Is private school really worth it?

[milliec]

Message withdrawn

TotalChaos, I think that view is a minority one, thankfully
Admittedly there is not a high percentage of statemented children at the dc's school, it's a small place, but we have a SENCO, an excellent SEN policy and children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, mobility impairments and (am guessing) HF ASD.

Can I just hijack the sore bum bit?

We had a major problem with DS2 when he got blistered, open sores as a newborn. It was awful and we went through every treatment (sudocrem, then metanium, then thrush treatment, then steroid cream etc etc.)

Then a helpful HV came along with a brilliant suggestion: essentially it had turned into a bedsore and needed treating as such and because poo/wee was constantly abrading the skin ever couple of hours, it would never heal. so she suggested something called Cavilon, which is used for treating bedsores and burns I think...

It's basically a plastic spray (it is designed for skin) that coats the sore with a breathable layer. It gradually washes away but you need to clean and respray each change... You can get it on prescription but you will have to ask you GP or HV for it - I don't think you can buy it over the counter.

This wiped out all the competition and cleared up the blisters/sores very quickly - as I recall they improved within hours and got better within 24-48 hours.

Hope you can get hold of some

I actually don't think it is such of a minority view as people think, especially amongst those with children at private school.

Think about it, while I appreciate nowhere near all SEN children are disruptive/badly behaved etc a greater proportion of disruptive/badly behaved etc children will have SEN/SN than you would expect from a random sample. You pay to avoid that, I certainly do. I don't want my children's education disrupted and while many children are disruptive and have no SEN, a private school can simply ask them to leave.

I do however also appreciate that there a re many well bahaved, intelligent children at my DCs prep with Dyslexia/ADD/a deaf child and a child with cerebral palsy, their individual disabilities are though perhaps more 'classroom friendly' than other hildren with their conditions/other conditions

Oh Belladonna been here before spouting her crap about children with sen. It's not worth trying to convince her otherwise.

I daresay that might be true belladonna but tbh ours doesn't work that way, and that's the way we like it

What belladonna says is true - my nephew got turned down from the private schools he applied he. He's probably a lot cleverer than her kids but his dispraxia makes him a bit more difficult to manage. Still, as long as you can pay your way out of having to come face to face with children like him ...

spicemonster, your nephew may well be very bright but having never met me or my children you can't really say which is cleverer can you?

No I can't. And neither can you say that your children's education is better because he's not in their class

I find people who spout views like yours supremely offensive I'm afraid. Sorry.

my ds gets 2 tennis sessions a week at (state) school, coached by a fab woman from the lawn tennis association....

I wouldn't pay if the state schools where we live could meet my ds's needs. My ds is in a private school now, they are far to strict, it's expensive yet they are always fundraising, the uniform is expensive. I often wonder if I have made a huge mistake. Academically he is very advanced and I think that he would not have managed very well in a large state school as he would have become the class clown. The classes in his school are small but his opportunities to do things like extension classes, special needs support, access to school nurses, access to educational psychologists etc are non existent. My ds does not socialise well and the school give him no support, except for his teacher, who is great. He finds he has one teacher tell him off for something that another child has been let off for. I assumed that going private was the best thing for him but they don't understand him. If he were in the state system he would have maybe had more help . You could try the state school for a few terms, then move if you didn't like it. Most private schools accept new pupils at the start of a term, not just in September. Just remember the hidden costs, my ds's uniform was about £300 as I had to go to one shop to buy it all, they are excempt from the buy from the cheapest thing. Fees also increase, sometimes once a year.

am considering this topic myself. I hope the answer is no as I don't really want to shell out my hard earned cash that could be spent on holidays and cars

on the bum front, once acute situation cleared up I found this stuff was great for keeping it all dry and clean - was the only thing that stopped it coming back with my ds: [http://www.greenbaby.co.uk/pl_BATH-HLTH_GBABY-SKIN.htm Green Baby Baby Powder]]

sorry cocked up link www.greenbaby.co.uk/pl_BATH-HLTH_GBABY-SKIN.htm

Thanks Marina .

can I also just plaese plaese stress that not everyone who has chosen private school for their child believe the tosh being spouted about SEN by Bella.
My middle boy has profound SN and actually one of the reasons we chose eldest boys school is their support for him and their attitude to SEN.

Bella has raised this before . I think she likes winding people up about it

There are disruptive, badly behaved children at my ds's school. He has one child in his class that shouts out every lesson, he pushes other children over, calls children fat etc. This is not tolerated by his teacher but he's still at the school. Just because you pay, it does not get your child away from children like this. They had another child that stabbed a girl in the hand with a pencil and went around punching children. He was not asked to leave either. Just because they are strict, it does not mean that behaviour like this does not exist.

Pagwatch, we know that.

[grin ] phew!

my ds went to a private school with third sen which is why he went too

thanks pagwatch. I'm a bit sensitive about the subject (could you tell?)

Zippi

genuine question, please dont take offense, but how can you justify paying for one childs education and not anothers ? if you believe private educatio is 'better' ( and if you dot why bother to pay for it at all?) how can one be worth it and another not ?

I have this issue with my ds's My eldest (9) is at private school because I have felt from very very early that he needs special attention - i feel 'justified' in that decision on that he has just been diagnosed dyslexic and dyspraxic. He is in a class of 18 with a lot of one-to-one support that is not available in the state system

we also have ds2 & 3. I think they would both be 'fine' in the local state primary, bu I cannot, morally, justify this to myself. the situation you describe where dd2 has not done as well as dd1 is my nightmeare....

in answer to op.....personally yes i think private school is worth it, for the opportunities and expectations. BUT you do need to be sure of your school, because there are some very poor private schools out there.