Move from independent to state school?

[mummy1800]

I wonder if anyone can offer some advice please. Does anyone have any experience of both independent and state schools in Early Years / Key Stage 1? My son has make such a lot of progress with his reading and writing since the school closure and we've only spent 20 mins per day doing it at home. It seems that although there are only 11 children in his class, they don't receive much individual attention from the teacher (he couldn't even write his name at the time of the closure). It makes me wonder if the huge school fees are actually worth it and would he make just as much progress at a state school?

I have experience with both sectors. I’m not a big fan of small, rather twee, preps and pre-preps. They are often quite staid in their approach and don’t get access to a broad and exciting curriculum. However, larger more dynamic private primaries or those attached to large senior schools can be fabulous places to learn. Often with 30-40 in a year split between 2 classes so 15-20 in a class. Great grounds, superb sporting and music facilities. Often 3 members of staff for that one class of 20. So kids heard read every day with lots of small group input for literacy and maths. So it really depends what’s on offer in your area.
Personally, my preference would be an excellent, large private primary for infants then an outstanding state primary for juniors followed by a large co-ed independent senior school. This is assuming fees aren’t a problem. This is what we did for DD1. She grew hugely as a person and learned so much from spending 4yrs at our local junior school. She had a fabulous start at a fantastic prep before that. She’s now at an independent senior school. Her brother and sister are following the same path. We could have paid all the way through but I wanted them to branch out friendship wise and to experience having to cope in a normal class size. It doesn’t sound as though your school is that great. If this is the case I’d move to a vibrant state school without hesitation.

Thank you for your reply. It's a big school (over 400) and they have three classes of 11 in his year. It seems to be a case of children only progressing academically if parents do the work with them at home - I thought this was the school's job!

I teach in state and DS is in a country prep with very small classes.

In KS1 he was heard to read by an adult every day. He is August born and was given a huge amount of help to get on a level footing with the older children. However, what really helped was the very intensive intervention I did with him in the long holidays. Nothing is ever going to be as effective an intervention as 1:1 with a very motivated adult.

However, now in KS2 (Y5) there is no way on this earth either a state school or home schooling could replicate the experience he has at his prep. Sport every day (two matches a week for everyone), specialist teachers for every subject- Science and DT in labs, he boards once a week with friends just because he loves being there and having the extra time with his mates. Plays every year and sketches every term on a proper stage. The way they develop the children's social skills is amazing.. It's idyllic.

My advice would be stick it out through KS1 where the difference isn't that obvious. Prep is all about Y3-8.

We moved ds from prep to state at the end of yr4. On paper his prep had everything, but if children didn't fit the boxes they wanted them in it was hard. I was mortified when he moved and just blossomed as it wasn't all about having an amazing school play (for instance) but about getting all the class/year to participate.

In my really lovely and very good state school, there is only one play put on in KS2 (Y6 leavers- started after SATs) so you really have to make the most of your line in that.

There is so much variation between schools I choose a 6mths to 18 years school. So in prep they had benefit of languages, dance, drama and music being taught by senior school specialists.
EYFS and year 1 was largely a play based curriculum, but every child was heard to read every day.

Year 2 and KS2 the school played a long game towards GCSE Reading was still in focus, but analysis of age appropriate texts began in year 3 and history and geography was in support of the GCSE syllabus for example on year 6 they did a term on Victorian medicine that gave them a taste of the history of medicine GCSE topic.

It’s not as simple as just independent versus state though. There are huge variations between schools in the independent sector and likewise in state.

No school can offer the 1 to 1 support you have been able to provide at home though. Perhaps a little unfair to make a decision based on this alone?

I do agree with a previous poster though that prep really does come into its own from Y3 onwards. By Y6 my DD is working 18 months to 2 years above of where she should be for maths etc. There is the saying “State to 8”.

You also don’t say how old your child is. If they are 3 and can’t write their name then that’s totally normal. Year 1 and I would be worried.

All schools private or state rely on parents reading with their child daily - my kids state primary expected a minimum of 30 mins a day. My kids are at top universities

He's in Reception and I read with him every day - as he's so young I felt that would be enough. I was just surprised that his target for the summer term was to write his name - as I said earlier it only took one week of practising it once a day at home to master it - surely he could have learnt how to do that at school during the past six months, especially as he's in such a small class!

It really depends on the school. My son went completely unnoticed in the state sector (to the degree the teacher didn’t remember he was in their class!). Doesn’t mean all state schools a crap, but this one was.
He hugely benefits from his small prep ( 2 classes of 16-20 per year).
I would look at other schools i genral.
Also, kids don’t develop in a linear way, it might be coincidence that he had a academic “growth spurt” now

Mine learnt to write their names in Nursery. YR built on that. I’m amazed you haven’t taught him to write his name at home before now. Especially if his pencil grip is ok. However school should have built on this. What does the curriculum look like? Have you seen it? What should he be able to do?

Prep schools vary. A lot. Some have everything. Some are fairly limited and are a bit of a refuge from the state sector! Where I live, the state sector is pretty good. Many state schools do have a wonderful range of activities and parents supplement this by paying for out of school activities such as extra sport. I’m glad my DD at state school didn’t have sports matches every week but she did have music tuition, orchestra, choir, and sports day was a serious affair! Lots of the DC did football, cross country and netball. Out of school she did piano, brownies, music centre string orchestra and choir, swimming and dance.

DD2 did go to a prep but we took her to tap, ballet and modern dance as extras. School did everything else. That was a top prep though and way above our local one which had very little sport, music, art etc and poor specialist facilities. DD2 went there for nursery and YR but it really wasn’t great above that. So we left for somewhere that had everything.

With the new assessment of DC, many state DC far exceed the NC requirements. No one talks about working years above the curriculum but greater depth is valued. Brilliant teachers can ensure this happens in the state sector. Few state kids would get to Oxbridge if they were not able to work beyond the curriculum. Plenty of state schools have very bright DC and teachers who know DC must make progress. They might even share the curriculum with you!!

My DS and DD both started at our local state primary and then moved to independent schools for year 3 (DS) and year 5 (DD). That was a few years ago now and looking back it was probably about the right time to move them. As someone else said "state to 8" does rather ring true.

Personally I think we start formal schooling in the UK way too young, in most other Western European countries primary schooling starts 1 to 2 years later. Trying to teach some 4 or 5 year olds how to read and write can be a bit like getting blood out of a stone. So really don't worry if yours can not write his name yet. I suggest you may not see the benefits of your school until your DS is a little older, but those benefits will show. Surely he is better of in a class of 11 rather than 30 in a state school.

As the others have said prep schools do vary quite a bit, but generally you get what you pay for and my experience is that it is worth it if you can afford it. Your DS will have much more attention, help and opportunity in the independent sector. This becomes more obvious the older the child is. Your child will not get the same opportunities to play sport, be in plays or use specialist facilities (Science, DT, Music, Sport, etc) in the state sector. Academically standards are generally higher but do check the stats at your school. They should share things like leavers destinations which will give you a good indication of the standards achieved at your school.

Lastly as your DS is already at the school consider finding a parent with a child near the top of the school and asking them what their experience has been. I am sure people will be quite sanguine about it and try to help you.

Hope this helps.

However don’t forget some DC are totally ready to learn and YR isn’t very formal. Starting later doesn’t mean just playing for years. It’s way more structured than that. If dc want to read, they should be given the opportunity to do so as 4.