'Why I send my child to a private school' Guardian piece...

[PollyParanoia]

Is there no thread on it? Surely there must be.
www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jul/23/why-send-child-to-private-school here
It's just so badly written with lots of fatuous unsupported statements. She's been so suckered by that clever thing that private nurseries do to encourage parents to sign up until 11. Our local one makes the nursery children buy and wear the uniform in the pre-reception year. Especially if the uniform has an expensive boater as hers does (I always notice that the most prestigious schools around us have the least pretentious uniform).
And as for 'Katy's exceeding national expectations', well, a good section of children in a state school will do the same, doh, as you'd know if you really were an educational expert.
And that bit about how lots of children would thrive in a non-academic environment/technical school. But not her child of course.
Oh and she lives in Kent so I think we know the answer to her point about her going private if she's not happy with the secondary school provision.

But you have nothing gainst private schools.....

Sorry cross post I agree with above though.

The boaters and special socks etc always strike me as a way to make it very clear what kind of school it is.... I would personally be unenamoured of what looks like a bit of a reactionary stance, but maybe that's what some people are looking for.

Does the fact that the local state here wears tracksuits and trainers and have to wear slippers indoors make it clear what kind of school it is?

Having to wear slippers indoors sounds quite sensible: I always wondered when, in between me leaving primary and the dds starting, 'indoor shoes' were abandoned!

I guess it suggests, if anything, that they value practicality, cost effectiveness and accessibility over someone's notions of 'smartness'?

My personal preference is for jumpers, shirts and skirts/trousers at secondary as I do think that uniform should be smarter than jersey material at that stage - at primary, I'm not fussed though. Certainly can't see any sensible argument for a small girl to wear a boater other than as a little message to everyone else that she does go to private school!

I think strict uniform is a good thing. Private or state. So, no to sportswear if you are not doing sport. It should be about uniformity and discipline. And education. Not about class/money etc.

But why does everyone seem to care about a hat so much. It's the uniform so she wears it. End of story. I don't choose to send her there because she wears a hat. Neither would I send her to our nearest catchment state so that she can be comfy.

It's about education. To choose a school based on the uniform would be nonsensical.

At first I thought the journalist was an idiot bu by looking at the thread most of you have confirmed what you ridiculed - that you judge based on uniform.

Insulting children by saying that they look stupid for wearing a hat. Go figure.

My dd chose the independent school (even with the uniform) because she preferred the children there, the routine, the activities and the facilities. She is not bothered about the sodding boater!!!!!

No, but the article mentions it as a problem, and so people had moved on to talking about uniforms and what they say, I thought. I don't judge the child on the uniform they wear though it's a handy way to help form opinions about the parents but I do query the ideology behind some of the uniform choices the schools themselves make.

I used to work with grown men who still wore their Eton school docks

Read the article, hate all this liberal handwringing. She sent her kid to private school because she knows her DD will have advantages as a result.

I am very happy with our state offering and dislike the behaviour and attitude of the parents at the local private school so would not send any of my DDs there.

What I object to is the journalist saying, 'when i walks down the street with dd in her blazer and straw hat [sic] I feel other parents are judging me'. Get a life!

Exactly-I wouldn't make judgements on the parents-I just tend to think 'poor little soul' in passing.
Little tots in outdated, impractical, expensive uniforms would put me off in the first instance-the school would have to impress me a lot to make it worthwhile.
In the same way I wouldn't have wanted my DSs wearing ties before they were 11yrs. I obviously wouldn't choose the school according to the uniform but it makes you wonder about the thinking behind it.

Wonder why she cares what other patents think - she's on the winning team, she has bought her DD advantages that her state peers will have to work their socks off to get. Thst's what private education gets you.

I don't see why she cares whether she is judged.

I think she cares because her aim is to slot back into state education with a free grammar school place-not something that Guardian readers would admit to generally.

Does anyone here want to slag off state schools? No? I guess we don't have so many chips on our shoulders.

I'm not slagging off private schools, I'm slagging off the woolly liberal attempt to justify her actions. Give me Xenia any day- at least dhe's bloody honest.

exotic 'I think she cares because her aim is to slot back into state education with a free grammar school place-not something that Guardian readers would admit to generally.'

Not one that many people would admit to, but you only have to look at the dearth of private secondary schools in Buckinghamshire to know that it's true.

I never said anyone on here was slagging off state schools - I was talking about Janet Murray. She was justifying her choice by saying comprehensives encourage mediocrity and don't offer wraparound care and coffee, but since her child has never been to a modern school I don't think she's truly experienced what a good one has to offer.
Generally i think the quality of debate's pretty good here - it's why I started the thread because the stuff on the guardian website can be so mad.

I thought she was in Kent?

Actually I could slag off both my state schools and my dd's state school, but I won't, because it won't make any difference to anyone what my opinion is or does it your thoughts on my dd's education to me.

However, I do agree that the hat thing is a little silly, although I can't see the point, it does look 'cute'!

I agree-give me Xenia any day-she is bluntly honest-and secure in her choices. If hers wore hats she wouldn't get the slightest bit upset that a stranger on the Internet thought they were outdated!

Completely agree with you, exoticfruits - each to our own and all that.

My DS finds my hot weather hat embarrassing!

I was one of those smug types who was in the catchment for a lovely state school with no deprivation or hardship. Years later as the head runs the school into the ground and the staff leave in droves, I get it now - parents pay so they get the service they want. And I don't blame them one bit.

Many of you who remain snug are just lucky.. If you were in a rubbish school, you'd think differently I think.

Aww. How cute to remain snug. I feel snug, today, in this heat.

Wouldn't matter how I thought, I'm not rich enough for any private school to let my children past the front door even if I didn't find the whole concept deplorable!

Unfortunately in our area the local school doesn't teach times tables or do spelling tests before yr 4 as it is "too hard". My husband is appalled that he has to essentially pay twice for her to be educated to an acceptable standard.

We see independent schooling as our only viable option. I will not put my daughter at a disadvantage because of any misguided principles.

We are very fortunate that we are able to have a choice, my own parents did not and I got into a grammar on 13+ entrance.

I don't care if people don't like my daughters uniform but I do think it's unfair to lambaste parents who are able to and do choose to educate their children privately.

Obviously lots of you don't like the hats but if your children don't have to wear them it shouldn't really worry you. I certainly don't look at state children and think "poor little souls" or whatever was said about boater blazer wearing infants earlier.