Private education

[alijangra]

What do folk think about private schools? Particularly if you went to one yourself or your children have/do attend one.
Do you think they provide a better standard of education? How much do they cost these days anyway?

[natalie_1982]

I thought headlice only lived in clean hair?

[natalie_1982]

Oh, and I live in Oxford! Nowhere near Aberdeen :-)

[cazzz1975]

headlice are not choosy, they will inhabit all children privately educated or not.....

Im sure if you want to hear a lot of horror stories about state schools to make your choosing easier for your partner to agree with you then go on the bbc website and browse through the failing schools.

my daughter goes to a very good state school, there are rarely any behaviour problems as its quite a strict school.

[Dassie]

Look at it this way. Do you want your child to be properly educated in an organised environment or do you want the teachers intimidated by youth who have no respect? Sorry but there is definitely a class divide here.

[hau kola]

I work ar a private school.The fees are around 4000 per term for day pupils.Our A-level results are top 5 in the country.Whilst the kids do work and learn hard,in my experisnce they dont learn life skills.The girls especiaaly are very rude and a lot of the parents very stuck up.The kids expect everything to be done for them,they`ll throw rubbish on the floor and expect somebody else to pick it up.The tutors are very good at what they do but they dont have an ounce of common sense.

[pastafreak]

My daughter went to both-State thru year4,private until year 10 and then State for GSCE's and A=levels. She was considered "troublesome" to her teachers in primary school: easily distracted and a daydreamer...with the most wretched spelling imaginable! She had one-to-one attention at the prep school she then went to--they were willing to get to the root of her difficulties(some mild dyslexia),and the environment was positive as opposed to "what are we to do with this child?" Another positive aspect of her years in private school was the discipline and the homework-sometimes as much as 3 hours per night,-many state schools don't introduce homework til it is too late. Now-at the ripe old age of 21-she readily acknowledges the benefit of developing good study habits. She is in her 2nd year at UCL in London,and she still struggles-she is not an academic but she knows how to work hard and put in the effort.

[ann_h]

There's a difference between Public School and Independent/ Private school!

There a quite a few reasonably-priced private schools around, by which I mean �7-10k a year rather than per term
You'll find less snobbery and more children of people like yourself who aren't necessarily rich but are making the effort.

However it really depends on your child's character and their talents, whether they need the extra encouragement and supervision for example. Despite popular belief, state schools are often better funded in terms of science labs, computer equipment, music studios etc

As I am "bookish" my move from comp to private suited me fine. English became a subject of study, rather than an exercise in occupying myself with a book while the teacher tried to keep my classmates' attention.
Had I been interested in Fine Arts, Acting or Music I would have stayed at the comp as they had really very good facilities and staff (ITV once filmed and broadcast the annual play)

So, get the prospectuses, do your homework and ask your kids !

Good luck

[alijangra]

Regarding the headlice issue...I am only going on what my friend told me after years of working as a school nurse although this was about 10 years ago.
Again, money is not an issue and not quite sure what is meant by 'people like you who aren't necessarily rich' !!
Lastly, I thank you all for your answers. I was keen to know how much these schools cost purely out of interest, it is a little early to be sending out for a prospectus as I dont even have a ring on my finger yet, never mind trying to conceive!