IF money was no object would you chose a state school or private?

[SlightlyMadSCAREYthing]

And I reiterate that this is a philosophical IF money was no object.

I have always felt strongly about sending my children to state school, support you local schools and all, but now DTDs are at school I am faltering about secondary (which is still a long way off). So just wondered on a philosophical level - where do you stand?

You see statistics where the majority of high flying uni grads are private but private pupils are a small proportion of all those educated. I can't help wanting to do my best for my DDs...not that I am ever likely to afford to send them all to private if I really did decide that I wanted to.

if money was no object then all children would get a decent education, private schools would not exist, school would be a great and stimulating place to be, and people from around the local community would send there children to school together... it wouldn't be a restricted hoop jumping minefield....

if money were no object, just for my family.... I would probably leave the country in order to avoid my child having to experience the education system here

but aefondkiss I know of very few state schools in the entire UK who offer the sort of thing that Beetroots children and I got at our schools. So for "odd" cases like us I think private schools WOULD still exist (how many state schools do you know of that have individual music lessons, and "practice" periods timetabled into the school day????

btw - meant to say I LOVE that film (your username)

also - unless they're going to provide lots of state boarding schools what about those families who are often moved around in their jobs and consequently put their child at boarding school rather than constantly moving their children to a new school every 6 months/year???

my name is from the robert burn's song.... I haven't seen the film...

in some south american country there is a music programme for street children started by a famous conductor, that has basically encouraged thousands of disadvantaged children to become involved in music, some have gone on to be famous, all are encouraged to pass on their skills... what I am saying is there are ways of ensuring everyone gets a chance and good schooling would be more flexible than it is currently and why would boarding schools have to be private...

but this is all conjecture, anything I say is irrelevant, the rich will do well out of education the poor will take what they deserve...

Not one of your options, I know, but if money was no object, I would home-ed but have tutors if my children wanted to do any examinations before 16.

I have chosen private for many reasons. Financial was not the main reason - I know I am lucky that I could make that decision without worrying about it though.

"I do wonder if the states locally suffer because of the large number of private places"

Not sure they do round here TBH. Have to say that most of the children in DD's class live in areas with very good (at least on paper) state schools. Like many places most of the best local state schools here are in affluent areas where house prices are higher. Despite children fom these areas going to private schools, the state schools are still very popular, well subscribed and not underachieving.

State - but then am fortunate that the schools near me are generally pretty good.

DS will prob be Home Educated.

The only schools I have seen that I would consider sending him to have been private tho.

I am in total agreement with prufrocks on this.

Having had experience of both, private every time.

i think this issue boils down to whether you have GOOD state schools in your area. i would certainly choose state if the local schools were up to scratch. However if we stay in this area for work etc, i will seriously consider private for my dcs 11+ education.

At the moment though, money IS an object and ds is at the least crappy primary near us. We are attempting to move to a better area in the same town, to facilitate entry into better schools but the market round here is soooooo slow.

And as for home ed...ok for the first few years perhaps...but don't we all have to join the system eventually? And surely the social foundation is irreplaceable?

Exactly what Prufrock said.

DD is starting local state primary this month.

She also got into a very good private school, we ummed and aaahhed about it for ages but it was the community thing that swung it for us, she is an only child (atm, still hpe for more but don't think it will happen) and having all her friends locally is v important I think. Plus the state primary very good and has much nicer vibe than the private school. We could easily afford it.

Unless we move to a Grammar school area I couldn#'t see her going to state secondary, certainly not in the area we live in.

I don't think that you can do better than a good or outstanding state school.

I am a teacher, and know too many colleagues who have gone for jobs in private schools because they are not very good at discipline/engaging with the students, and think that teaching in a private school will be an easy option for them.

Just read the OFSTEDs and be prepared to move to be in a place where there is really really good state education available. It is out there.

also, had she not got into such a good and local state school I would have gone private

For me the issue is (probably, but obviously depending on how my very young dcs develop) what happens over the next few years about dumbing down in the English exam system.

At the moment we are starting to see some private schools opting out of A levels in some subjects or teaching international GCSE because they are finding it impossible to stretch the bright children with the standard ones.

If this continues and gets worse and by the time my children get to secondary we end up with a system where state schools are doing one exam and private schools are doing another, I can imagine us feeling we've got to go private. OTOH if it is sorted out by then I see nothing wrong with our fairly average local comp (which I prefer in a lot of ways to the minor public school near us anyway).

But definitely state for us at primary level.

State.
DH and I could easily afford to send DTS (3yo) to private school but we think our money will be better spent on other things to supplement their formal education. Both DH and I went to below average comps and both have PhD in chemisty. DH's sister is currently at Harvard after getting a PhD from Oxford and she went to same school as DH. My boss sent his daughter to private school since she was 5. She recently took her GCSEs, failed maths and got a D in English. DH's rich cousins both went to private school and both failed their GCSEs.

IMHO, a child's success at school is largely down to the child's innate ability, motivation to work hard, and parental support. Supportive school environment is another factor but most schools (private and state )do provide that anyway - what many of the stuggling schools do not have, is support from many parents who are indifferent to education in general.

Private schools appear to be more successful than state schools because many of them pre-select their pupils and weed out those who do not come up to scratch. Also, many privately school people appear to get the better jobs but much of that is down to having the right connections, something I have come across many times. In that context, comparing private schools to state schools is like comparing chalk with cheese, imo.

Queenofquotes: I know a local state school that has individual music lessons for students. Also, children to not have to learn an instrument at school - they can learn privately and individually outside school and many do, from both private and state sectors.

unfortunately private doesn't always mean good. There are few private schools here and to my knowledge from what there is, there are no really good ones. For that matter I don't know of any really good state ones so if there were a good private, I would definitely send dd there, wouldn't think twice about it.

The UK has a different tradition of independent schools and some have excellent facilities/reputations, it's really no comparison.

Here the state school vary a lot as to philosohy but tend to be high standard (eg ours is very old fashioned and extremely popular, the one I prefer but is logistically impossible and next closest is much mroe relaxed with smaller classes, less formality). they all end up at the same Comp (not one i'd be happy with but we won't be here then) at the end of the day anyhow.

Individual music lessons available to those who pay, small group lessons free in year 1 and £30 a term otherwise. I consider that really rather good. Music is much better provided for ehre than in Somerset.

there are private school locally- Rougemont is the best known but other smaller ones exist. Not amny kids from the village go there as the Primary is what it is, however. BUt if cash weren't an issue, I would happily pay a school that was willing to work with me to help DS1, rather than fight me in the name of the school. Getting the LEA out of the equation and paying for a full time LSA myself would be an excellent start.

Whereas ds3's needs are more complex and although he doesn't dislike the company of other children he's not bothered either, he only finished Nursery a few weeks abck but as soona s it was over that was it- there's no (or apaprently no) recollection of it. So I think a Tutor who could work with him 1-1 and involve him in social learninga ctivities at an appropriate level would be his best option by far.

completely forgt that we have Monmouth school just 20 minutes away, Doh! Supposedly also very good.

State. I could ramble on for a while, but Speedymama said much of what I would say.

Philosophical level - yes everyone should be at a good state school. Practical level, at secondary level, (from my experience with two DSs, one at university, other about to start sixth form college) I would go for a good independent - i.e a local independent day school with a good reputation for academic success, plenty of other activities and a happy environment. These schools can offer far more opportunities for their pupils and will ensure they achieve the best exam results they can, whereas our local comprehensive concentrates on ensuring all pupils who are able can achieve a Grade C but cannot spare resources to encourage C graders to get Bs and B graders to get As etc. But that is just my experience of secondary education in one small area of England!

Lilymaid, independent schools will also focus on those who are liable to get the good results, especially the A graders as they have their eyes on the league tables too.