arabella weir on why we must send our kids to state schools

[nowirehangers]

Arabella on why she would never send her kids to private schools
What do people think?
Fwiw I find the tone unbelievably smug. I also disagree with a lot of what's being said. I don't think all parents send thier kids to private schools so they can avoid the great unwashed, though some do. I would love my dcs to go to a state school for the reasons she mentions.
What puts me off is the fact the teaching is so often mediocre - as the Chief Inspector of Schools admitted this week. Of course there are so incredible teachers in the state system but I fear there are a lot of second-rate one too. I went to a state primary where the teaching was awful then was moved in to a private school and couldn't believe how much more stimulating the atmosphere was and how much more inspirational the teachers were. I dislike the idea of my dcs mixing only with posh kids, so I'm going to put mye experience down as an unlucky one and give the local state school the benefit of the doubt but if I feel they're being taught badly I will remove them and remortgage the house or whatever to make it work. Anyway, that's my opinion, interested in others.

My ds goes to a private school with 63 different nations represented there - mates with an Icelander, an Indian, an Estonian, a Korean and a Ecuadorian/Italian/Brit. How diverse would you like?

The only way the state system will improve is by having more teachers and reducing class sizes - that is the key, and by introducing setting across the board. The language issue is also a factor. If you are teaching 30+ students in a class in English, you do not have time to slow the pace down for the non-native speakers, especially at GCSE.

The private sector supplies much that the state system does not, and having the extra curricular stuff all in the same place as school makes life a damn sight easier for people.

A rich Icelander, a rich Indian, a rich Estonian, a rich Korean and a rich Ecuadorian/Italian/Brit.

diverse, but not representative of any community i know

hello bundle

yep 4 form

suggest friend comes back for look at Ashmount

lovely smaller classes but don't tell anyone or everyone'll want a place

lol spaghopps! (and yay @ your new name!)

are you a parent there?

I think what people forget is that in state schools there can be a teacher and two teaching assistants in a class of 30. That's an amazing ratio, I think - 1:10

thanks bundle took me a while to work out how to do it [still a newbie...]!

yes am parent there and really really love the place and ds couldn't be happier

get more than a bit and at the way it sometimes gets talked about locally tbh

so sorry if unduly stroppy to start with

Cod - I assure you that not ALL private schools are crap with Special Needs. My ds school is wonderful with him. I don't doubt some are bad tho.

don't worry, am used to it (we have gone down the God Route for schools...)

ah

can't tempt you in to have a look round too, can I?

(quickly sets up one-woman PR outfit)

I think the article is smug and self righteous. I think she's as much of a snob as the idiot parents who believe that giving thier kids a private education somehow makes them special.

I'm not critising parents who send their kids to private school, just the smug bastard variety.

Blimey, what a huge amount of tosh. One of the poorest pieces of writing I've seen. The Questions bit at the end (not written by her)is even more questionable.

Children "come from further away" at private schools, so "the market responds more slowly". What??!! What a ridiculous statement. At every private school? At most? What checking have they done/facts have they done to back this up re distance travelled to school per child in different educational modes? (Bet it wouldn't pass muster at the New York Times). And what is the point of the two statments. Does the "market" respond more slowly because, erm, the children have to travel further and have forgotten everything by the time they get home? Or because the parents, erm, shout their comments and it gets dissipated by the distance.

I think my favourite statement is "most of the least socially and emotionally capable people I know went to posh schools" so she chose state (I like the pejorative use of "posh"). I also thought quite hard about how to educate my children but I would think that saying "most of the least socially and emotionally capable people I know went to -posh- chav schools" would be insulting and not a real ground for deciding what to do about my children's education.

Ho hum Arabella. "Does my intellect look small in this?"

Don't think they are particularly well off, especially the Estonians as their Forces don't get paid much. For this particular school, the employers pick up the fees in the majority of cases. You are making judgements about people's circumstances without knowing the facts. It is very representative of the community we live in btw. The Ecuadorian's mum is the school secretary who works to help pay the fees. I wouldn't class us as rich either.

The point about having a teacher and 2TAs in a classroom is a tad specious methinks. The ratio is more like 1:28 for the teacher and 1:1 for the particular student the TA is there to assist. The TA is NOT there to help out generally, but to focus their attention on the needs of one child, helping them with concentration, the task in hand and behaviour management to name but three. That is as it should be.

I've taught in both sectors and been educated in the state sector. DS has always been privately educated. The class size is the thing that makes the difference and the setting helps too.

anchovy, you obviously don't read the Daily Mail then

Aura, I don't understand your questions?

You asked: "what was it about her kids that you now have the added bonus of knowing you should avoid?" Well she accused private school parents of wanting to avoid the great unwashed. I pointed out that not all of us think that way, and then sarcastically noted that there is an added bonus to the DCs going to private schools in that they will avoid Arabella Weir's children. Why is that a bonus? Well imagine meeting Arabella Weir (who came across as the queen of smug) at the school gates. Ooh what a nightmare ...

Further you said "you live in the demographic she said and its true why no want to participate in what is around about you?" I don't know what demographic you mean, and do I have to join everything that is around me? I mean there is a lady doing salsa, dog-obedience training, countless aerobics classes, a running club, a cycling club, two sets of stables, umpteen book groups, lots of football clubs, a badminton club, a tennis club, umpteen churches ... So do I have to join them all?
why are you there?

..she must be one busy lady QC ..doing all that

i just didnt get anything in the article for one to take objection to her kids, so was just asking what you meant by that
so it's her you dont like, you think she will be smug
see i dont think she would be particulary she seems quite down to earth

oh my comment about getting down n educated with the local demographic (people around n about) was a simple solution to the old problem posed of living with but not amongst your neighbors
i dont think it is healthy
and your kids avoid pelters just because of their cut of their jib blazer

I quite liked the article, and thought her point about not having a knee-jerk response to a bad Ofsted report if your children were happy, settled and doing well was refreshing. But she (and the sidebar writer) did seem to make very sweeping assumptions about why parents choose private education. In our case it's partly to avoid the inflexibility of the national curriculum and SATS, partly because we were looking for a school with a good reputation for dealing with very (ahem) active and energetic boys without either squishing their natural enthusiasm or letting them become brats, with a side order of introducing certainty into our lives (we;re ineligible on religious grounds for two out of three of our local schools and the third is still massively oversubscribed, so we wouldn't know until a few months before DS was due to start whether he'd be going there or being bussed to the far side of the borough).

Ultimately we chose DS's school for the same reason Arabella Weir says she chose her DCs' school: we liked it.

"my comment about getting down n educated with the local demographic (people around n about) was a simple solution to the old problem posed of living with but not amongst your neighbors"

Sorry, but why is this the preserve of state schools. I'm really struggling with this one. My DCs school is about a 10 minute walk away. A third of DD's class live in the neighbouring 3-4 roads: it's great because if you've got sick child/after school stuff you can phone someone up and say - "oh could you possibly pick up/drop off x on your way past?" We are often picking up and depositing children to help people out. This was one of the real things we wanted - to know people in our neighbourhood, so the DCs had friends in the neighbourhood and one of the things that appealed to us about the school. It's a private school. This is our local demographic - why is there all this bizarre stuff of if you go to a private school you aren't part of your local community?

everyone i know whose kids go private drive to school

(ie it's a long way from where they live)

No Fio Fio, but an earlier post suggested that private schools were a white middle class British enclave. I was trying to demonstrate otherwise.

does she live in a shite area with shite schools?

i'll bet you London to a brick she doesn't.

I don't send my DCs to private school but if I did they would be off like a shot to St Posh.
The school that my DCs go to is in a very mixed area and, TBH, some of the parents are utterly terrifying (massive social problems were I live) and you can see their DCs are slowly turning into them.