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.

I really don't know what I'd do because I can't decide whwther I want my children to be "successful" in life or not. That might seem odd but I've had the high powered job and you work long hours and have more possessions than life. Now I live in an area with a strong local community. These are not "the people who matter' to quote one parent recently but they are people who know each other and know who is decent and who can't be trusted. I want my children to be decent people and power corrupts. But I also want them to be able to make their own choice of future.

I've recently been reading "It's your time you're wasting" which a friend lent me. [Blog here frankchalk.blogspot.com/ for anyone who hasn't seen this account of life in state schools]

If my kids only choice was that sort of state school or private it would have to be private but we have relatively good state schools here. Home ed with tutors wouldn't give them much social life but at school they are sort of encouraging them to regard the less academic as less important.

Just as well I don't have unlimited money!

Yes a A*-F is a pass. U is a fail.

A*-C results are possibly slightly more informative.

I would send my children private every time. Unfortunately for me, having looked at 2 state schools and 3 private, the difference will be worth every penny. That said I am pretty angry that I feel that I am going to have to pay for education when I already pay for it through my taxes, however I feel that things have just gone from bad to worse. It is an absolute joke that 97% of pupils pass 'A' levels. My prediction is that the independants will move rapidly away from the existing GSCE and 'A' level exams and we will end up with an even wider gap between state and private. The government should be ashamed of what they have done to our education system and how they have taken away opportunity from so many.

Sorry if I have repeated what someone else has said, I only scanned the thread.

If parents were given a voucher for education as they are for nursery, I wonder how they would spend it....????

tatt "Home ed with tutors wouldn't give them much social life" This is not true. Some of my children are at school and some are home-ed. The home-ed children don't have any less of a social life than the children at school.

The children here don't always want to mix with someone from another school.

There are two children living nearby who are home-ed. I have never seen them with other children, although that is partly parental choice.

Mine are out and about with the neighbours children and also have friends from the home-ed groups. Overall I suppose the children near us mix quite well. They don't seem to have problems mixing with others from different schools,either.

speedymama, of course you're right kids can do well at poor schools..but its bloody hard work, in a class of over 35 where materials are scarce, your main teachers are off with stress and you're left with cover teachers so often you lose the thread. Then having to try and learn over the distractions of those noisy time wasters who actually need more time themselves than they can possibly get from stretched staff, this is not a fun way to learn. Nor does it make you a 'more rounded person who understands how the other half live'!!

I admire the teachers at these tough schools but a teacher should be able to teach their beloved subject not spend time as a social worker dealing with ridiculous government beauracracy! The kids must suffer surely?

Not read the whole thread... but if money were no object, then private because I'm a teacher and I see the daily reality of state secondary schools. That's enough to put me off!

aside from any other aspects, one reason I'd choose private is for the lovely long holidays.

Elkat, why don't you do your pupils a favour and go teach in the perfect private sector and leave behind the reality of the state sector then?

Elkat has answered the op and given a reason why. Elkat may still be a good teacher and do the best for his/her students. Doesn't stop him/her seeing what's happening in the school he/she works in and preferring something different.

Tatt - if someone didn't want to mix with others simply because they didn't go to their school then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want them as a friend!

I would choose state for primary if i could get ds into a certain state school but not being in the catchment area im not sure if thats going to happen.

For secondary it wouls be private everytime i have been to both secondary schools in this area (both state) and they are appaling i had a misrable time.

Speedymama, why do you assume that I must be cr*p? In fact, my last observation graded me as outstanding - and I like to think that I do the very best by my students - and achieving a 100% A - C results in my A level students this year, with almost 80% A and B grades (from a non selective, run of the mill college), I think I do have some grounds for saying that!

But the reality is that there are so many more resources available to private schools that are just not available to state students. For example, where I am, we have the funding to give our 'A' level students individual tutorials once a term. My friend in her private school has time allocated in her timetable to give her students a private tutorial once a fortnight minimum and once a week for those who are struggling. Obviously then, it is much easier for students to suceed if they are having individual private tutorials on a regular basis... but the funding to do all these 'extras' is just not there in state schools. Like I say, as a teacher (who has taught in both state and private) I know the realities of what the experience is like for both, and in my experience if money were no object, I would go private because simply there are more opportunities.

Where did I say that you were cr*p?

I just think that if you do not agree with a system, why stay there when a supposedly better alternative is available. With your pedigree, I'm sure the private sector would welcome you with open arms.

As for the private tuition thing. Well I use to do private tuition and I had a fair number of privately schooled pupils, especially for A'level chemistry.

Interesting thread, can I butt in with an observation from the university side of things? I've been teaching in a uni with a 2:1 private: state school ratio for a long time now, and the differences do not boil down to 'good' education versus 'bad' education. The top private sector schools often leave a mark: confident, apparently full of ideas in class, but (not always!) hot-housed and superficial. Students who came through not-so-fabulous state schools may not be as verbal in group work, but they can be more original and resourceful. At the end of the day, the grades work out the same for state and private students - we're all used to the 'silent one' who gets a 1st and the 'good school' chap who can't understand how come he got a 2.2 when he worked so hard. OK, I'll go hide under the parapet now...

Private, to be honest.
Smaller class sizes, great facilities. Yup, send ds to Alleyns, if they'd have him, and dd to JAGS.
I would feel v worried that they only knew posh kids though. That is a real disadvantage IMO.

I can remember playing netball against JAGS. My they were horrible .

horrible, pooka? how?

Oh crikey. Sorry if you were at JAGS.

We played lots of netball matches/tournaments against lots of schools, and I have to say that of all the schools we visited, JAGS was the one were we were made to feel least welcome.

Can't put my finger on any incident in particular. Might be because we weren't particularly good and they were, and were incredibly shouty about it. Most places, if we lost (and we didn't all the time), was still a jolly, friendly atmosphere. Was a long long time ago, but recall getting the impression that the effort involved in beating us was a waste of their time IYSWIM...

DH went to Dulwich and recalls being terrified by the girls there - but then adolescent dh probably terrified by all girls.

Don't worry, no personal association! It's just local.

I was educated in the state sector and did well-but it was a struggle. I am educating my children privately as I am able to make that choice. There are better facilities and class sizes (the deciding factor). My independant school has normal down to earth children and a very nurturing atmosphere. what I love about the school is their emphasis upon manners and respect, which is of paramount importance to me.

this state-sanctioned religious (and implicitly racial) discrimination.

Catholic primaries in big cities have a large number of Filipino and African pupils, and possibly Indians, too. They probably have more experience dealing with different groups than any other kind of school as so many of them were set up for the Catholic children of Irish and then Italian and Polish immigrants.

Our local village C of E primary has had Chinese pupils and currently has two Muslim children attending. Anyone who lives in the catchment area can go to the school.

Muslim schools would presumably have many pupils of Arab/Asian/African origin.