Are private schools worth the fees you pay?

[lupo]

Hi

I was looking for some advice from those of you who send your kids to private school. I have one son and recently went to visit Staines Prep School and really fell in love with it.

The thing is we could just about afford the fees, but I will need to work more hours (full instead of part time)as well as few sacrifices along the way. not planning on having any more children, and would like to go private as classes seem smaller, and sounds like children get lots of help and support.

Just wanted to know of your experiences of independant schools and whether good ones are worth the money. Any advice much appreciated.

Like the school but am going on gut instinct, and it is one of the few we could just afford.

my 'disabled' son is at a private prep school

my 'disabled' son is at a private prep school

Bh, Of course all children should be educated but that does not mean in a class if they disrupt other children or can't cope with that level or standard of work because then it's not fair on the other either. This is a really basic issue. Many many parents in the UK believe in academically selective education. It's not just me. Some disabled children are very bright and cope with class work and don't disrupt the work of others at all either. Depends on the child.

"The Tories have challenged the government to bring a halt to special school closures.

Education spokesman and possible Tory leadership hopeful David Cameron urged an audit of special needs provision - a Labour manifesto pledge.

He said the pendulum had "swung too far" in favour of inclusion which he argued was not always appropriate.

The government rejected that there had been any "systematic reduction in places" in special schools.

Under threat

Mr Cameron was speaking at a special school in Gloucestershire which had been under threat of closure until the county council went Tory on 5 May.

He said the government must find out why special schools have closed since 1997 and discover what sort of provision parents want, whether in mainstream or special schools.

There are 1,148 special schools in the UK, but 91 have closed since 1997. And he argued that ministers should prevent any more closures. In response, the Schools Minister Lord Adonis said "the number of places has declined only very slightly since 1997" with school closures mostly "due to reorganisations, including bringing schools together". "

"and why would private schools refuse disabled pupils anyway? on what grounds?"

Depends on the disability. If the child can't pass the entrance test which requires an IQ of 120 or whatever, standard state grammar school level then reject on those grounds. If the child needs to walk with a stick I can't imagine that's a problem in most schools, state or private. If the child is blind then there's a big issue over whether schools for the blind are best or not. If they wear hearing aids then I wouldn't have thought that was a problem in most schools either but they may want to be somewhere with a lot of sign language going on and lots of other children with hearing problems.

If they've got ADD but are on ritalin or whatever (as a lot will be in both sectors) then if it's controlled there's no problem either.

"Depends on the disability. If the child can't pass the entrance test which requires an IQ of 120 or whatever, standard state grammar school level then reject on those grounds. "

Oh, you're not talking about disabled children then. You're talking about children with an IQ of 120. Whether they're disabled or not.

Your argument makes no sense. Unless you believe that the common term for a child with an IQ of less than 120 is 'disabled'

her names was lola sh was a showwgilr

arf

with ehr feathers in her hair and her skirt right up to there

Trip trap.

In the end discussions on the value of private schools are never going to go anywhere, because if you've spend the equivalent of a luxury house in the country on your children's education, you're never going to accept that the free-at-point-of-delivery state equivalent could be as good, are you?

His name was Rico. He wore a diamond. He was escorted to his chair, he saw Lola dancing there . . .

there's a distinction between being disabled and having special needs. a child with ADD is not disabled!

your attitude really scares me.

xenia, who on earth are you? You sound like a character from PG Wodehouse or some disaffected minor royal, tutting about the state of the underclass. On the one hand you seem intelligent, but on the other capable of making such crass idiotic comments that I feel more sympathetic towards you rather than irritated. I'm fascinated about where you have got the money from to educate your 5 children, as you simply don't seem to have the intellect to hold down a job that would pay that kind of money. Can you really not see how the linking the words disabled and disruptive in the way you have might irk any reasonable person? Can you really be that dim?

at the coooocaaaaaa

.... we fell in love

"Talking Havana have a banana"

'I'm fascinated about where you have got the money from to educate your 5 children, as you simply don't seem to have the intellect to hold down a job that would pay that kind of money.'

Why? It's so obviously a complete fabrication.

There was blood and a single gunshot, but just who shot who?

ROLF

I'll bet if Barry Manilow had been properly educated, however, w/o having to consort w/all the unwashed masses, he'd have made that line grammatically correct. It's '. . . who shot whom', Barry.

[rolls eyes]

behave girls, you are being disruptive..

like we care
i lol abotu barry when his songs were benign used to s keep kids away form bus shleters he siad somehtign really funny
cant rememebr what

his nose would probably be disruptive

other well-heeled children wouldn't be able to see past it

that's not noseist btw

mine is easily as big as his

PMSL, Cod.

I worked in this career centre once, and the secretary used to get people to clear out at 5 by blasting Barry or ABBA.

'Fernando' worked a treat .