Harrow v eton

[nokissymum]

i started a thread before about people's experiences with Harrow and got a few responses but felt maybe I needed to word it differently.

I am hoping their are mners here who have more insight into both schools, what are the differences and why one and not the other. Thank you.

I get it but I'm wondering why they would sing their failure as a badge of honour?

peteneras - very interesting article by Henry Ashcroft. Thanks for posting the link .

I get it but I'm wondering why they would sing their failure as a badge of honour?

errrrrrm.... because Eton isn't the b all and end all, and not as great as it think it is?

ie the chant is mocking?

Be careful Abitwobblynow your trespassing into dangerous territory there are some on MN who firmly believe that Eton is in a class of it's own. That all other schools are at the very least second class in comparison and that those of us who choose to send our DS's somewhere else only do so because we've either been rejected by Eton or our DS's are not good enough for it the first place:)

Thank you IndridCold. And I read somewhere your son is going to Eton this autumn. Very many congratulations to the both of you! And congratulations too to Colleger and her son who is also entering Eton this September. The next five years will be the most tremendous 5 years in your lives, I assure you!

I am sure your little darlings will look as smart as All The King?s Men here in their smashing uniforms which is arguably the most unique in the world as is the School which is the world?s most unique. Please don?t be swayed by people who will never get a chance to wear this unique uniform, except perhaps just once in their lifetime - on their wedding day - telling you they hate the school because of the uniform. Frankly, they ought to come out with a better excuse.

And neither should you be swayed by the comment that Eton is not as academic as some other public school in Hampshire or central London. These guys are talking as though we are still in the 1950?s. Your son(s) will be going to the Eton of the 21st Century where they will be mingling and studying with [KS] boys who are ?a breed apart? according to Monica Porter of School House Magazine.

Is there a vomit smiley?

Peteneras never gets that his Eton cheerleading to such extremes makes him and by extension the school look ever such a little bit risible. Think brainwashing.

"I am sure your little darlings will look as smart .... in their smashing uniforms."
I'm not sure smart is the first word that springs to mind more like ridiculous!

Pass the sick bag Alice-"very unique"
Why should the fact any child is going to Eton or indeed any other school be the best five years in the parents life,how sad and pathetic,its a school,nothing more nothing less,it doesnt reflect on the parent at all,what a sad,risible vicarious life..
Some of us have enough faith in the choices weve made not to feel the need to rubbish every other school on the planet but perhaps that only comes with time.You cant buy class.

Breed apart? Maybe at one point but in the last 3-4 years it's more like heavily coached...

Eton is good academically but there are more students beyond King's Scholar ability at Winchester and Westminster - at least half the cohort. Let's not fool ourselves - those who choose to send their kids to Eton do not do it for the academics but they will get a good academic education.

And out from the woodwork, comes the Green-eyed Brigade!

The usual suspects, of course.

The sights and sounds of this great school make them drivel so much that they're now calling for sick bags!

? Why should the fact any child is going to Eton or indeed any other school be the best five years in the parents life,how sad and pathetic?

Because you have never been there, that?s why, and you will never know what I?m talking about. I?m being kind by saying the School is most unique; Monica Porter of School House Magazine (who had visited and talked to the boys) would tell you it?s ?the world?s most renowned public school?.

?its a school,nothing more nothing less,it doesnt reflect on the parent at all,what a sad,risible vicarious life..?

It?s indeed very sad and pathetic and risible that parents would spend their precious time throughout the clock, year in and year out hanging on an education (school) forum to discuss their child(ren)?s education. It?s a school, nothing more, nothing less! Now where can I find a bigger hypocrite?

But you?re right on one count, you can?t buy class - you either have it or you don?t. You clearly don?t.

"The KS must sit a paper for which it is impossible to revise, designed to gauge originality" [School House Magazine]

How can the KS sit a paper for which it is impossible to revise? That makes no logical sense. The maths and science require learnt knowledge as does the Latin, French etc. There are tutoring companies all over London and East Asia which specifically coach for the Eton and Winchester scholarship and most children gaining these scholarships are now coming from day schools. Even JS boys haven't got KS's so that proves the "School House" don't know what they are talking about...

Of course one must have basic and advanced knowledge of the subjects in the KS papers. Much more than that in fact. One got to know how to apply these knowledge and therefore cannot be ?coached?. Apparently, an Oxford admissions tutor on MN is on record saying the KS papers are about the hardest s(he) had ever seen and is even contemplating of using some of these papers on his/her first year Oxford students.

I?m not aware of any tutoring companies all over London and especially in East Asia preparing students for public schools scholarships. In the Far East it is hard enough to get tutoring to do a CE, let alone Eton/Winchester scholarships. But there again, in London, there are companies selling you everything under the sun, whether they are of much use or not is another question. Incidentally, I was just talking to the owner of a north London grammar school tutoring company last month and it appears that he hadn't the foggiest idea what he's talking about. Little wonder he's now closing the company.

Pete you are so right,I just like you am not an OE,now my reason for that is a rather obvious one- I"m a female,now you might be in for a shock but you will prob find a lot of people on this forum are actually female,now whats your reason for not being an OE.?
When like me you have a father,grandfather,great grandfather, great great grandfather,two brothers, and two of your own children that are OE ,then by all means come back and tell me I dont know what Im talking about ,by all means scrabble around for tedious little links to magazine articles ,if that gives you pleasure,but please note not one Eton parent has ever come on a thread and backed you up,if you were the first Eton parent Id met I would go nowhere near it.
Must admit Monica Porter was not someone Id ever heard of ,now I realise after checking why,shes a hack jounalist,so who cares what she thinks or says,you obviously do,why it should interest anyone else is beyond me,every time you post and link to some article or other i remember Oscars def of a cynic.
You arent actually in the employ of Harrow or Winchester are you,posting to put Eton in as bad a light as possible?

Well I am very aware of these companies, much to my dismay. Students can be taught how to apply knowledge. The one thing they cannot be coached for is the computerised IQ test. Statistically, a certain small number of schools do not have the monopoly on the most able children and yet they can often get four scholarships per year to Eton and multiple scholarships to the other selective schools. A scholarship is not just down to brains or IQ. That is a tiny part and the rest is preparation, what prep school they attend and how much tutoring they are being given. Small country preps are getting fewer and fewer scholarships and the schools close to London with the option of day seem to be getting a proportionally higher amount. But at the other end there are still plenty students who are exceeding many of the scholars (I say many, not all) at university and during their time at school.

peteneras

I do think you might have overplayed your hand a little with your remark that the five years their child is at Eton will be the best five years of the parents' lives. They don't get to attend the school, you know. They probably have very rich, fulfilling inner lives and real life relationships which mean they do not live vicariously through their offspring to the level you do.

Propatria, why am I not an OE you asked, and it?s not the first time you posed that question to me either. Well, the simple answer is that I wasn?t born yesterday and I was well past my schooling age when I first arrived in Britain with £60 in my pocket from a country where even going to a primary school was a problem in those days let alone going to Eton.

But unlike most of you, I don?t come with a chip on my shoulder bearing me down feeling like a defeatist and blaming the world that life?s dealt me a bad hand. What that was not made available to me due to circumstances or otherwise, I made sure I had them available to my kids.

No, I?m not shocked you?re female as most Mumnetters are as the name would imply, but what I?m shocked is to see the envies and jealousies of some members who are constantly looking over their shoulders who is doing better than them. To me, Eton is just another excellent school, my background and culture do not dictate me to look further and deeper than that in a school. Like you said, it?s just a school. At the risk of repeating myself, I?ve said I don?t give a monkey?s who goes or don?t go to Eton. So, your apparent claim that the dozen generations of your forefathers who went there don?t mean a bean to me.

I?ve to admit the bulk of my Eton postings are written deliberately to provoke the green-eyed hypocrites, e.g. people who claim they don?t live their lives through their offspring and their education and yet keep coming on to a forum like this to see what?s happening here. Like I said, I wasn?t born yesterday . . .

Greythorne, you are you and I'm not you. You may not have enjoyed your kid's education/school but you cannot assume I'm exactly like you nor can you put words in my mouth or make me say things you'll like to hear. I've said what I wanted to say and what's more, I mean every word of it. My DP would go one big step further by saying, ' . . . wish it would never end!'. Jokingly, of course.

peteneras my DS is very excited about starting in September. Thank you for your good wishes!

"but what I?m shocked is to see the envies and jealousies of some members who are constantly looking over their shoulders who is doing better than them."
Has any sane member of MN got the faintest ides what peteneras is going on about?

"You arent actually in the employ of Harrow or Winchester are you,posting to put Eton in as bad a light as possible?"
Propatria I too have sometimes wondered this or whether peteneras is just some kind of Walter Mitty character!!

There are some really odd posts about Eton and other well-known schools on here. Most people on this forum and indeed in the country don't think at all about any of these schools. They're not jealous or misguided; it just doesn't even cross their mind for many, many reasons.

I look at these threads because I'm fascinated by the weird reactions these schools provoke in some people, not because I'm jealous.

? Must admit Monica Porter was not someone Id ever heard of ,now I realise after checking why,shes a hack jounalist,so who cares what she thinks or says . .?

Yes, that more or less sums you up neatly - don?t like the message, so . . . Shoot the Messenger.

It?s low, very, very low to slag off a reputable international journalist of 40 years standing in order to defend something which is indefensible.

Tell me about class again . . .

Quote:
Monica Porter

In the early 1970s she also broadcast regularly for the Hungarian section of Radio Free Europe. Much later, in the early 1990s, she made a series of Personal View broadcasts for the English-language BBC World Service.

Throughout most of the 1990s Porter worked full time as a feature writer for the Daily Mail. For the past decade she has been a freelance journalist, contributing to a large number of British newspapers, including The Times, Sunday Times, Financial Times, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Express, Evening Standard, Jewish Chronicle and Press Gazette, as well as magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Eve, Saga Magazine and Reader?s Digest. Her weekly Daily Mail column, Missing and Found, has been running since 1999.