results and the top stream (often the grammar school rejects) perform in line with the local super-selective grammars.

The girls don't seem under loads of pressure and all do lots of school sport, drama etc which the grammar chikdren don't seem to get. I think they do this by being a small school with small classes. The school is not perfect but pastoral care is fantastic and the teachers really know the children and have the time to tailor learning to each child's needs. No one gets lost or overlooked.

Don't go just because your children's friends are going

Have you even been to look round? Would yr children want to move?

My DS moved from state to private in year 7 this year. There is a massive difference between "doing really well" in state and doing really well in private. Our state primary was Outstanding, DS is an above average child but not super-bright. Needs some encouragement. My experience was that in our state school, he bumbled along well enough in class, teacher happy as he was on course to achieve all level 5s at end of year 6. There was no impetus to push him to get the 6s he might have got, the attention was all on getting the 3s up to 4s.

After one term in a prep school, his performance has improved so much it's like a different child. I would not have believed such a sea change possible. He is driven to do his best, not just "enough". H

Sorry, posted too soon. Was just going to finish off by saying I find the whole approach to learning is better in the prep school. They really care about getting the best from each child, rather than the minimum needed to maintain an "Outstanding" for the school. I wish we had done it sooner.

Private schools have smaller class sizes, which is a substantial advantage. It means each teacher can give greater attention to the development of individual children instead of teaching 'bands ' of children. Facilities tend to be better, as will pastoral care. Some private schools may be 'horses for courses' so try a taster day to see if FC is comfortable there.
Do look into bursary and scholarship offers from the schools in your area. Most private schools will jump at the chance of having another bright child join up. Schools which don't may already be oversubscribed or may already be selective. I hope you find an excellent school where your dc will thrive.

"They really care about getting the best from each child, rather than the minimum needed to maintain an "Outstanding" for the school."

Which of course is what state schools do.......

If I had increased my hours we could perhaps have just afforded to send dd to a private school. We chose not to for a couple of reasons: We wouldnt have been able to afford extras for her like her music, nor would we have been able to afford any holidays and the sort of holiday we like are enriching for all of us as well as being fun. We also wanted to be able to put some money aside to help her through uni.
I've not regretted it at all. The school she goes to is lovely, she is achieving well and she has a really nice mix of friends.
I think there is so much more to creating a well rounded person than just the school they go to.

Sorry if it offended you Curlew, but my DS did attend an Outstanding primary school from Reception through to year 6 and that was our experience. It was a joke.

My son had NO homework set at all for the whole of year 6.

Hardly pushing the boundaries.

Thanks everyone for your input to this. By coincidence (!) I happened to have been introduced in the last week to two separate families who put their children in private locally, gradually realised it was costing a fortune but they were not getting anything more than our local outstanding state schools, and withdrew them back to state and are putting the money away for super Holidays/university. Guess that's my answer

Homer - genuine question:

Is homework a measure of a great school? If children make fantastic progress with inspiring lessons in school, but have no homework, are they getting a better or worse educational experience than those who have a day full of pedestrian lessons and masses of homework? And is the former school or the latter a better school?

It just seems odd to declare that a school is 'hardly pushing the boundaries' on the basis of homework rather than on in-school experience?

(DD, and previously DS, attend a genuinely outstanding primary, in which they make masses of progress in school every day - and both will leave / have left at levels up to 4 years ahead of that expected for their age. The school has an active policy of visrtually no homework except for daily reading, and partly as a result DS and DD have also persued outside interests to an unusually high standard - DS at football with a prifessuional club, as well as music, DD at dance. They are absolutely typical of the products of their school - flying academically with a rich extra-curricular life. If I were to declare their education substandard on the basis of the homework policy, that would be very odd indeed.)

Also, research shows that there is very little correlation between primary homework and attainment (nor between small class size and attainment, which I agree seems counterintuitive). Having looked at thwe homework set for other primary-age children, both at private and state schools, much of it seems rtio be of the 'makework' variety - designed to keep parents 'whio think homework is important' happy, rather than to genuinely advance a child's learning further than could have been done during a genuinely inspiring lesson in school.

You didn't offend me, Homer. I just hate people posting uninformed rubbish.

And then compounding it by condemning a school because it didn't set homework???

I feel I need to explain! Now I come to think about it, Happygardening, our experience may have been unique! However, it was very rude. My DDs went to a girls' boarding school. I did say that some parents thought they were more high brow than the rest of us, and, after seeing their behaviour and entitlement over the years it was a source of annoyance to many. The school actually had a lot of events for parents to meet up and get to know each other. We found the social side of it something we enjoyed and made friends with quite a few people. However, it became obvious that a small number of parents only came if their close circle of friends were there too. They appeared to be unwilling to talk to anyone else. Not for them such events as the Quiz, Sunday Chapel, coffee mornings, etc.

Just before our final Upper 6th Speech Day, everyone was asked if they wanted to contribute financially to a lunch for the girls and parents. This was organised by several parents and they put a lot of effort into it. On the day, the huge table was set up in the grounds, but on the other side of a bush, another table was set up. It turned out the "clique" of 4 parents had hived themselves off for a separate lunch! I can honestly say the rest of us were astounded.

Ha ha that sounds familiar

Tbh there are cliques at all schools

Dd3s state primary is the WORST for cliques