can state primary education plus tutoring = equivalent of private?

[wheelsonthebus]

we planned to privately educate dc, but dh lost his job and now dc is going to a state primary - downgraded from good to satisfactory by ofsted . if we have dc tutored from yr 1 say, can we get up to standard of a private school(with a view to moving dc if our finances improve - possibly at 7, but definitely at 11). Can an hour a week really achieve anything? Anyone done this from early on? Interested in any views. I now work f/t so doing lots of stuff with dc after school myself is not really an option (except at weekends). I'd be interested to know when tutoring shd really start. My friend said her primary school gets great league table results but that's because most parents pay tutors. Also; what do most people get tutors for - maths or English or both?

All schools should provide a good basic education - and in my experience most do. The main difference is that if your child goes to a private school you are likely to get, included in the cost, a lot of extras which it would be singularly inappropriate to use taxpayer's money for in state schools. So if my dd had gone to the local independent, her music lessons and trampolining coaching would have been included in the bill. She goes to a state school, so we pay for them separately. She could also have learned another couple of languages if she had wanted to - at the state school they can "only" do Spanish, German and Latin in school time. Her cousin has Chinese lessons after school which are an extra. As they should be at a school funded by the taxpayer.

I don't agree with you that the main difference with independent schools is in the extras - which per this thread seem to be music, sport, hobbies and additional languages. At the outset, when we embarked on the independent route - the main difference was in the academics. This had to be weighed up carefully against the social mix.

It was a total surprise to me that the DCs ended up absolutely loving all forms of sport, but as they do, it's good that they are in an environment which suits them.

But if you don't believe that there is a difference in terms of the quality of the academic environment then by all means write independent school parents off as loons. Of course it's just like buying designer underwear or flashy cars.

I think there are some very good academic independent schools just as there are some very good academic state schools but I also think there are some average and some not so good schools in both systems. If you are happy with what you are getting for your money why worry what others think.

"But if you don't believe that there is a difference in terms of the quality of the academic environment then by all means write independent school parents off as loons. Of course it's just like buying designer underwear or flashy cars. "

Did I say any of this?

Sheesh, people just read what they like into posts, don't they?

Quattro, I didn't say paying for education was like buying designer underwear.

I pay for my dc's education. I think spending money on designer underwear is a sign of insanity but those folks aren't harming me so what does it matter what I think?

So, I said that Greensleeves shouldn't give a toss about other people paying for education as she thought it was a waste of money. If she thinks that then those people aren't harming her so why should she care what they do with their money.

Having moved my dcs from a state primary to a local prep I know that the education (plus extras) that they now receive is superior to their old school. It is probably not superior to every state primary school in the UK and it would be crazy to suggest it is as I cannot possibly know.

Just to bring up the argument about olyimians again. The way I see it is this

To go far in sport you need money.

I know children who have been excellent at sports but have not been able to go far because their families cant afford to send them to competitions, pay for extra coaching, pay for kit etc...

Nobody got to the olyimpics by just competing in school sports. OK their talent might have been picked up in public school but to get to the olyimpics or even to a stage of competing for your country, you must be committed and train 6 days a week for how ever many hours and that costs money.

My DCs wanted to join a gymnastics club, just for fun. The place were Beth Tweedle trains was not too far away and I knew it had excellent provissions. This is a council run centre so it wasnt particulary expensive.

However, when I added up the cost of 3 DCs, plus bus fares and then uniforms if they enjoyed it, competition fees if they stuck with it. It was more than I could afford to commit to. So, is my DD going to be at the 2012 olyimpics, no chance because I never had the money to see if she had the potential in the first place.

However when she takes her GCSEs in 2011 and A levels in 2013, I have much more hope of her achieving high, as good education is thank God, not only for people who can afford it

I suppose it also depends onm what you consider as extra and what is a basic education. As a very unsporty person, I don't care too much about what the sports provisions are. I have no illsions dc are going to be olympic champions regardless of the provisions. But I think learning Chinese or Latin is as/more important as learning German/French.
(then on the other hand I don't think I would pass any of my old A level exams now, so what was the use of learning all that kind of stuff)

oh bugger the thread has gone cold

fucking spoilsports

Happy to help you revive it!

Look, My school is the best and its free.
Closely followed bt MRZs.

So just put that in your pipe and smoke it

(or maybe your rolly if your not that posh ha ha )

No our school is the bestest !!!! Our secondary school lets the kids take apple mac laptops home to do homework on, how cool is that. And its all freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee doing a happy dance

The primary is bringing in mini laptops to take home and installing several wii consoles soon so that kids can play on them when weather is extremely wet. Not that they don't send them out when its wet because they do.

Our local private school did horribly badly with its IT A level results. They can't keep up with the times you know.

Greensleeves we needed your fire and spirit to keep it alive. Give it a kick. I need to go practice fishers hornpipe with me kids.

I'd be happy to be second best (don't think we are) but we do try hard to provide a good broad curriculum with lots of experiences and opportunities our children wouldn't normally get otherwise.
I do think many schools/teachers aren't aware of all the resources available either free or for a small cost and perhaps they need to be promoted so that all children have the same opportunities.

AramintaCane you've just given me a focus for my next nag the head session. I managed to get free laptops for children with physical problems affecting their writing to take home out of the budget, so now need to expand it a bit further We've just refurbished our ICT suite - a PC for each child plus a class set of laptops to use outside the suite

I don't think I can see any benefit from installing Wii consoles at school. It sounds like a criminal waste of resources.

Oh no vinblanc I dissagree. Wii time is something for some kids like to work towards. It gets them moving and they enjoy it.

I can see we have completely different educational priorities, araminta.

no shit

Really that is interesting. So you don't see a place for things like learning Maths with a DS or an Wii in school how archaic. Children will need to be able to use these things in the future. There are many diferent ways to motivate children to learn.

No one needs to know how to use a Wii.

You go for it, mrz! Our old primary only had laptops for children with physical problems or learning difficulties so Araminta's is one step ahead.

I also agree that schools should be encouraged to access various resources so they can provide a more enriched curriculum such as mrz's school offers (and which my local primary most certainly does not).

You can think that private schools aren't necessarily better than state schools and still be irritated by children going to them. Greensleeves and I live in the same area, it has a very high proportion of children going to independent secondaries. The local comp (soon to be grace by my dds and Greensleeves' dss) is the sort of school most mumsnetters would avoid with a bargepole due to low overall GCSE results, though it has great value added scores and a good ofsted. Local parents are anxious about it, send their children to private schools, and so the local comp is stuck with a poor reputation as the middle classes flee it.

So it does affect us, it's losing lots of children from families who are keen on education and whose children are likely to do well, and that does make it a rougher environment overall for our dc. I still think my children will be fine there, but I would prefer it if there weren't such a middle class flight from it from so many families we know.

they think that we are sacrificing our children on the altar of our principles though fennel

vinblanc it could be argued that it is good for physical development, good for reasoning skills, good for improving concentration and sometimes just good fun.

How bad are the GCSE results though?

Are you talking 19% of pupils getting 5 GCSEs (incl Maths & English) at A*-C because that is what we have here.

If it is around 50% or higher I don't think you are sacrificing anything!

I think it's 40%. Below average.