Nursery Fees Vs Private School Fees!

[Toothache]

My friend was educated at a Private School. I was chatting to her last night and she was talking to an old school Teacher the other day about Nursery fees.

Its actually costs MORE to put your child into Nursery than it does to have your child Privately educated when they are older!!!!!

How shocking is that???? So basically anyone that can afford a Nursery fulltime should technically be able to afford Private Education easily!!!

I'm not planning on sending my kids to a private school, but I just thought that was scandalous that Private Education is something that is viewed as a privelege for those in the wealthier bracket..... yet childcare is something that most average working parents are expected to afford!

my local primary schools aren't awful. We're guaranteed a place in 1 (which is very popular) but it is very large, has a very bad reputation for SN especially for ASD- ds2 is not autistic but his brother is and I don't want him to see children with autism "driven out of the school" (parent partnerships words). Next closest school is good- but no pre school care, no after school care (essential because of ds1's taxi pick up), oversubscribed and we're out of catchment. If ds2 got a place, ds3 wouldn't necessarily.

You can generally spot a poor school quickly IMO. The one I worked at was failing for all sorts of reasons. And sadly good kids are held back in poor schools. A teacher ends up spending more time trying to deal with bad behaviour and has less time to spend on teaching. It isn't right, but it is a fact.

As a teacher I hated being in a poor school. As a pupil it would be, IMO, worse.

We're fortunate to have excellent state schools for my kids but if not I'd have no qualms sending private otherwise.

I'm a teacher too so that helps.

When we decided to try for a second baby, we also decided to move house into an area with a good catchment state school so that we could send DD there.

Where will ds2 go then Jimjams?

What do you do now Hulababy, if you don't mind me asking. Just interested as I was a teacher who left the profession for similar reasons and in a few years will be wanting to start a new career.

private BH- only way I can do it as far I can see- because of the pre and after school care that we need. (only for a short time each day but I can't be in at home waiting for the taxi and in school picking up ds2).

private school or nursery jimjams?

My dd goes to breakfast club for half an hour and after school club to help with the 2 school situation.

Twinset - I now work in Prison Education at a local male prison (50% adult Cat C; 50% YO Cat A-C & lifers). I no longer teach at all. I am a Learning & Skills Advisor to the inmates, and also I am involved in sentence planning for them too. I really enjoy it.

There's no scope for pre or after school care for ds1 (his school doesn't do it and obviously he can't go to a ms one- plus he needs to get transport) so we need ds2's to. At the moment he's at nursery and dh drops him, I pick him up- we'll do the same when he goes to school.

Jimjams, would it be possible to taxi ds2 to/from school, leaving you free for ds1?

oh no I wouldn't do that. DS1's taxi is escorted etc- properly organised LEA transport- no way would I put a little 4 year old ds2 into a random taxi.

The private option is fine for us. It's better anyway as the local school we would be guaranteed a place in does very well in the league table but drives all the autistic/aspie kids out. And ok ds2 isn't autistic but I would hate him to see that. I couldn't really risk the other local school in case ds3 didn't get in.

Sorry, didn't mean a random taxi! I thought you'd be able to access the council-approved ones - it's probably a different scheme to the one they run round here, then. It must be a relief to have found a school you're happy with, though.

Bossy - Please don't assume things in my posts. I did not say my choice was superior in any way, in fact I have said on more than one message that it is a choice, pure and simple.

Nor did I say that other families were some how frittering their money away. I did not bad-mouth families that spent their money on holidays/cars/clothes/whatever rather than education, I simply stated their choice.

I did not bad-mouth them, please don't bad mouth me.

Have to say that one of the things that swayed me towards private schools was the fact that most of the teachers I knew indicated that they would have a chosen a similar school given the opportunity.

EricBlack, I'm not sure that it is just a lack of nice middle class children that causes some schools to do badly. It only takes one or two children to severely disrupt a class no matter how well-behaved the remainder are.

I suppose I do wonder whether ds1 will be permanently scarred by not mixing with more "riff-raff"! At school his peer group will probably reflect ours, all very nice and middle-class. I don't see an issue with that. It has been a little odd for the last year or so where he has been at a pre-school in a less affluent area. He has got hold of the idea that he is "rich". It hasn't stopped him making friends or being one of the gang, but I think that I'd rather prefer him to have a peer group that is closer to ours rather than to be the odd one out. Probably based on my own experience from school, though from the other perspective - scholarship kid in a class of very well-heeled girls.

Usually transport will only pay for the disabled child sudeonim. In fact when ds1 was at mainstream they wouldn't pay for ds1 even though the school was a 25 minute drive away as it was deemed "parental choice" (our other choice was the closest school which has a reputation for driving out ASD kids- not!) They don't usually fund siblings (tranpost costs LEAs a fortune so I'd be surprised if they did that anywhere). They pay now because his special school is deemed the closest suitable school and is more than 3 miles away. The school we have chosen for ds2 is within walking distance.

Ericblack, some of us know what the problems with the local state schools are because our kids have been going there for the past seven years.

Please don't make assumptions about people's motivations in choosing state v private: I'm sure there are still a few people who choose private because it never crossed their mind to let their kids mix with state-school riff-raff, but I'm sure they're in a minority. As it happens, we've stuck with state for the older two, despite the considerable problems. But I wouldn't rule out making a different choice for dd2, and I would be very unimpressed by anyone who presumed to make judgements about me because of that.

Walk a mile in someone else's shoes...

Cam summed it up. I felt like GO was judging those who don't (can't!) send their kids to a private school. But perhaps I just got the wrong vibe from her post!

Our state schools are very good here...and the private schools produce just as much riff raff!! I was engaged to a guy that was very posh and went to a Private School..... he made extra money by selling cannibis and LSD to his school mates!

In fact, of the people I know that went to the 2 Private Schools in this area I don't think any of them left school with particularly good grades. Not a scientific survey.... but just my experience. So I wouldn't choose the private schools around here for dd and ds.

Oh... and I'm the main earner by far.... and I've just returned to work fulltime (dd is 12mths).

I really don?t understand why people seem to want to attack others for choosing private school over state school. Surely, if you can afford it why not? I know if my child wasn?t going to a good state school I wouldn?t think twice about choosing a private school. I also know that if I don?t find a good grammar or secondary school, it will be a private one ? just trying to find ways to start saving for it.

I work in education and I work with researchers and the league tables, so I?ve seen all the research and evidence. There is no way I will experiment with my child?s education by enrolling him in my nearest dire school, just so to improve the status or educational achievement of the school.

Tooth - I'm not judging anyone.

If everyone is so happy with their choice of state school why are they so sensitive and think that anyone who makes a different choice is attacking them?

Agree with you creole - it is just about choices, and some of us are lucky enough financially/or make huge sacrifices to choose private rather than state education.

I expect that most people who use private schools, including me, would only be too happy to have a decent state school nearby, and would use it. But until that happens I'm not prepared to experiment with my kids education and send them to the local sink school - not if I have a choice.

GO - Neither of my kids are at school yet so I'm not being so sensitive (as you put it) about my choice to send them to any sort of school! And I don't think anyone else is here either. Its not sensitivity about choice.... its an issue of a perception of snobbery (like it's some sort of cruelty to subject your child to a state school education!!!!). It does come across in threads like this that people who use words like "dire" to describe a state school are being a bit insensitive to people that have no choice, but send their kids there.

I have a choice (most people don't).... I could afford to send mine to a private school, but I won't coz the private schools in this area (as I have said) are by no means better than our state schools. So I'll send them to a nice state school and spend the money I save on fags and gin.

I said the word dire and I am going to admit it, because the school my LEA are saying I should send my child is DIRE!!!

This school I'm referring to, have in one year half the blacks kids excluded for some reason or another. As a black parent to a black child that is not encouraging.

A few of my neighbours kids USE to send their kids to this particular school and the stuff that use to come of their little mouths would turn anyone's tummy.

My own neighbours (who don't know that much about the education system), warned me about this school.
So because I can't at the moment afford independent schools, I travelled 3 miles to a very good church school. Yes at first I went to church for the sole purpose to getting a place for my son (but I now enjoy the church and I go often, even though I've secured a place).

I believe everybody has a choice, it takes a bit of sacrifice and early planning.

And yes some state school are dire and some are fantastic. It takes a lot of research to find the right school.