Why is private education so taboo now?

[DoMyBest]

When I was younger I was privately educated as were most of my friends. Now we all have children and almost all of them have decided to send their children to state schools. Whilst for most of them it was a question of money, for others it really wasn't: they believe that every child should have the same educational opportunities and if parents like them start giving their kids exclusive treatment then the system won't work. Some of these parents chose local 'outstanding' state schools, but one couple with enough money to buy every private school in town admirably chose their worst local state school and work hard to improve it.

I listen to these stories with interest, sometimes admiration but mostly respect for their choices & views.

So it's with some alarm, now we have chosen a private school for our son, do discover the hatred this decision engenders. Private education has, it would seem, become taboo.

So here's my question: is it morally right for people to get angry with parents who privately educate their children?

Fairy I'm sorry ha x

I'm puzzled by the "teaching toe years behind" thing. How does that work with the much abused National Curriculum? Because one of the reasons introducing the NC is to stop things like that happening......

Also- the under qualified teachers in deprived areas? Could you say more about that, oops?

mart I moved from Hampshire to Merseyside - the standard of teaching between both is ridiculous - NC obviously being taught to 'test' standard in both, but in Hampshire they taught above and beyond years, extra activities, school plays, advancing their pupils, praising learning, sports etc - Merseyside, their praising attendance and the parents not parking outside school -

awful

mart my son learning things still now he was taught three years ago, and badly

Oops-is that LEA specific or is it just that particular school?

A difference again is inner London where a lot of good 2/1 graduates from the very best universities have been going in for Teach First (they want to live in Central London near their friends rather than move to places like Hull and Merseyside when they graduate) and other work has been done such that some of those schools are a lot better than they are although nothing like as good as the London private schools.

In fact I think one study found comparing Hull and inner London in core GCSEs your average C in Hull was A in inner London comps.

I'd really like to see that report, MariaJenny- can you remember where you saw it? Not sure how an average GCSE grade could be an A anywhere- seems to be mathematically impossible. But it's many years since I did O level maths.................

maria I'm talking primary school level, at the moment - he's gone from learning from books, to being shown movies - and asking to learn from them - from school plays to nothing but singing some songs at Christmas -

The standard and difference between Hampshire and Merseyside is huge and totally different - and from what I knew growing up in Monmouthshire, where we were entered into every national choir, orchestra, sporting event from a small village, I cannot believe how bad teaching is -

No Private school education for us, but three friends of mine I know (who had the same education as me) went to Oxford - and more of my brothers -

Teaching now just awful

Everything about area - I would love to know how they actually qualify teachers - do the best get allocated to the best areas and schools?? n the Elite to Private?

Do teachers get told to 'dumb down' if they work in so called deprived areas???

Seems to be the case, from experience, how sad

oopsadaisyme - of course the "best" don't get allocated the "best" areas, they choose them. After all, if you are good at what you do, you can choose where to apply for a job. If you aren't up to much, then you end up in the schools desperate to recruit anyone. If you were a teacher, would you want to teach in your child's current school? Do you think it would be a good training ground for a teacher with ambition?

No experience of the counties mentioned, but I also found the education my children received in outstanding local primary very lacking at ks2.

Having read many threads on here I think it is very much down to postcode lotteries and I am probably now paying for what others get for free.

It seems many people in our local schools are blinded by the l5s the school achieves, forgetting that education is so much more than a handful of well practised tests.

rabbit in an ideal world I would hope that all teachers would be qualified and trained to a certain level to attain their qualifications as a teacher - and therefore qive every child a brilliant education and the best start?

If you 'arn't up to much' as you said, why on earth are they even allowed to teach???

If you 'arn't up to much as a doctor, would they still all them to practice??

I find it a strange idea that the "best" teachers should only want to work in the "best" areas [puzzled]

If you 'arn't up to much as a doctor, would they still all them to practice?"

Sadly yes.

It isn't just down to individual teaching but leadership, aspiration and funding. For example our local primary did not offer any sports or musical opportunities, no extracurricular activities at all. This isn't the teacher's fault...

Oops, I would be very interested in knowing, if the primary level teaching in the whole of Merseyside is so bad, how schools like The Blue Coat School in L15 are getting such good results. Are they only enrolling children from outside Merseyside then or are all the children pure geniuses who are able to rise above their "dumbed" down primary education? Perhaps they are all coming from a local private prep (before anyone claims that to be the case I know children who go there who were educated in a state primary school).

mrz - would you work in a school with a useless headteacher? If not, then you are picking and choosing the best schools, are you not?

The head teacher is one person not the school. I know some "outstanding" award winning heads in brilliant schools I wouldn't work for ...

How does merseyside do in the league tables? And oops. What do you mean by the teaching is awful ? I'm not saying it is. - I have seen some shocking teaching. Just wondering how you define it.

mrz - you are confusing "outstanding" with outstanding, whilst simultaneously admitting you would not work anywhere - you pick and choose. And you would choose not to work in a school with a head you disliked.

So, mrz, would you work with a useless headteacher?...

Martorana I couldn't say how Merseyside does in the league tables overall as it covers a number of areas: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool. It also depends on which league tables you use and whether you simply take the results from the last year or over a period of 5 years. To get any meaningful idea of overall performance in this area would involve more work than I am prepared to put in. Especially as it is irrelevant to my DCs.

Perhaps Oops will provide this information, as they obviously already have it to hand.

No rabbitstew I said I wouldn't work for the individual not for the school - you are confusing one person with something far larger.
I would say the head of the school my children attended was a "useless" head but the staff were fantastic and the results excellent year after year.