What Annoys You About Independent Schools?

[zanzibarmum]

Me? Independent schools who:

• tell applicants not to tutor their children when the entire prep school set up is precisely about cramming for common entrance exams;
• refuse to explain content of common entrance exam, again which discriminates against state school applicants;
• entrance exam papers which are clearly biased - Latymer's practice paper asks a question about the size of a hockey stick;
• poo poo league tables when their whole raison d'etre is to churn out As and A*;
• promote all the sport they do but in practice do very little for most children;
• who do not standardise entrance exam scores for age - selecting therefore the oldest not necessarily the brightest (cf churning out As and A*;.

Clearly, there are lots of good things about some independent schools but generally they have an easy life and probably coast on the back of the intelligence (innate or prepped) on their students.

The fees.

I read the other day that about 25 private schools are up for sale nationwide atm

You are right the fees - fees we now know from the recent case which have been for years set in a cartel. The schools concerned were found in breach of the competition act rules but got off pretty much scott free.

the fact they exist

Kilts.

They do exist. And in an ideal world.....
However,until then they should also stopped exploiting peoples concern for their children by clearly excessive (and not cost related) registration and exam fees (Colet Court £175!); entry decision timetables not aligned to state school entry decision dates.

Oh and also how do people ever compare fees between independent schools; fees always seems to be on a different basis: inc or exc school meal; inc or exc text book; etc etc. Though I guess if you have to ask about the fees you can't afford it.

Compulsory cross-country.

Refulse to explain the content of the CEE? You can easily get past papers from ISEB, or from the senior schools in question. It is really no secret!

The point of a school's entrance exam is to select pupils who will do well in that environment. It really doesn't matter when a child is born in the year because they still have to go into a class with all ages.

There are independent schools for all pupils. If a particular school is inappropriate, then there will be another that is much more suitable elsewhere. A given school is never going to be all tings to all people, but a collection of independent schools should cater for everyone.

As for sports/games, IME, all children take part, and it is non-negotiable! No, not everyone is going to get onto the first team but they still take part.

The point of independent schools is for all pupils to reach their potential, and if their potential is A* then so be it. If their potential is D, then they will get there too.

A question about the size of a hockey stick is not really looking for a precise measurement, more an idea of order of magnitude (eg 1 metre, rather than 10cm or 10m).

Sexist dress codes.

Caring about people's hair.

Fountain pens.

scienceteacher - do you think that September -Dec borns generally have no advantage over May-August borns?

In my school the number of kids who are 'old' for their year is huge - pityful amount of pupils who are the summer borns - regardless of so called age standardisation for the 11plus.

The CEE is not clear. The ISEB outline gives some indication but not all independent schools set exams against this and beside it is not sufficiently detailed to know at what level algebra, for example, is necessary. Of course, it can be worked out but that favours the prep schools and the middle class applicant.

You can't tell me that the size of a hockey stick doesn't tilt the balance in favour of those who have seen one. What about the quesitons about holidays in Barbados. This is a point of substance that annoy me but also one of optics.

suits in the 6th form.

Indeps do teach the CCE syllabus, you would need to know it and follow it to have any chance; no way could just be an add-on to the state syllabus.

not only in independent schools tho hullygully

Or what about those independent schools who say they teach the 3 sciences but 95% of the pupils at GCSE do the double science GCSE.
Hully Gully how sexist dress code?

You are perhaps looking at a specific narrow range of schools. There are independent schools for all abilities, sn.

If they don't do well on the entrance exam, they will struggle in the school. Not good.

poncey uniforms

long holidays. A drawback if one has a lively DS!

Sexist dress codes: girls kilts, boys trousers. Girls in trousers considered very "state school."

Long holidays a plus!

yes long holidays i would agree with that - pay all that money and then they are off for 3/4 more weeks than state alternative.

That's not the prep school's fault, Zanzibar. A senior school will either use the ISEB CEE or their own entrance test. They may or may not publish their papers. If they don't publish, then no specific preparation is required.

Most CEE pupils will go through prep schools which are familiar with the senior schools in their area. If they have an 11+ entry, they probably end up with about 50% prep and 50% maintained sector children. There are enough places for maintained children to have a reasonable chance of a place. 11+ entrance exams are likely to be VR/NVR (which you can't revise for) or English and Maths of a similar standard to SATs.

the fact that people who send their children to private school really think that their child is more talented than the rest of humanity