Private vs State

[mala1]

Hi
I cannot decide whether to go private or state education for my daughter. We originally applied for our state local primary school and due to the amount of siblings and twin we didnt get in first time. Then the school opened another class to cater for the local children and my daughter was allocated a place. In the meantime we have search for private schools as the alternative state school was not to our standards and we fall in love with a private school. When the state school place was available to us we kind of forgot about the idea to go private but then my parents decided to fund it as a lovely gift to our daughter. Both schools are excellent and I dont know what to do!!

Or, come to that, have to plump for a poor state education, albeit they will then not do quite so well as their luckier peers in better catchment areas.

On second thoughts, an average state or private education - a very poor educational experience in a hectic environment is not going to be much good for anyone's academic prospects, five (or in the case of many private schools, six) days a week, even if you do have supportive parents with a good educational background of their own!

Schooling isn't just about education

< runs away >

ifyourmother: that's not our experience with SN!

I'm interested that you say that MacNomo, because certainly that was my point of view. So much better to start early with sound academic foundations, music sport and drama. 11 is too late for many of these things.

Couldn't agree more, Quattro.

Another aspect is the 'school Mum' thing.

Are you going to be more ore less comfortable mixing with the parents at the private or state school?

Don't underestimate how much of your life is taken up by this stuff.... And how much these people will become your friends - and possibly enemies.

Private (yes I'm a state school primary teacher)

Parents = another red herring. There are lovely, friendly parents (and total tossers) at private and state schools alike. Either way, you would make friends.

State schools and outside school activities can provide perfectly sound academic foundations, sporting, musical, artistic and drama-based opportunities, in my experience. I certainly don't remember being starved of any of these opportunities during my state education, at primary or secondary level. This may be because I came from a home with the money to help provide these opportunities, but then frankly anyone considering private school has the money for this, it's just a matter of how they consider spending it - for the whole kit and kaboodle in a private school (which means that some aspects may be better than others, as no school is truly brilliant in its provision of absolutely everything), or via extra opportunities to, eg, learn musical instruments and play in orchestras outside of school/via peripatetic teachers coming into the school. So still absolutely no point in avoiding a perfectly good state school on the assumption that private has to be better, because it just is not always genuinely better, and if no better, then why spend so much money on it, or indeed allow someone else to spend lots of money on it for you? I would still argue it has to be genuinely and demonstratively better, or more suited to your circumstances (eg there is a reason why you need the school to cater for your child's every need and interest, including their leisure/extra-curricular choices, rather than organise them yourself) to merit spending the money on avoiding the majority of the local children. In some cases, this may well be the situation. I certainly wouldn't say I would never educate my children privately, it's just that I would rather not have to.

Your daughter will probably do very well in either school system because of who you are as parents. For me the pros for a private education are smaller class sizes, good teachers, all round education and an ethos that celebrates acheivement. The pros for a state school are that it's cheaper.

I have been very interested in these comments as I'm in a similar situation only with 3 children.

I don't think it's fair to assume that you will automatically get good teachers in a private school unfortunately there are good and not so good in both systems.
It's also possible to have very small classes in state schools and large classes in some private schools (although in general I would agree you will find smaller classes in private schools). Personally I would look for a school with reasonable sized classes (20ish would be my ideal) in either type of school as too small has implications as has too large.
As to celebrating achievement I don't think that is exclusive to private schools.

Parents need to look at any school to see if it meets the needs of their child and base their decision on that alone.

I'd agree with 20ish as the optimum class size, mrz. There are 12 in my daughter's class (all girls), and it doesn't leave much room for girls to fall out with one another and have other friends to play with.

There are 19 in DS's class, which seems to work very well indeed.

For me, the huge, immense, above-all-else pro of independent schools is precisely their indepedence. I personally put that above Mandarin, judo, ballet, top scores in Common Entrance and everything else that my children's schools offer.

Kicky - agree with you that having interested and concerned parents will mean it is more likely that the children will do well regardless of school.

rabbitstew - I'm not sure we both mean the same thing by 'neurological stimulation'. The human brain grows at different rates at different ages and is capable of learning in more efficient ways at certain (very specific) ages. After approx age 7, the huge plastic capacity of the brain to make complex neuronal connections in efficient ways drops away radically. These periods of hyper-plasticity are different for different capabilities and functions (eg language, spacial awareness, physical coordination, human emotional intelligence, touch stimulation); a good amount is over and done with before school age.

For what it is worth, I attended both state and private schools.

Based on such research, I will seek out the most comprehensive 'education', whether that's private or state. Montessori and Steiner schools often have this more 'holistic' approach, though there are good and bad examples of these, of course. It certainly is not all about memorising times tables, but focussing on the individual capabilities of the child and where their interest takes them. Class size has a huge impact, I believe, along with other posters on this thread.

I agree, education is about a lot more than memorising times tables, and that a child's requirements for a good school stretch far beyond the academic. Steiner schools, however, good and bad, are most certainly not a good learning environment for all types of children and can make some personality types feel acutely uncomfortable (in my experience from talking to people who have attended Steiner schools, of which there is one near us). They are wonderful for others, of course.

All children are different, so there is no one theory of education that will suit everyone. Hence the huge importance of actually getting off your backside and looking at a school before you pass judgment.

My DCs attend a local private school, they have friends from school some of whom live no more than 15mins away by car, some of whom live 2 mins away on foot, and friends from the village through just living here and doing village clubs. I really think people put a huge emphasis on this side of things when it comes to the state / primary argument and it is quite possible to be part of a village and have friends in it if you don't go to school there!
If your parents are going to pay for it then I would say go for it, especially if you have already fallen in love with the school you ahve chosen. You will always think about it otherwise and wonder.
I had huge dilemmas, went private and then after a year went back to have another look at our state school of choice, it is a very popular school and does well by the kids but when I returned I realised just how lucky we are with facilities for my DCs, it really just couldn't compare. I have no doubt they would be doing fine and happy at the state school but I am happy to pay for the opportunities in sport and music etc plus small classes and the independence the school has.
Thats my pennies worth!