reasons to go private at reception age??

[MissChief]

interested in why people go private - driven to it thro perceived lack of alternative or automatic choice as no faith in state sch system etc etc?
We originally planned to go for state option as automatic choice - since then first choice rejected and having checked out prospectus & ofsted report, not overly impressed with school's quality either. think the area we're in (just moved) seems to be one where people go private where poss. I now think I'd actually prefer to make financial sacrifice of sending ds private in order to ensure he's in class of manageable size with good discipline, good moral ethos, decent food, daily sports etc. Not having been to private school myself though, perhaps I'm just being naive - is it really so much better (or have the various heads I've met done a good sales job on me!)

Fascinating and really helpful thread. Now I know what questions to ask/things to look for when we go round primary schools. We are in the catchment area for one primary school with very poor academic results. We don't want to send ds there so our choice is between: moving house into catchment for a better school or sending ds to a private prep school. Latter is cheaper by far, given we only have one child so far and, with the financial differential between the two choices, private will remain cheaper unless I manage to produce half a football team in the next few years

my DD goes to a private pre-school. It's just over £700 a term. The reason, I visited a number of schools and it's the only one that I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, was right for her. My daughter has Down's syndrome and some of the attitudes I had experienced in other pores-schools upset and worried me. I visited a wide variety of different schools and within minutes of the local Montessori school I knew it was perfect for her. I didn't know how i was going to afford it but decided I'd worry about that later! We used savings for the first erm, then my FIL said he'd pay, then my mother said she'd do the next term, and now we get help from the grant that everyone gets so it's much more affordable but still hundreds of pounds, but worth every penny in my eyes.

DD currently goes to a private nursery in Staffordshire attached to a prep school. We initially sent her there as she is an October birthday so missed the cut off for state nrsery (Sept intake only).

We have a good local state primary but pretty dire senior schools. We are going to keep her at the prep for the following reasons.

Smaller classes with teacher & assistant
French, music and violin lessons taught by specialists
No SATS, literacy or numeracy hours
A much broader curriculum with plenty of opportunity for sport/drama/music
The school also has a senior school and she will be more likely to pass the entrance test for that (I beleive it is their own exam not common entrance.)
Co-ed from 3-11 & 6th form single sex from 11-16 (more applicable when my son goes I think)
Free before & after school care
Excellent healthy lunched (included in fees)
Lots of trips and activities (included in fees)
Good atmosphere & discipline

My husband is a teacher and I am an admin assistant so hardly rolling in it. When both of the children are there we will basically be living off my husband's wage and using my wage to pay the fees. We only go on holiday in my parent's caravan, rarely go out, buy all our clothes from Asda and generally live very frugally.

The worst thing for us will be the uniform. Although the nursery is not so strict the school specifies the exact design of pinafore (£14), blazer (£75), summer dress (£22)and jumper. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to get most of it from the swap shop.

Am I right in thinking that LEA Nursery Vouchers can be offset against the fees for 4 year olds in Reception ?

Yes Liz, they can.

Yes, up to the age of 5.

Just read through this thread - hope it' not too late to contribute! Our son is in the local state primary but will be going to private secondary school next year. His primary school is right on the national average when it comes to results so it's not a particularly high-flying state school. Yes, it is competitive getting into independent schools in London at 11+ and we were concerned about it but we've found it not as hard as we thought. I wonder if the schools have a vested interest in promoting the idea that it's really hard to get a place. Since most people make multiple applications, the odds are not quite as bad as they seem. All the children in my son's school who applied for an independent school got at least one offer. To help him prepare, ds had one hour's tutoring per week for a year beforehand.

On affording the fees, we shall see! But similar to previous postings, we both work but in v. averagely paid jobs - teaching and admin. We've been saving an equivalent amount to the fees for the past year just to make sure we can afford it. We don't spend a lot of money but never have so probably don't know any different. I'm more than happy to spend the money on education rather than other things. I know that some people have no choice at all.

By the way, I'm v. pleased ds went to a state primary and mixed with a diverse group of people up to age 11. I think this will help him later. I would have big reservations about my children being educated in the private sector from 5 to 18.

I can only speak for DH school and the numbers for 11+ are certainly not exaggerated

It is deffo mega competitive there are so many boys all trying to get places there.

I do agree with the benefits of primary education DS loves his school and so do we. especially being with girls was important to us.

All the prep schools here are single sex from 3 or 4 years {nursery class}

There would be a small diversity in the income range if DD attended the local state school and very little diversity in the ethnic or cultural background of the pupils since we don't live in an area like that.

However at private primary school many of the children are similar to her i.e. one parent from one country/background and one from another. The income range is probably huge too - from the people who have only one child and mum works for school fees or grandparents who pay for education to multi-millionaires. But it could generally be said that she's unlikely at school to mix with anyone who is living in complete poverty.

SueW my chidren also go to a private Primary who's intake is much more ethnicaly diverse than the local state Primary. The local school is 100% white UK born. Wheras their school has African, Afrocariben, Indian, Parkistani, Middle eastern, Japaniese and mainland European children. The parents are not posh and rich. Many are teachers, doctors, nurses sort of thing.

Snap HMB, ds' private primary (non-selective on ability) is also more ethnically and culturally diverse than our local primaries, and probably has a similar demographic profile...
Soapbox, I hadn't heard about the change in policy at your DCs' school...

a really late addition to this thread - I have just skim read it.

Just want to focus on 11+ results in response to those who fear sending their children to state primaries will put them at a big disadvantage when it comes to 11+ preparation:

At our church primary school, 17 out the class of 24 took the 11+ and approx 12 passed it. The school offered no coaching at all (not even a mock test) for the 11+ as it comes under the jurisdiction of an LEA with no grammar system. The 11+ test was taken in our neighbouring borough - the school is very near the borders.

Most parents of those 17 entrants AFAIK gave their children some form of coaching, however - ranging from sitting with them at home and working through test papers informally to seveal hours worth of private tutoring a week. Some parents prepared their children just a few weeks before, others started this two years before the exam.