Why do people openly criticise decisions to send your kids to a private school?

[scotmum1977]

I sent my Son to a private school (Glasgow) last year for various reasons and it's working out really well. There is the cost but we just do without expensive holidays etc. I can't think of a better gift for my children than a good education. I was so surprised at how offended people get when they ask which school he attends. They think it's ok to criticise you openly and make bitchy comments here and there. Surely how you spend your own money is your own business. Anyone else have this experience?

HeronLanyon IME fighting inputs occurs everywhere.
Me: "so Mr Bloggs how do get that massive cut on your head?"
Mr Bloggs: "well is was I'm the pub watching the football (World Cup) we lost and I got hit over the head by a chair!"
Three days later
Me: "so Mr Smith how did you receive that massive cut to your head?"
Mr Smith "well is was in pub watching the football (Worldcup) and we won and I got hit over the head by a chair!"
Both pubs in a fairly affluent London suburb.
My conclusion I'll never ever understand football and I'll never understand pubs!!

happygardening ha ha yes ! I’m at the criminal bar and pubs/clubs of all sorts with all types of clientele have provided much work !!

And of course the stats show that its men (especially young men) who are most at risk of being assaulted when out.

Or to put it another way - before someone objects that most state schools are not comparable to squalid, crime ridden estates. Let's say you live in a perfectly decent, average two bed house on a perfectly normal suburban street. Your house is fine - clean, warm, pleasant and comfortable. But you do wish you had a third bedroom so your kids could have their own - and you've got a football-mad son, so your small, paved courtyard garden isn't ideal. Five years on, you've got a bit more money - perhaps you've gone back to work full time, or you've paid off most of your mortgage or whatever. So, you decide to move - you buy yourself a three (maybe even four) bed detached house with a nice sized garden for your son to kick a ball about, a few streets away from where you used to live. Would that suggest that you look down your nose at your old neighbours? Would it suggest that you're a selfish, right wing type who doesn't give a damn about anybody else? I think it would be a fairly hard core socialist who would really criticise that choice.

@wherethekestrelscall I agree. Great way of explaining it too.

Having been brought up in the world of hardcore socialist/communists/trade union leaders many of the prominent members lived in bijou London mansion flats (courtesy of their left wing councils£ and large houses with swimming pools!

Oh and I should add looking down their noses at the “lumpant proletariat” and sniggering at the aspiring working/lower middle classes! But still spouting socialist communist beliefs!

Learning Latin and small bore shooting (whatever that is) would be good reasons for me not to choose that school for my children. I don’t think a lot of private school parents or teachers for that matter understand how state schools operate. Private schools buy you privilege, not necessarily give you the best education.

@twattymctwatterson just because we have different opinions doesn't mean it's ok to start name calling and accusing people of being drunk. Lost all credibility here I'm afraid.

obviously but I would be surprised if a council run school wasn’t well set up to cope with physical disabilities

Definitely not the case.

In our old catchment area, the two state schools would have needed significant work to make it fully accessible. For example, One had 15 sets of non automated doors between the playground and infant area and no lift to the upper school on the first floor. The other had an accessible route to the playground that took 5 minutes for me to walk (twice that for DD) and required adult supervision. Basically DD couldn't ever have playtime with her friends unless she left class early and came back late. No access to upper school level there either.

But, as far as the LA was concerned, these were accessible to the bare minimum of DDA so they didn't have to do anything to change them nor did we get extra points when applying for a placement in other schools.

All of the new build/fully accessible schools were oversubscribed so placement was unlikely. We had no choice but to move to the catchment of one of these new schools. Them being oversubscribed meant the local housing was much more expensive.

We bought the "privilege" of allowing DD to access education in the same way as her friends without her being excluded from any part of the school day.

It's also worth noting the LA's responsibility is to find a suitable place within the local authority boundary. These boundaries are quite vast and it's not unusual for a child to be placed in a school many miles from home because the LA won't spend money to improve the catchment school. It really isn't as simple as SN children being at the front of the queue.

@scotmum1977 are you saying you didn't totally misinterpret what i was saying and start giving it all the crying faces and insinuating that I was lying about where I live? Did I actually say that I believe both Paisley and North Lanarkshire are in the City of Glasgow? I've never called anyone any names on this thread. Perhaps I've got things totally wrong so if you could tell me something I've said that's factually incorrect then I'll go away and educate myself.

@twattymctwatterson

"You've actually embarrassed yourself with those last few posts. Come back and read them tomorrow when you've sobered up" I mean how rude!! . If you want to have an adult debate please try behaving like one. These kind of comments are intended to flame!

@scotmum1977 in response to you being rude, incorrectly saying I said something I didn't and insinuating I was lying about where I'm from, which I notice you've not acknowledged. I'm not really interested in having a debate today when it's so obviously met with deaf ears so in the words of Kevin Bridges; "enjoy your night pal"

@twattymctwatterson oh back to Kevin bridges and your stereotypes. I think your name says it all! Even you recognise that 😂😂

the LA won't spend money to improve the catchment school.

It’s not a question of won’t. It’s because they can’t. There is chronic underfunding of the state schooling sector.

Why would you want to avoid a school that teaches Latin and small bore shooting? That sounds like inverse snobbery. Latin is an absolutely fantastic foundation for English and modern languages, as well as being an excellent academic discipline and a key to studying the ancient world which in itself teaches you a huge amount of history, geography etc - I think it's a great shame that more state schools aren't able to offer it. And individual or niche sports (whether shooting or climbing or badminton or whatever) don't have to be posh, but they're brilliant for kids who might not excel at contact sport. One of our reasons for looking at private education is so that DS can find individual sports he might actually enjoy, rather than the rugby, rugby, rugby focus at the grammars.

Small bore shooting
This thread keeps on giving

I agree that Latin is very useful. Mainly as a barrier to entry to keep state school educated people in their place, which is why it remains popular in private schools.

There are plenty of individual sports that may help children not into rugby (mine don't like rugby, and that hasn't been a problem for them so far in the state sector). State schools offer trampolining, table tennis, cheerleading and many other sports that kids who don't like contact sports may enjoy. Heck, you could even get them a dart board if you wanted to improve their hand-eye coordination.

I agree that Latin is very useful. Mainly as a barrier to entry to keep state school educated people in their place, which is why it remains popular in private schools.

A barrier to entry to what?

It’s not a question of won’t. It’s because they can’t. There is chronic underfunding of the state schooling sector.

So, it's acceptable to say kids with disabilities can be punted off to out of catchment schools because we just can't afford to install a lift? Can you imagine the uproar if they en masses decided mainstream kids were second class citizens.

I went to a state school. I did Latin. It was amazing. I was also put into the 'swotty but sporty' box at school because I was crap at netball and hockey. When I got to university I discovered a niche sport, got bloody fit and bloody good at it, and discovered that I wasn't 'not sporty' at all, I just hadn't found the right sport. And I wasn't the one who first mentioned shooting, I was picking up on what someone else said. I was just querying why someone would choose niche sports facilities as a reason NOT to go to a school, and saying it was inverse snobbery.

A barrier to entry to what?

Where do I start?

Idontneednopyjamas - please do explain why Latin is inherently an elitist subject outside of its provision which is a result of it being excluded from the national curriculum in 1988.

Where do I start?

Anywhere you like.

Sorry, that should of course have read 'swotty but NOT sporty'.