Cost of private education

[kmid]

Hi, I am considering private secondary education and would like to hear from anyone who has taken this decision who is in a similar situation myself. Financially, for me, it will be a big commitment and I shall have to work almost full time. I will have to juggle sickness/school holidays and it will stretch us. I wonder if anyone is in this situation and whether they feel it has been worth it. I am very keen to do it and have the prospect of a lovely job, but just need to take the plunge! I am also keen to know about hidden costs of private education.

LOL joni
nope - I'm not that hypocritical !

What I am utterly against is state funded segregated schools ( by god, gonads or grammar)
I've always said : you want segregation, cough up !

Private schools are a fact of life : some will always want that shelter from reality
I know its a bad thing
I was at selective private education till I was 21 and the world of work was a heck of a shock
the fuckwits who have seats in the house of Commons are still in the bubble
BUT
I'll not deny choice

however as somebody who took (and passed but then never took up) the scholarships to the top 8 gels schools in the 70's - the parental spending power would always have been an issue
it was in my junior school :

OP think of what size fish and what size pond till the age of 18 ....

I see! I was wondering if I'd mixed you up with another poster. You must be incredibly bright to have been offered 8 scholarships. The borough in which I grew up didn't have any private schools and all the grammars were scrapped too. I don't think there were any single sex schools either! your utopia Talkin

I'm no oracle but IME it's not possible for a parent to provide a DC with the breadth provided by some independent schools. I've just received next terms diary for DS2's "second most famous school in the country," the opportunities available are numerous, from at least weekly lectures by those eminent in a wide variety of fields, sporting opportunities, musical opportunities averaging 30 concerts a term and master classes, art, drama and these are listed in the diary because they are extra to the existing 60 clubs/sports that the school runs routinely. I challenge any parent to provide that breadth of opportunities even if you lived in London.
We're rural my DS wished to practice his very slightly niche sport during his four week holiday, the nearest really good club is a mere 60 miles away, the nearest pretty ok club is 27 miles away, I couldn't do it on a regular basis, we're off to an exhibition tomorrow another 25 mile trip, a lecture next week on modern art 29 miles.
Maybe I'm just not that dedicated but frankly I wouldn't want to drive over a 100 miles a week and sit in a cold gym for 2 hours twice a week watching a non spectator sport for more than a few weeks of the year I'd rather pay school fees.
OP talkin (waves) is right breadth makes a difference, but a lot depends on your finances, your location and how much time you have and are prepared to devote to exposing your DC to a variety of opportunities.

Well, there is breadth, and there's vast and unnecessary expanse. And there isn't even a typo in the last word, although some people might think there could be.

For those who can genuinely afford it, however, the economy needs them to spend it.

But do please bear in mind that when happygardening talks about private school, she is not talking about your average private school down the road. You will be very disappointed if you expect everything she lists for 12k a year.

And if your main reason for going private- as it seems to be- is a "nicer class of child" no internet, no bad influences and so on, you might be disappointed there too!

Talkinpeace put it perfectly! My DDs are at private senior school. We are paying for the smaller classes, the academic excellence, first class equipment, freedom from hair brained Government initiatives and lots of other pluses BUT the main difference is the breadth of education and the broad range of extras. This is what makes the difference in the end. The extras are what makes a well-rounded individual and the extras are what stand out in a university or job application.

Should clarify my reference is to Talkinpeace's first post not the second!

"The extras are what makes a well-rounded individual and the extras are what stand out in a university or job application."

Job application maybe- but not in a university application.

I'm intrigued as to what these private school "extras" are (and by private school I mean the £12k type rather than the famous public schools)?

My DD1 is at an all girls comp, and the range of extracurricular activities seems very broad. The school have plenty of musical/sporting/drama/public speaking/science opportunities. What more breadth could I expect to get for my £12k?

Reeling, writhng and fainting in coils........

Sorry Martorana, I will beg to disagree about the University applications. If you are faced with 10 students all with excellent academic grades, the 'extras' will make the difference. The applicant with the volunteer work, the D of E Gold, the commitment to the Orchestra, the study day in the holidays at the maths camp, the hours dedicated to the fencing team, the list is endless. The well-rounded individual who can show enthusiasm and commitment and passion and hard work with the added extras to prove it.

I am not suggesting these are only attainable through private education but this is what I am paying for my own daughters. ( Neither of them have any particular commitment to 'fainting in coils' though)

Newpup-there are admissions tutors on here who will disagree with you. Thankfully. The system would be even more unfair if admissions were skewed towards those who could pay for "extras".

You may find the differences in class size at senior level are not that great, I have been comparing notes for years with friends whose kids are at the local independent school ( mine are at a comp) both our children were put into small classes of around 12 for maths as they were struggling a bit, both were helped greatly by this.

Practical lessons have a maximum of 20 in state schools and a class of 30 children with good behaviour is not that different for a teacher to manage than a class of 25.

Big schools have a noticeable advantage when it comes to choices of activities and subjects too, I rejected a small rural state school,even though it was great pastorally,for my lot because the head warned me that they couldn't always run exam classes at the higher level for some subjects due to lack of pupil numbers.

I understand the worry but I have been pleasantly surprised.

I would say that if your child is very sporty the standard of team sports can be quite a bit lower, this is for various reasons, in our local case is generally that sporty kids get funnelled into training at junior club level and prioritise that over school teams, but that is a whole other discussion.

Martorana. I may or may not be an admissions tutor myself. I am not suggesting that you can only get extras if you pay. Volunteering is a time commitment and state schools have orchestras too. In my personal instance, I am paying for private education so my daughters can access all the extras the private system offers. I stand by my opinion that the breadth of education and the extras do count.

Sorry that should read, my personal circumstances not instance!

Newpup- I sincerely hope you are not an admissions tutor. Because if you are, and if faced with two equally qualified candidates you give the place to the one who has taken advantage of the "extras" ready and waiting and paid for as she steps out of the classroom door......

I think a lot depends on personal circumstances. If you are in a family where the adults are all working long hours, or live somewhere where there isn't a lot of access to extra curricular activities locally, or the local state schools are poor, or you don't have much education yourself so find it harder to support your children at home, then the fees are probably worth it.

If you live in the catchment area of a good state school which suits your child, with lots of sporting, cultural, community and scientific opportunities nearby and have someone around to make sure that your children can get to those activities, and if you are clued up about educational issues, then if money is an issue there are probably much better things to spend it on than school fees.

For me, the breadth has not been just about extra curriculum stuff.

With sufficient will, energy, time and money, you might be able to do the things my DC do in school (though God bless you if you have that much time and energy ).

However, what has most impressed me, particularly at DS school, is the breadth within acadmeic subjects. The GCSE syllabus has been little more than a touch stone.

It's exactly what a good education should be like!

I chose private because it offered what I think my daughter needs . Although the anti private may disagree I can safely say the majority of the girls in private want to excel and are fully supported by their parents. Therefore yes my daughter is cocooned in a bubble where her peers want to do well. After saying that the school also admits misfits and which can lead to some horrid times for her. Dealing with it under close supervision by pastoral staff helps her to learn how to deal with possible difficult people in the future.

The school has excellent facilities and not only supports my daughter in her exams but in her extra curriculum activities too.

Although they just added 400 pounds per term for next year.

I pay because I know my daughter will be well taken care off. No it is not trying to brush of my responsibility of parenting. Its all about understanding what is best fir her.

IMO there are four reasons to go private.
Good reasons

1. private primary for the long days - I have DFs for who this makes far more sense than bitty before and after school care.

2. Very sporty DCs, especially at junior age when state is useless and spending every evening and all weekend ferrying to rugby/cricket and hockey gets stupid.

3. Middle of the road DCs who might arse about in the middle sets of the comp.

Bad, but commonest reason.
4) You went private, the state sector (however good it is in your area) gives you a panic attack.

The bottom line for me is DD's DFs didn't get all A/A after paying an insane amout of money to go private - they got pretty much the mixture of A-B I'm certain they would have got at any of the 3-4 good comprehensives they could have gone to for free!

As for being taken care of.

I have a quirky, dyslexic, gets herself left out and bullied where ever she goes, who's good/satisfactory/SM/good comp. (That is how meaningless Ofsted is Y7-Y11) has been absolutely brilliant with.

I can't imagine any private school having more patience than her current school have had or doing any better job in turning a fussy socially immature child into the very assured young lady she is today.

Nocomet

Is that really the commonest reason or the commonest stereotype of private school parents.

A lot of parents who send their children to private schools were state educated themselves.

(of course this is anecdotal but ..) I certainly know lots of parents who were privately educated themselves and didn't even look at the state alternatives ... on the grounds that private "must" be better.

Round here lots of parents don't even look at the State System as Private is seen as the only option.
We have an outstanding local comp so, not to even look, seems mad to me.