What's it REALLY like teaching in an independent prep?

[maybenextyear]

Hi!
I'm a Primary Teacher, currently working in a state school. My contract is about to finish and I'd been looking at moving to an independent school as my children attend an independent (which has different holidays to me) and because, quite frankly, I love the idea of how creative I could be if I had 15 children in my class instead of 30. In my head, I'll be taking them outdoors more and planning innovative and exciting lessons because I won't have to focus so much on the logistics of managing 30 six year/seven olds. I appreciate there will be a lot more admin, extra curricular responsibilities and I'd imagine I'll be answering parental emails at all hours of the day.
I've just applied to an outstanding independent school for a maternity leave cover that will quite possibly only last until Christmas but I figured it would be great experience on my CV for getting another independent job.
My problem comes that my current head has just offered to extend my contract for another year, but I'm reluctant to accept as I'm really keen to move into the independence sector even though I would be looking at a much longer commute.
So tell me, am I deluding myself? Is the grass actually greener in the independent sector?

Just realised the obvious response to my post is 'well, they're all different'
I guess I'm looking for personal experience. For context the specific one I've applied to is a large, well established prep with an 'excellent' ISI report so I'd guess it is quite high pressure.

Boarding or Day?

This position is in a boarding school...

I've made this move. Upsides are longer holidays, smaller classes more autonomy and better behaviour all of which means a lot.
Downsides: PPA is a bit of a non-thing in some indies and it's certainly not protected. You need to be available for school events more often, usually evenings and some weekends.
You have to please the parent no matter how unreasonable you think they are being.
You might not get teacher pension; my school doesn't and I know many indies are changing to their own schemes.
Pay scales are not transparent unless it is the GDST.
You have to be mindful of recruitment and promoting the school at events and in general.
Some people at the top are making a lot of money from education, and you need to be at peace with that!

Can you afford to be unemployed at Christmas when the maternity person comes back? If so, then in your shoes I'd give it a whirl. Overall I am happier in the independent sector, although it's taken me a couple of years to get used to it.

I really enjoyed working in a private school, it was lovely having a small class and I never had any problem with parents. I remember it very fondly. Also had longer holidays and free lunch! We also didn’t have to do SATs. Sometimes I felt things were a bit behind / old fashioned / traditional compared to state education but don’t think that hindered anything.
It is harder to get back to state because of this people say; I left and did supply in a huge range of schools to build my skills and experience.

Thank you both, it's good to know you've both had positive experiences. Interesting point regarding pension, that one hadn't occurred to me.

Yeah because the employer contribution is increasing some indies are choosing their own scheme. My school never paid into TPS and the pension is a workplace one where they pay 11% to my 7%. It's good, but it's not as good as teacher pension. Still, I don't think it's a reason not to do it if you fancy it.

I was with gdst so I think it was the same as state.

I left state four years ago and I vow to never return. 15 children and a full time TA.

I was also at a GDST school but found it incredibly restrictive and old-fashioned in terms of the type of teaching/ learning that was expected, compared to the state sector. I'd worked in three different state schools prior to my time at the indie and couldn't wait to get back.

Went back and felt much happier that the needs of SEND children were more openly recognised and resourced, that there was far less parent pressure and more modern resources - as opposed to rooms and rooms full of 1970s handwritten-and-backed-onto-card crap.

BUT the main thing I missed whilst at the indie was feeling like I worked in a school. With all the marketing and promoting that was constantly on the back burner and informed much of what we did, it felt more like a business.

No longer teaching but I advise people to research the school very carefully.