Private School looked scruffy

[atomicsnowflake]

Went to see a private school in the northeast today, but it looked a bit scruffy and the equipment wasn't that good. Some of the carpets were worn and the place looked like it hadn't seen a vacuum cleaner in a few days. Exam results are good though.

Have to make a choice between smaller class sizes, but poorer equipment and larger class sizes in his local primary, but with better equipment.

Which is better, more attention or a nicer environment with less attention? DS is quiet and tends to be overlooked in his present school. Husband is interested in private education, but I can't say I'm impressed.

Will view two other ones next week.

Anybody with experience of private schools in the Sunderland area?

I'd say have a look at what else is on offer first. The first private school I went to see was dire, we loved the second one though.

I'd go for the smaller class sizes, who cares if the equipment is old. As long as it still works.
Private education is about learning in small classes, not have glitzy new equipment.
Oxford and Cambridge have really old stuff

The only thing your child may benefit from in a private school is the class size number.There is certainly no guarantee of better quality of teaching or resources. You are less likely to have a qualified teacher in a private school as it is not compulsory. The recession has hit private schools too and you will see a difference...cuts will have been made. You will have to research all the schools and find that happy balance of acceptable class numbers and quality resources

Thank you for all your replies. It wouldn't have cost anything to have put a vacuum around the place and paint doesn't cost much either. If I was the Head, I'd be doing the cleaning myself if I cared enough about my school.

atomicsnowflake - The Royal Grammar School in Newcastle has a Prep.

The RGS Newcastle senior school has shot ahead of all other schools in the area and if you want DS to go to the RGS senior school later (it is the best senior school by far in the North East) then send him to the RGS Prep now. The RGS Prep has a very good reputataion too.

I know how you feel as I had a similar experience when I went round some of the pre-preps. I am not in the North East though.

I went for a large town school (state) but have now moved my DD to a small village primary (state).

From my experience, I'd say the following:

1. equipment not that important, but cleaniness and kids not being crammed in small spaces is essential;

2. outstanding pastoral care and a warm/cosy atmosphere essential for young children

3. standards of presentation are fairly important as they tell you a lot in terms of expectations

4. catchment - (good and bad) ie who are the parents that send their kids there? Are you like them/do you share similar values? Do you have the same expectations?

Hope this helped you a bit. I know how hard it is to decide. We felt that we had chosen such a fab school but we were fairly disappointed with it in the end....

my old private school was shabby and even delapidated in places but it got the 4th best exam results in scotland- you choose

Thank you, I have looked at RGS, but I think we live too far away from that. The ones in sunderland have their own bus service. I'll look into whether RGS have that service, but I don't think so

I agree with it having basic cleanliness standards and not being crammed into small spaces - the rooms yesterday were very small

foreverastudent - I agree that exam results are vitally important, but I just felt a bit disappointed with the environment because I always feel better if I'm working in a decent environment and I just want the same for my kids.

What I would do is ask yourself whether this school is on the edge financially if its buildings are in such a poor state. Many private schools are under severe financial pressure due to the recession and especially in the North. Several private schools have closed or merged in your area in recent years.

If you can, go and find their last set of accounts on the Charity Commisison website and check out their financial viability.

The last thing you want is to send DS to the school and it shuts the year after. You will get virtualy no warning that it is about to happen.

Have you thought about The King's School Tynemouth. It has a junior school. Send DS there and when he gets older send him to RGS for secondary.

Hi just registered so I could respond to your question, we live in Hebburn, and my son (5 yrs) goes to the King School Tynemouth, there are 3 Kings buses that run from the south side of the river to Tynemouth (one of which comes from Sunderland) they are supervised and very good. My son catches the bus from Jarrow. There are only 4 children in my sons class, he originally was in a state school (30) and seemed a bit lost, he has thrived in Kings. The classroom at Kings is smaller than the state classroom, but you can't beat the one to one attention he gets, and the feeling of a 'family'. Hope this helps.

atomicsnowflake - something else to take into account if your son is quieter is out of school social life. My son goes to the nearest primary school, has lots of local friends and has after-school and weekend play dates several times a week which has helped his confidence in and out of school.

His cousin, the same age, goes to a private school some miles away. She is also quiet but is rarely able to have after school play dates because of the distances involved (and the time they finish school and the homework!). Her parents have said they wished she was nearer to her friends for that reason.

I have noticed this in other children educated out of their local area - they do miss out on local friends whose houses they can walk to.

That's a good point hackneylass.

I am inclined to keep him at his local primary because it has a really good ofsted report and is brimming with equipment and the environment is really good. They also do lots of residential visits and put shows on etc. My eldest son has done well there, but he's quite pushy.

How easy is it to get children into private schools for secondary education? Do they sit the 11+?

I can't get him into tynemouth or newcastle because we live in north durham. The private schools in sunderland run their own buses from where we live.

My children go privately one 9miles away and the 12 yr old 30 miles. They have friends that live in our road because they play out. We choose their schools because both gave them the best education. Yes small classes help alot but the extras out way all the local schools. If you want private for secondary they will need extra help in year 5 as most state schools do not do verbal reasoning. If a school is well run it doesn't have to be new. Although cleanliness is important no matter how old things are.

beegood - gosh that must be a long way on the bus. Does it not make for a very long day?

And atomicsnowflake I would be concerned about an unclean school. Even the inner city schools I know are clean.

I reckon I will be sending DS-10yo to a scruffy private school in the autumn, classrooms almost tiny. It's a 40 min. minibus ride (I think) each way.

But I told him the bus rides will be his chance to finish up homework. And he can have time to still catch up with his local mates after he gets home.

It's an extreme measure because he is very unhappy at his present (local state primary) school. And the other options all have greater drawbacks than this partic. "scruffy/crammed/dingy" school. I would not move him if he were merely overlooked.

I hope believe that they are a scruffy looking school because they are concentrating on quality teaching and experiences at a competitive price, tired paint or a bit of dust in the corners doesn't matter so much I hope.

I am guessing you are also looking at Durham school. They have a Prep and pretty good reputation as a secondary school.

The issue of having a few grubby buildings should not be overwhelming in your choce. More important is the financial viability and quality of teaching.

If your DS is below age 7, personally I would put him in the Primary, do a bit of top up home Ed (reading and maths) and then enter him for a good Prep for Yr 3 - 6 when he can travel a bit further.

BeenBeta - we have looked at Durham School, but it's very expensive and we would only perhaps be able to afford to send him there for secondary years only and even then the cost of the sixth form might be prohibitive.

I don't know why private schools would allow themselves to be scruffy. Keeping a place clean costs very little and it's always possible to purchase cheap paint - even if the teachers/head/family members etc. have to go in over the course of a weekend and make the place clean/presentable. It must be demoralising for kids to have to go into that environment day after day. I've worked in scruffy environments and it drags you down after a while. My current place of work is bright, cheerful and clean and it does make a difference to your mood and overall functioning.