Thinking of going private

[PumpkinPie2016]

I have an only child (currently aged 10, Y5) who goes to our local village (state) primary school. The school is brilliant and our son has done very well there.
In addition, I teach in a state secondary in a deprived part of town.
Both myself and DH attended state schools.

So, I am very in favour of and supportive of, state education.

However, our town does not have many good secondary schools. We won't get into the Church of England School as although I have a C of E faith and DS is christened, we don't attend church regularly.

The nearest state secondary in the neighbouring village would be the 'best' option. However, when we went to the open evening, we were not impressed at all and it recently got RI from Ofsted. Word on the grapevine from other parents isn't good either.

He could go to the school I work at which I will apply for. We are a good school and genuinely do a great job with the kids. I would be happy for him to be taught by any of my colleagues.

There is no guarantee we will get in though.

So, we are considering one of the two nearby private schools. Visited both and loved both. He would get into at least one and probably both - he is very bright and would pass the exam for school 1. School 2 is not via entrance exam.

I suppose it's a bit of a WWYD? I always thought we would go state but I absolutely don't want him going to the school in the next village now.
We can afford private and we will not have any other children.
He could go state for 6th form as we have some excellent 6th form provision locally.

Has anyone gone private for secondary? Were you/are you happy with your choice?

Private if you can afford. No doubt.

If you can afford it and you like the indie schools it seems a no brainer.

What is the oversubscription criteria for your school? All the secondary schools in my area have staff children ranked between siblings and distance.

@whatsappdoc I will double check🙂

I went from a state primary to a private secondary and it was honestly life-changing for so many reasons… small classes, kids who wanted to learn and weren’t disruptive, no bullying, amazing extra curricular opportunities, just a very warm and nurturing environment.
I went back into state for sixth form and my grades slipped massively!

I went to the school where my mother taught, albeit it was a middle school not secondary.
She was not a very popular teacher - quite strict and “old school” and I was bullied a fair amount as a result. So unless you are confident you are a popular teacher then I wouldn’t even consider it.
Even then, it’s not ideal as at secondary pupils are of course finding themselves and even if your school is big your child will feel like they may bump into you around the school, or that teachers may discuss them with you in a way that wouldn’t happen with other parents

@ICouldBeVioletSky that's my worry - that it would be tricky for him being in the same school for lots of reasons.

@EdgarAllenRaven thank you, that's reassuring. The nearest state school hasn't got a great reputation for behaviour at the moment.

Where does your son want to go? Presumably with his friends from primary?

@Bestbatson DS has liked all schools we looked at - he loved the local private schools (one in particular).

It is hard as a lot of his friends will go to the school in the next village, however, he is a sociable boy and no doubt will make friends. Both private schools do team building days for new Y7s.

DS went to small local private senior because our local state provision was failing.

He loved it, became so much more confident and sociable. He's approaching sixth form and he's decided to stay at the private school for the last two years. He's happy. It was worth it.

DS1 has been in various schools due to moving, and finished primary in a lovely state school before going to private secondary - it's been brilliant - they do a lot of sport (he's not sporty, but it's good for him), they have better facilities for the size of school, smaller classes, teachers have time to talk to the kids, the breadth of subjects is greater than normal, and whilst I wouldn't say the kids are all there to learn, the school does have great discipline and pastoral care (he was bullied for a little while, and they did a great job of stamping on it once it was discovered)

Your school sounds lovely too though, I guess it depends on your relationship with your child/the other children/the atmosphere of the school etc. whether it's a good idea or not!

Will you have to make a choice before you know if you're offered a place though? That's where it gets tricky!

if he’s sociable and up for making the move to private without his friends then I would go private in your shoes provided you can really afforded it even with VAT and the crazy year on year hike of fees 🙄.

If at the end of every spring term would be stressing at the thought of what’s coming in the annual increase of fees letter then I would try him at the school you work at.

you’re a teacher so I would trust your gut. All the teachers I have met seem to make very good choices whether they go state or private- just seem to be more plugged in to knowing what to look for. I wouldn’t worry too much about the general sentiment that you always thought you would go state but now need to consider private due to the RI rating.
Good luck.

Without hesitation private schools f you can afford it.

We did state rural primary to private secondary. Local state secondaries are not good. All DDs primary friends went to state secondary so I have a good insight into their experiences Vs DDs, no question in my mind we made the right choice.
If you can afford it then 100% private.