will someone scold and spank me and remined me I am a stubborn socialist guardianista?

[twinsetandpearls]

I have always made my feelings clear about private schools but the family has been working on me again and have ordered a proespectus for a private school that I have been idly flicking through and I have fallen in love with it and even - and this is a big deal for me - looked at the website.

For me this is a huge step and I am feeling sick with guilt, so guilty in fact that I have just re planned all my lessons tomorrow for my classes as some kind of penenance.

I need other socialist guardianistas to take me in hand.

lol southeast

ha yes to the taxman

Oh Quattro, I don't think nasty thoughts about those who send their kids private - well, certainly not if the alternative is a bad state school. Of course I can understand why people do it.

I just think that all private schooling should be abolished so that the temptation is removed.

Well tsap that's a corking revelation, really then, your ambivalence about sending her is not really an issue, she will be alright either way. It puts it in perspective really, what matters is that she has a loving safe home life and she will probably thrive wherever she goes. I do believe in my heart that good people rise to the top whatever environment they're in, it may take them a bit longer or a different route, but having supportive parents means they'll be ok in the end. hope it all works out for you. gtgn

localgirl I did not do latin, greek or hebrew at school like many of my classmates at university ( I studied theology) who had been educated at public schoools. It did not hold me back, (well it did actually I was kicked off my Greek course ) I just had to work a little harder and it made me into the very determined lady I have become. In the end I got a 2:1, perhaps if I had been educated privately I may have got a first but i have never felt as if my state education held me back.

As i said earlier, the choices we make influence the society in which our children live. So the school in itself won't damage the child. And your choice alone won't either. But I truly believe that when we abdicate social responsibility, even at this level, we make society that little bit more fractured. And that is not good for our children. Abstract maybe, but it is what I believe.

localgirl you have lost me.

Well put, flying.

Also, as a secondary consideration, education isn't only about which qualifications you emerge with. It can also be about the people you meet, and the breadth of your social experience.

Just caught up on the thread. I don't think it is enough now to say 'well I did ok, my comprehensive education gave me xyz and I went to my choice of university'. Seems to me things have changed for the worse in schools. I don't believe for one minute that over the past 10 years children have suddenly become so much brighter. It seems it is now commonplace for students to take a GCSE early, when I went to school it was the very bright children who took their GCEs early and usually it was in maths or a science. Again I know I will get shouted down here but some subjects are more academic- some kids are more academic-lets just accept that and get on with it.

What does that have to do with private schools?

i am a believer in supporting the local school. my ds(13) goes to the local comp.

people should support the local school it isn't just that it's easier to get to, it gives your child a sense of community, but i suppose what is that worth now anyway

I was replying to TSAP comment about her education and because private schools tend to offer what I would call the core subjects - english, maths, latin, french, biology, physics etc not all this airy fairy stuff that evidently counts as 4 GCEs (this stuff wasn'taround when I went to school).

I think most state school provide Maths and English

The other thing I would say - possibly rather unkindly - is that there really isn't any point in wallowing in things and agonising in a Blair-going-into-Iraq sort of way. You know the pros and you know the cons and you are an intelligent woman.

Ultimately, the people who are going to judge you will. I do not know if Guardianistas are judgmental sorts or not.

Don't know how much of a financial sacrifice it will be for you either. Making a financial sacrifice and then not even having the luxury of feeling noble about it cannot be a good way to go.

I know and I get your point. It just a bloody shame that this is the case today in our schools:

The worst falls by 66 per cent from an 82 per cent rate of achieving five or more GCSE passes at the top three grades (A* to C) to just 16 per cent once the five passes have to include maths and English.

Overall the pass rate drops from 58 per cent achieving five A* to C grade passes to 45 per cent once maths and English are included.

It will be a bog financial sacrifice, but money just buys stuff, we would just have less stuff - not the end of the world

too many middle class parents have made the school system into what it is today

So what does that point mean Southeast?

southeastastra not in my school they haven't!

by not sending their children to the local schools

But hang on I don't think the number of people using the independent sector has increased that much, doesn't it stay roughly at 7%? Also fees have increased drastically over the past few years putting it even further out of reach for most parents. No sorry but it isn't the middles classes that have made the system the way it is.

but local doesn't have to mean private does it. selective schooling, i'll send little jonny 5 miles a day

As Xenia has pointed out, the number of people at private schools is around 7%. Not many people.

Maybe there should be no opt out at all. But in that case, there should be:

(a) no faith schools
(b) bussing to eliminate postcode lottery effects
(c) abolition of the public schools.

This is a very dangerous course to advocate though. Unless you are confident that the state system is going to provide the education and skills that the country needs, then economically the country will fall back. Are you confident?

I thought the number of people using the private sector had increased.

No opt out mmmm sorry but given the current situation people would still find a 'way out' if they wanted to. Home Eding would become the thing (probably with private tutors) or would we stop that as well!