Would most people choose private education if they could afford it

[mids2019]

My children go to reasonable state schools but especially from my older daughter I keep hearing about a succession of cover teachers and general malaise in the school system (governments fault not the schools)

That for me asking the question would most people choose private education if affordable in their heart of hearts or are there egalitarian parents who would still choose state on ideological grounds?

I am in two minds about this but certainly the private sector locally is attracting quite a few.

Oh well if there is a rumour going around.....it must be true. FFS

While this is not the case, what is definitely happening from my experience, is that, more experienced teachers are leaving and going back to the state sector in order to retain their teacher pensions.. due to the fact that so many private schools have opted out. In the long run I think this reduce the number of teachers willing to go into the private sector.

You've just done a disservice to the state sector by your comment :)

I think choosing a school on ideology is a luxury you only have if you’re in very good catchments- it’s very east to take the moral high ground about equality if you’re in a good catchment…. Which is all a bit hypocritical.

You need to pick school by school. At primary level the value added wasn’t enough for me to switch. If I had £250k sitting there for fees I’m still not sure I would have done at primary level as I love the local community feel we have from our village primary. That wouldn’t be replicated going to the prep outside of the village.

At secondary, I wouldn’t hesitate to go for private day schools but actually even if I had millions I wouldn’t go for the big public schools. I think that is a different kettle of fish entirely re privilege but also the format of very long days + Saturday school or boarding wouldn’t be right for our family.

I would add to this and say the ones who could afford it, live in the catchment of a rough/failing school and then choose not to. I know plenty people who could afford it and don't but they live in the catchments of the best schools so why would they choose private?
Lots of virtue signaling on MN about this but it's clear it's from the 'leafy comp' brigade who have bought into the catchment.

How? By saying you need to be more skilled to work with tougher kids and the 'bad' teachers work in private? If you don't want to learn and improve then you shouldn't be in the profession imo.

It's not so much a rumour, bad choice of words.

Second part of my comment is definitely true. Worse schools invest more in training their staff because they can't afford to lose them, so staff benefit.

You mean you just made it up! Seriously as a teacher this is shocking misinformation, the thing you will be teaching against come September

I fall squarely into this bucket. We could afford to send private, but our state school was in the top 10% of any league table and the kids were thriving at it, so why would we.

4 years later - headteacher was on long term sick, major fire destroyed half the buildings, bullying and antisocial behaviour were rife, and there was a massive shortage of teachers because no one wanted to teach there anymore. As a group of parents we tried so hard to fix it, but the school wouldn’t engage.

You bet your ass I moved my kids to private at that point!

I would still much rather have stayed in state, but not enough to sacrifice my kids education, safety and mental health.

1 "There is a common rumour going round" = basing your statements on rumours rather than facts that leads to cognitive errors and bad social effects. You're teaching state schools kids bad habits, both cognitively and socially.

2 "The worst teachers teach in private" = denigrating comments about your colleagues which show a lack of professional ethics + fostering the attitudes of social division and prejudice.

3 The fact you can't see what the problem is even when pointed out = a lack of self-reflection and willingness to learn from mistakes.

Like most parents, all I want a happy safe environment where my ds can be engaged and challenged and enjoy his learning.

For us that was not available through the state option. The only state senior place offered was at a school that Ofsted described as unsafe, where bullying was rife and the staff had no idea who was on site at any time.

So ds went for a scholarship and won it, and I mortgaged my soul to pay the other half of the fees.

If there had been a safe, decent state option, I would have grabbed it with both hands. I don't enjoy paying £63k for something if I could have found it for free. Or having to work an extra 5 years.

Surely that's obvious.

It’s very easy to have ideology if your child will be going to a decent school from your catchment.
If you moved house to a better catchment to further the education of your own child at the expense of another who now lives just outside the PAN due to your shiny new house with a shiny new school opportunity then really that makes you no different to the private school parent. Likewise the parent who diligently goes to church for 7 years then inexplicably loses their faith.
We all do what we’re able to do to enable our child to succeed.

That is a very honest and commendable post. Thank you.

I see so many comments from pro-comprehensive, anti-private and anti-grammar advocates that deny that children could ever be held back by attending the local comp, however rubbish and chaotic it may be: “a clever child will do well anywhere” - no, that’s complete nonsense.

I don’t believe any of the ‘principled’ comp proponents when they say that. They’re either lucky enough to live near a decent comp or they’ve bought into the area. And the numbers of these posters who use tutors and other costly means to promote their children’s academic achievements, but won’t admit it, are, IMO, huge.

Need to get off your high horse, you don't know me from one badly worded comment I made online.

Already said I used the wrong word- rumour. I certain don't teach my kids to believe rumours thank you very much. I didn't even say I believe my comment, just what I've heard.

There are good and bad in every profession and definitely staff who don't want to improve their practice or are only there for the holidays/pension. Also I never said that all private staff are bad.

You didn't explain what the problem was, that doesn't mean i'm not reflective or willing to learn from mistakes. I'm 100% the opposite.

I could write a list of your flaws but don't want to stoop to your level.

I didn't make it up, it's just something I heard! Not sure I believe it but can see the logic.

My judgey BIL said "I would never send our child to a private school, we just don't believe in paying for such a privilege." The following year he spend £900k on a tiny terrace house to get his child in the UK's best state school. He has always been a prick, but now he is a hypocritical prick.

Sorry I'm struggling to believe whether you are serious or not. You understand that this is the definition of misinformation especially as you state you are a teacher and therefore setting yourself as a voice of knowledge/authority? You are repeating something ridiculous that you heard...
The fact you can't see that this is a concern is even more worrying

Wow I am getting a lot of stick for one badly worded comment. Definitely won't be using the word rumour again on here.

All I meant was, in my experience, I have had better training at tougher schools then at 'good' schools which imo makes teachers in tougher schools better at their jobs.

And private school teachers may not have as good behaviour management skills due to smaller class sizes, but certainly not true of all them.

I have tried to edit my original post but can't. I value having good behaviour management and pastoral skills over getting good exam results (which private school teachers may well be better at- but a lot of other factors involved) but that's just me.

Then we agree on behaviour over exam results which is the whole reason we chose private ie calm learning environment.
What people object to is your comment of "the worst teachers teach in private" which suggests that the standard of teaching in private is much lower. This blatantly isn't the case. There are good and poor teachers in both sectors, I would just rather my DDs teachers ha e the time to teach rather than just manage behaviour

Again, this is just a rumour I heard, never said I necessarily believe it. I can just see how it might be 'easier' in some ways to teach in private. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

So my level is so beneath you just because I answered a question you asked me in your post? You asked "how?" and I explained - now you're not happy. Well...

Frankly, I find your behaviour appalling for a teacher. Sorry.

You misunderstood my original post because I worded it badly.

You made loads of sweeping statements judging me as a person (nothing to do with explaining issue with my comment) with no evidence.

Both as bad as each other with overgeneralising tbh.

I don’t agree with Sunshine9218’s argument. But I think posters should lay off her. She’s explained herself. There’s no merit in constant attack.

DS starts private school in a few weeks - age 10 - was never in our original plan, crikey if it was I would have made some far more prudent financial decisions over the last 10 years! But a dyslexia diagnosis and a chaotic learning environment in his primary classroom (post Covid) has made us make this rather difficult decision. We're also not blessed with the best state high school.
DD may well go to the local high school and thrive there but we really need to be in a position to offer both the same opportunity.
I've lost friends over this decision as my social group are squarely in the 'we disagree with private schools but will spend £750k on a home in the top catchment' set. FWIW it would have cost us more to buy that house than stay put and pay school fees. I'm sick to death of the rhetoric around it all and just keep silent now in any chat about schools. The demonising language that's being used by the Government around parents that use private schools really isn't helping.

The pile on by a number of posters because one poster made a bad choice of words is not okay. Fine that you don't agree with what she said but it is all a bit of an overreaction. And behaviour that is verging on bullying is quite appalling too.