STATE Vs PRIVATE Primary Schools

[IndicaMom]

Hello all... We are new to London and our daughter is due to start her Reception in SEPTEMBER . Private schools look more appealing but burn a hole in the pocket ..State schools look fine and the curriculum is the same . Which choice is better for the all-round development of the child . What are the pros and cons ? Is it a good idea to start with State School and switch to Private School in Year 3 or Year 7... Plz shed some light ... Thanks

It really, fundamentally depends on the individual schools.

Depends on your local schools (specifically meaning those you might actually get a place at). Some are excellent at academics but poor on pastoral care, some focus on sport and extra curriculars. Others are more creative.

What would suit your child?

Hi Op,
Might get more traffic if you ask Mumsnet to move this to education? Also as it's London, probably worth asking the other mums which schools you are considering for further advice.

Completely depends on the school and the child.

Where are you living and do you have a state school place? Both state and competitive private are likely to be full for Sept entry now - so it will be a case of seeing what you can get if you don't have a place. Where I live there are many excellent state options but also excellent private options but excellent private are not easy to get into and the easier average private schools are less good than the state options imo.

Depends totally on the school and the child.

As someone who has been educated in, and taught in both, it comes down to what you want for your child.

Private schools are expensive, class sizes are smaller, teachers may not be qualified, there may be greater opportunities, behaviour can be worse, in a different way, it may provide openings depending on who you know, the education isn't always better (I had the most awful, uninspiring teachers).

State schools are generally larger, more in a class, more support staff, higher level of SEN, behaviour problems are different but exist, I find teachers tend to be more inspiring, less openings for future but that didn't get me anywhere anyway. Children and social aspect of it are more down to earth and generally nicer.

Of course, these are massive generalisations as every school is different.

What closetsaid
However, we had good State Primary provision so we went for that and then opted for a Private Secondary ( state secondaries not good here)
Enabled us to save more so fees aren’t a stretch, dd has friends at several schools not just her own and she was much more mature and street wise as most of her peers who had been at The Prep

If you are going to spend the money it us better to do it earlier when your children will gain the most out of it. Worth mentioning that whole they follow the same curriculum the private schools have more freedom within it (according to my sons teacher who moved to a private school after teaching on a state school for many years). She said that her hands were very much bound with the curriculum and tick boxes when she was a state school which is why she moved into private. But this dies sometimes mean that private schools can be too pushy. I think it largely depends on what your children are like but as a general rule you get what you pay for. Best to give them the best start you can.

Thank you ladies for the valuable suggestions . We have just relocated to South Croydon and the window for Reception for State Schools has closed .All Ofsted Outstanding Schools are over subscribed but we have been offered a place at Ofsted Good School which we like and its close to our residence as well . Though we loved two of the Private Schools in the vicinity but not sure if spending GBP 1000 per month is a wise idea ,particularly when we have to stretch ourselves . I guess we should go ahead with the State Primary option as on now and switch to Private School later .