Private school visit

[mammanbebe]

Hi mums..I am new to MN.My DS has just started reception in a local state school and i was planning to consider private options at the end of year 1 or 2. I went to visit a private school today and was surprised to see the kids doing addition in reception!! Its still early days and i thought reception is all about learning through play? Do all private schools start formal learning right from day 1 in reception?
Would like to know what the real difference is between a good state school and a good private school in terms of academics..TIA.

Sorry got a bit lost today!!We live in west London and most of the state schools are good,some are outstanding,but severely oversubscribed.The private preps have good facilities,get good results and some are oversubscribed too! The school that's mentioned in the original post has 2 classes of 24 each and have a waiting list for entry..The prep schools finish at 11 and most of the kids get into the local grammars and top independents..So as we live in an area where both the state primaries and private preps are good,i just wanted to know what the real differences are, in terms of academics..Thanks a lot again for your views.