Outstanding state secondary or pretty ordinary private?

[ericawong]

I know this question sounds a bit vague but if yr child has a chance to get into an outstanding state school which has slightly higher average attainment 8 score compared to other stated funded schools while it also has slightly higher than 60 points per pupil on this measure in the GCSEs.

My child is not particularly bright so he can't get into an outstanding private. He may got an offer but just wonder if the money is worth spending. After all, it s a lot from my point of view.

I d appreciate for any advice

Thank you

It depends a bit on schools but we had the choice between excellent state and academic private and if it had been the less academic private we would have gone with state.

We have a dc in the state and he’s doing 4 science / maths based A levels and it’s been really good for him

On the flip side private is offering loads of co curricular which other dc is really in to. But not sure eldest would do as much drama / music / sport. He does do it but prefers own path (eg joining gym)

So what your dc is like and how much they’ll get out of it is key too

I found it a tough decision so no completely right answer

Keep talking to people and see how you feel

I'd also look at when the Outstanding inspection was as there are many schools that have not been inspected for a very long time with this judgement. I wouldn't place too much emphasis on this.

Completely depends on the school. Some privates are great with lower ability children, some manage them out.
Same with some private schools.
What are they?

I think you should look for the school that is the best fit for your child. It really doesn't matter if it's state or private, as long as you can comfortably afford the latter.

Outstanding schools are not always outstanding...take ofsted ratings with a pinch of salt. On the other hand, private schools are frequently no better than state.

Look at your child, look at the individual schools and decide where he would thrive. That's all that matters.

Difficult to decide really. Depends on the different environments and the quality of the the time spent there as much as their final grades. Would your DC be more happy in a smaller class? Have you looked around them both?

Outstanding state. Then I’d use the money I would have spent on private school to help him with one to one tailored tutoring to help him where he’s struggling.

Although it depends on your particular child. You say he ‘isn’t bright’ but it might be that he’s struggling a bit or isn’t motivated so I’d be looking to help boost and support him.

My experience. DD also not very bright.

We sent her to an outstanding state academy. It ticked all of boxes and seemed a fantastic school from the outside.

People do all sorts to try and get their kids into this school as it very oversubscribed. My DD was able to gain a place down to being adopted from local authority care. We were really pleased to get her in.

The first year was ok - not amazing but OK. They initially provided some additional academic support for which we were grateful but she wasn't fully settled and we put it down to the pandemic disrupting the school year.

Y8 was a disaster. They made some quite drastic changes to the way the school was set up and it totally changed the feel of the school ( previously had single sex classes even though it was a Co Ed school)

DD suddenly experienced awful bullying from some of the boys and we realised that because DD was in the lower ability sets the classroom disruption caused by integrating boys into the class was far worse than in the higher ability sets.

DD felt very unsafe at school and her mental health suffered to the point that she needed counselling. School said the waiting list was too long to offer it to her even though they felt she was in very urgent need ( bullying triggered an eating disorder and some obsessive compulsive behaviours)

We paid for private counselling.

They had also failed to provide any of the additional academic support they were supposed to citing Covid restrictions as the reason.

We paid for private tuition.

Sadly things got worse and worse so we had to remove her and she didn't return for Y9

She is now at a non selective private school and is a different child already. Even though it's mixed teaching she says the boys are all really nice and there is no bad behaviour in the classroom. She feels safe and happy at school and can now learn in a safe environment.

I really regret not sending her private from Y7 but we had such faith in the fact that the school was rated outstanding.

We have heard of a few children in her year group also being moved to different schools. Her friend has been moved ( for similar reasons to our's) to a state school that was actually in special measures and is flying now and so much happier.