Independent to state school move?

[BusyBlue]

Has anyone in Cambridge moved their children from private to state school? If so, how was it?

This is something we are considering, but the whole process is like a massive leap into the unknown!

Haven't done it, but I have my own kids in state schools while I teach in private. I can't be more specific but I honestly feel Cambridge state schools are more than fine. Obviously private schools offer more in terms of music, sport facilities etc and smaller classes but I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the quality of what the state offers. Are you able to specific about which state schools you are considering, in case anyone can help?

Hi orchardy! We would need places in primary and secondary. I have been told that there might be places in the years we need at Queen Edith, Fawcett, Netherhall, Coleridge and possibly the new Trumpington Community College in September. Our catchment primary doesn't have places.

It's not my side of town unfortunately so I can't offer any insights into those particular schools, but I'm sure there will be people who can! Good luck!

The things to do is visit possible schools - and I would include your local primary as even if they don't have places now - turnover in Cambridge can be high and they may. Then you do an In year application where you put the schools you want in order and see where you get to. I think you can accept a place and be on the waiting list for another school.

Thanks. I'm really interested to hear if anyone has actually moved their children from private to state?

I have only ever heard of people going from state to private. My main concern is how they will cope with much bigger class sizes.

I know of 2 siblings who moved from Private to state last year. Both seem to have settled in well in our primary school.

This might just be me, but I would say that it's mainly for the teachers that the smaller classes are much nicer! For the children, I'm not so convinced it makes such a difference. I guess a child who struggles a bit, but not sufficiently to get a TA, may find keeping up more difficult in a larger class, but a lot will come down to the class dynamics and the individual teacher. Socially, I think larger classes are preferable, to be honest.

I know of someone who has gone from private primary (st faith's) to state secondary (Comberton). No problems settling in AFAIK but the parent has complained about the homework being easier.

That's interesting SiliconJen. If it's not being too nosey, do you mind sharing why they moved? Ours are in the same age range (prep)- I don't know of any others personally who have done this, although a few have talked about being disappointed in some areas of our current school and questioned what we ate paying for.

I don't actually know - I assumed cost. I do know people who went private at primary due to local primary being full (eg newnham) who are now going back to state because they can now get a place in the secondary.

When my dc were in primary there were quite a few children who moved from private to the state primary so that they would get a place at the state secondary (Comberton Village College). I think dc2 had 4 children move into his class in Year 5 and 6 who had previously been at private schools. I think the plan for those children had always been to do a few years of private before state secondary. Not sure why the parents didn't want them to do the first few years at the primary, which was excellent imo (Bourn Primary).

In my town (Berkshire) it's quite common for children to move from private to state. In many cases it's because the family has moved to the area and the dc are put into private until they can all get into the same state primary.

Both my 2ry-age dc also have friends who went to private primary then joined them at state 2ry. AFAIK none of them had problems adjusting, not when joining primary nor when starting 2ry.

In primary, each of our classes generally has a TA, which means that the children can get a lot more individual attention than you would expect in a class of 30.

But then we do have excellent state schools here.

It's the same in our case. We just got 'stuck' in private as we couldn't get places for our DC when we moved into the area late one summer at short notice.

We went from Private to State in primary. The second primary state school has been good for her but we are now looking to go Private again due to the catchment area schools.

We'll see

I moved from a private school to a state school myself at age 8. Both schools were good, but I got different things from them.

The private school was good because the playground was nice and the lunches were much better. There weren't so many poor kids with troubled backgrounds, but there were nasty kids who thought they were worth more than others, and that created problems. The teaching was very poor and I struggled because the teaching was not properly paced for the children.

The state school was good because all of my classmates lived very close to me so I could see them at Brownies and at the swimming pool and just out in the street. Also the big thing for me was that the close proximity meant that I saw my Mum talking to my classmates' Mums often and that gave me a role model to learn from when I was talking to my classmates. I think that was really the most important difference for me.

The state school teaching was much better, as it was better paced. Also I found that my confidence was massively improved in the state school as the class was not just packed full of very bright kids. There was very much a spectrum of ability and that helped us all to keep trying in every area.

Later in life I am still in touch with my state school classmates because they are my parents' friends, whereas I am not in touch with my private school friends.

I think both private and state schools are probably fine, but I wouldn't worry about moving from private to state. It kind of saved me academically and gave me life-long friends, which has got to be worth it.