Would you choose this comp?

[Lurknolonger]

My DC is in Y5 so we're starting to think about secondary school. I saw the league tables were out a week back, so I had a look at our local comprehensive school. The school's Progress 8 score is 1.07 and 72% got grade 5 or above in English and maths.

We'll obviously visit and see what we think ourselves, and I know DC nearby who go there and are happy. So if it seems a happy place etc when we visit, and gets results like that would you just go for it? We have a range of private schools nearby (we're in London) and my DC's closest friend will be applying to some. I wasn't planning to get caught up in the private school rat race but now everyone is talking about the schools and visiting etc it's hard to stay aloof! We could afford private school, with a nip and a tuck here and there. And they do have such amazing looking facilities.

FWIW we would pretty much definitely get into the comp - we live very close by (within 500m).

I guess I want someone to tell me it's not mad/bad/letting DC down not to dive into the private school race when you could just about afford it, and that a good comp (which I think this is?) will still give them the education/extra rounding etc that helps them do whatever they want after GCSE. Please....?!

Those results suggest an academically able intake.

If you can only just about afford private school you would be mad to stretch yourself unless you can really see the benefits. Ofr, put another way, what else could you do with the money to enrich your DC's life?

Think I've found the school you're talking about OP - a single sex school in outer London? The results are extremely impressive and the intake actually looks pretty mixed ability-wise with a good spread of pupils from across the prior attainment range. If you would definitely qualify for a place under current admission criteria, I can't see any reason not to go for it. It looks like the kind of school people move house for!

Thanks both, and yes Zinnia I think you do have it right 😉

I was so sure we'd just apply there, as I said I'm about as sure as you can be that we'd get in. I think it's just listening to other mums talking about the private school options, and I'm prob over sensitive but I sort of got an undercurrent of "if you really care about their education you'll make the financial sacrifices to get them there". Which I know is me being silly, but the London secondary school rat race is a crazy thing...!
I've been scouring old threads to read all the good things about choosing your local comp, to hopefully set my head back where it was before all the school gate chat got me in a spin!

Yes, I did choose a good comprehensive with very similar headline figures and turned down the opportunity of a place at a private school to do so. The comprehensive was a good fit for DD. She is now in the sixth form and I have no need to regret that choice. She quite literally could not have got better GCSE results somewhere else and we have saved over £100,000 in the process.

As for "If you really care about their education ..." that means choosing a school that you think they will enjoy and work hard in. If it's free, so much the better :-)

The very best schools in my county struggle to get 72%, so that would be fine by me for DC.

I do think you need to go with gut feeling to a certain extent - it's not just about results.
Have a visit to several schools that could be possibles and get a feel for the general ethos of each. Where can you see your DC being happy?
Does it offer any extra curricular activities or clubs that would be welcomed by your DC? What are the strengths of your DC and would the school meet those?
A way off yet, and things could change in the mean time, but what is on offer for GCSEs and what sort of choices do the students have?

Thanks all. You're right that we need to visit all possible schools and decide which is right for our DC. I have looked at GCSE choices at this comp - they seem to have a good range, and my DC likes English, history, geography type subject right now.
I must say the idea of not paying £100k for school is appealing, especially as we'll probably have to pay for uni/college/help with starting out.
I like that the comp is close as well as seemingly good in its results, some of our nearby private schools are an hour on the bus which feels long. I commute an hour to work and it's tiring, and I don't have homework to do after that! But a small voice keeps nagging at me that I'm being unambitious for them, I should push for bigger and brighter and that special polish a private school gives. Hopefully a visit to our comp in the autumn will sort it out. This really is all so silly and I irritate myself by chewing at it in my head! Sometimes I wish we weren't in the "could afford it" zone so I could just say not for us we can't afford it...

I think, in your position, I would take the comp because it appears good and it’s close. Save the money you would have spent and move for 6th form if you need to. 1 hour on the bus is too far in my view. If you have to nip and tuck finances and you both work, how comfortable will you be in 5/6 years time when the fees have gone up? They will! I think having better holidays and funding 6th form and/or university living expenses is a better use of any spare money you have. Not to mention living costs in London post university! That’s another story.

I wish my son's comp had those results.

Visit - and go by your gut instinct.

We bought into the private ethos and for ds it was a total disaster. The academic results gained were at huge cost to mental health. He now attends a state school but where the teachers seem to care about the children as individuals.

Look at the school and then decide - I was determined to use state school , having visited , it feels completely wrong for dc2 . If possible he’ll be going to the local non selective private .

My feeling is private school will give DC a better start to future uni/careers and an overall better standard of education. It may require some financial juggling but I would so recommend private school over comps any day. I have two DD's at CLC and it is unbelievable to see how many more opportunities they have there as opposed to comps in Cheltenham.

This is the thing that drives me mad about talking to other parents about schooling in London (and to an extent on MN - don't flame me everyone!): this arms race about private vs state education. Anyone who's spent long enough looking at these boards will know very well all the arguments for and against both systems. It's a middle class obsession, and it does seem London is the worst place for it.

As other posters have said, getting the best fit (or what seems to be the best fit, because let's face it you never know how it's going to turn out until your DC actually goes there) is the most important thing. Don't let other parents insinuate you don't care about your child because you're not paying for their education. You are lucky enough to have an excellent non-selective state school on your doorstep, and if you like the school and its ethos it looks like a truly exceptional place, certainly in terms of results.

Zinnia has it right, in my opinion. Private schools are able to decide on the students they want to take and can cherry pick if they choose. That doesn’t mean that a private education automatically is better. Sometimes state schools have a breadth that private can’t match.

If you have a good state school locally, I’d go with that every time. Just think what you can do with the money you aren’t spending on schooling. Holidays, experiences, money set aside for their future. If you have to make significant sacrifices in order to afford it, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Circumstances change, stuff happens and you may find the fees unmanageable.

I’d take the state school with those results.

We did just that for DS, 11. We could have managed private but had the option of a brilliant single sex comp very near home (also London).

We went for the comp and (so far!) I'm so glad we did. I didn't think the polish and extra opportunities for eg sports or whatever were worth the fees (we were considering boarding so the fees were immense, not least as we have other DC who'd have gone private too).

DS is absolutely loving his school. All sorts of families there, from titled people (not kidding) to those at the very other end of the spectrum.

Meanwhile we have spare cash and are doing up our house. It is so liberating to not face a future of £38k pa per child.

So chuffed with what we did. Go and have a look at the school and see what you think.

Take your DC on a tour or open day. It doesn't matter if it's a good or bad school if they end up unhappy there. I speak as someone who was miserable at secondary school and barely scraped 2 O levels because I hated it.

We are fortunate enough to have an excellent, caring high school with a great ethos locally but with the way the education system is being cut to the bone I'd go private if I had a child starting in education now.
That is hard to say as I have always preferred a state education for various reasons.

There is an Outstanding single sex comp (cough, it’s not but hey) state school near where I live that people barter their kidneys for. We also have “top” private and a Public school. People generally only send their daughters to the fee paying schools as a back up if they don’t get that particular state school.

Take the state school! It’s near to you and you can use the spare money and time spent not traveling to plug any gaps .

My kids are at a state school with a similar educational profile. It was hard to stand firm when all around were running about talking nothing but entrance exams & which schools to choose.

I've been delighted with our choice - my two, very different children have been supported brilliantly; the teachers are (with a very few exceptions) passionate, caring and engaging; they have both found lovely gangs of peers. The level of facilities isn't a patch on a private school, of course, there are certainly some challenging behaviours occasionally, and my daughter wishes they taught Latin . But we have money spare for tutoring in subjects where needed; trips to the RI or the Globe for an evening, or a weekend in Paris - and actually, those educational opportunities are important too...

Brizzledrizzle - yes, I have thought about that. But I'm hoping for an experience like Fanomominon and others.
I have 2 DC, so if we put one in private school we'd have to do it for the other. Conservatively it's £20k a year, so £40k for 2. Those figures scare me just writing them down! We both work, and that's not just necessity, we both enjoy our jobs. But if something changed or worse one of us lost our job then fees would be unaffordable.
And I like the idea of visits to the Globe or Paris etc!

Whoever said it's hard to stand firm when others are running around - that's it exactly. I so want what's best for them, they are such special DC (I know everyone thinks that!). I guess I wanted to comfort myself that sending them to a school like this is not a second tier choice or a step down.
As others have said we can't decide now, we need to visit etc. But just writing this down has been very helpful in settling my head. That is, until the next time I have coffee with the school mums...!

I would visit with my child. Discuss the options and be lead by them, they will be there for 5 or 7 years. Good luck im sure it will work out.