To send my kids to private school or not?

[Descartes]

Check the Ofsted reports on the school of your choice, forget other peoples prejudices, and decide what you believe is best for your children.

The comments ' it didn't do me any harm' can only cite the argument from one side, if they had attended a different school their comment would the same.

if there is a option on the number of schoola within easy reach, check them all and speak to parents.

The important thing, now, is specialisation of schools, if your children want IT studies, sending them to an art based specialisation defeats the object.

What are their ambitions, which school would best serve that ambition?

 

[Sid's Snake]

The Daily Mail forums have some terrific debate about this

I feel that often Mail readers are much less burdened by the types of silly inverted snobbery and prejudice that obviously annoy people here. Personally I am fed up and sick and tired of people undermining my right to do what's best for my child. If my child wants a decent education and a decent chance in life, why shouldn't she?

 

[isvicthere?]

I’m in a dilemma; my wife thinks we should send the kids to one of the numerous private schools in the area. We can afford it but there is something about it that grates on me. I came into the British education system at nine and it served me and my four brothers well.

Wify thinks I’ve been struck dumb by pseudo-middleclass angst.

I've taught in the secondary state sector for over twenty years. In that time it has been run into the ground by successive governments. Much as I hate to sound like Oliver Letwin, if I had kids I'd do anything to keep them out of the feral menagerie of state "education".

Don't know anything whatsoever about the private sector, though...

 

[sam/phallocrat]

A large proportion of private schools are shite and turn out obnoxious arrogant fuckwits with no social skills, whilst a few are ok. Mine was somewhere in the middle.

 

[Santino]

Ask your kids whether they want to go to private school, and let them know that any money saved on sending them to the local comp can be spent on fun and larks. Like a holiday.

 

[Streathamite]

speaking as a public school product - for god's sake don't do it. i wouldn't anyway, for ideological reasons. but even if it weren't for that, I'd not do it. When you leave that environment at that age, you end up with a terribly narrow, insular view of life. you simply aren't prepared for real (adult) life.
and no, I wasn't a boarder

 

[chegrimandi]

The Daily Mail forums have some terrific debate about this

I feel that often Mail readers are much less burdened by the types of silly inverted snobbery and prejudice that obviously annoy people here. Personally I am fed up and sick and tired of people undermining my right to do what's best for my child. If my child wants a decent education and a decent chance in life, why shouldn't she?

here here Sid! someone at last speaketh the truth.

 

[the B]

What makes someone prepared for real adult life exactly?

 

[the B]

Personally I am fed up and sick and tired of people undermining my right to do what's best for my child. If my child wants a decent education and a decent chance in life, why shouldn't she?

What counts as a decent chance in life? Going to a redbrick uni and turning into a lawyer/doctor/banker/engineer and earning bucks at the price of your soul?

 

[sam/phallocrat]

here here Sid! someone at last speaketh the truth.

Such heavy handed sarcasm in very unbecoming of you, 'cheggers'. It's probably best left alone

 

[Streathamite]

The Daily Mail forums have some terrific debate about this

I feel that often Mail readers are much less burdened by the types of silly inverted snobbery and prejudice that obviously annoy people here. Personally I am fed up and sick and tired of people undermining my right to do what's best for my child. If my child wants a decent education and a decent chance in life, why shouldn't she?

jesus, we've suddenly turned into reactionary75
put another way - fuck off mate, you ain't worth slashing on.

 

[Streathamite]

What counts as a decent chance in life? Going to a redbrick uni and turning into a lawyer/doctor/banker/engineer and earning bucks at the price of your soul?

psst the B - he's a troll

 

[BettyButterfly]

3 of my sisters went to a private school and I did not but had a better education.

People more on my level and more qualifications than them.

I often ask them if they would send their kids but they say no. You need the whole package, sking trips, blah, blah and they were picked on as the poor kids in the posh school. No local kids went so all friends lived miles away.

Is there is no better choice? Perhaps I am lucky living in a city with some excellent comps.

 

[Fledgling]

Oh for fucks sake!

Yes, inverted snobbery is wrong, I hate any kind of snobbery fyi, but when inverted snobbery can combine to keep you out of work or otherwise reduce your chances of success or even living in any form of comfort, and drip, drip, drip to make you feel worthless about yourself and/or completely cut off from society, then you can make direct comparisons IMO.

IMO considering that all snobbery sucks I am entitled to make comparisons becase I am comparing the prejudiced attitudes exerted by those who are snobs and those who are inverse snobs. Prejudice of both kinds is unecessary and I'm not sure where it comes from. I can make direct comparisons, I'm not making them on impact but rather on the fundamental principles of snobbery.

Having had a mixture of education I cannot find any link with income/class/backgound and whether someone is a prejudiced loser.

 

[london manz]

Private Means You Have To Pay???

Dont Do It - Your Children Will Get A Far Better Education In Life And Academia Attending Public School.

Going Private Isnt Going To Enhance Their Career Or Guarantee Top Marks Does It? I Mean Prince Harrys Marks Are Shit.

As Long As The Parenting Is Good Nothing Else Matters

 

[brasicritique]

send em private and do everyone a favour I am sick of leftwing middleclass sentimental rubbish shall I... shant i..what sort of attention seeking nonsense is this!!!! yourve got a choice ;don't boast for fucks sake!! state education is shit at my school the middleclass kids were all looked after and put in the same class with the same teacher everyone else was left to rot guess whose parents were on the school boards ? guess who got the best marks? ( and arguably preferential treatment ) The hypocrisy of some of these postings knows no bounds by the looks of things privately educated people aint the only ones with a better than attitude send them to state school and... GET A PRIVATE TUTOR!! its still buying education whats the difference? the education system in this country is fucked private school fools are one thing but people who send there kids to state school because of political beliefs while buying education then turning around with the cheek to say well timmy did ok are truly loathsome creatures whose participation in the state system only helps to hide the reality of education for the majority. Anyways rant aside good luck its a hard one init!

 

[Streathamite]

send em private and do everyone a favour I am sick of leftwing middleclass sentimental rubbish shall I... shant i..what sort of attention seeking nonsense is this!!!! yourve got a choice ;don't boast for fucks sake!! state education is shit at my school the middleclass kids were all looked after and put in the same class with the same teacher everyone else was left to rot guess whose parents were on the school boards ? guess who got the best marks? ( and arguably preferential treatment ) The hypocrisy of some of these postings knows no bounds by the looks of things privately educated people aint the only ones with a better than attitude send them to state school and... GET A PRIVATE TUTOR!! its still buying education whats the difference? the education system in this country is fucked private school fools are one thing but people who send there kids to state school because of political beliefs while buying education then turning around with the cheek to say well timmy did ok are truly loathsome creatures whose participation in the state system only helps to hide the reality of education for the majority. Anyways rant aside good luck its a hard one init!

let me spell this out for you: you are such an ignorant, bigotted, braindead and utterly worthless prick, that there is basically no point in trying to explain to you why you are 100% wrong, and moreover you do not have a remotely valid POV on any issue whatsoever.
crawl back into your gutter, slime.

 

[Streathamite]

Scott; I am appalled you are even considering it. there is NOTHING which serves more to perpetuate inequality, privilege and class division than private education. it's where all that sort of thing starts, for one thing.

for another, one of the single biggest reasons why there has never been enough done to make our state secondary education system the world class thing British system deserves is this; practically NONE of those at the top of the relevant social, economic and political tree - those who could REALLY make a difference with their input i.e. politicians, academics, educationalists, other experts, even <groan> businessmen - have that much of a stake in doing so, because they have virtually ALL opted out, by sending their kids to private schools.

They have as such little or no day-to-day exposure to the state system. this is especially so when the govt is tory - but look at the current lot. The PMs eldest went to the nation's poshest comp, and his daughter and youngest went private. (there is now no problem for Labour MPs sending their kids private - which is scandalous). and every other group of peol;e I mentioned, you can be sure, are solidly subscribed to private education.

But there is a bigger reason - you will be harming your kids. children who emerge as young adults at the end of the full shift of private schooling do so as narrow-minded, insular, shelter individuals with no real grasp of real life - the life they'll have to get to grips with damned soon, now the state views them as adults.

I know, for I was one. I got the poor brats scholarship to the local Day public school, and I later look back on that place as entrenching attitudes so woefully out of date and irrelevant to diverse modern britain.
wanna equip your kids for real life? then send 'em to a place where it exists; a state school.

 

[Streathamite]

Rational choice rather than uninformed idealistic nonsense. .

that'll be 'selfishness, snobbishesss and FUJIA rather than giving a shit then'?

 

[brasicritique]

Quote
me spell this out for you: you are such an ignorant, bigotted, braindead and utterly worthless prick, that there is basically no point in trying to explain to you why you are 100% wrong, and moreover you do not have a remotely valid POV on any issue whatsoever.
crawl back into your gutter, slime.
Unquote

Red Jezza

i'm right at home here then red jizzim ! good to see such a creative and a concise argument from yat another two faced left wing tallywhacker

 

[Taxamo Welf]

poll!

 

[Streathamite]

Quote
me spell this out for you: you are such an ignorant, bigotted, braindead and utterly worthless prick, that there is basically no point in trying to explain to you why you are 100% wrong, and moreover you do not have a remotely valid POV on any issue whatsoever.
crawl back into your gutter, slime.
Unquote

Red Jezza

i'm right at home here then red jizzim ! good to see such a creative and a concise argument from yat another two faced left wing tallywhacker

post reported, and I suggest you read the FAQs; however, you may have trouble understanding sentances with punctuation.
And as you clearly found my post too difficult to read....I pointed out where public schools DAMAGE their charges, which I know about from bitter personal experience, and wouldn't want to see anybody else harmed by.
Is it fun being that pig-ignorant?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Quote
me spell this out for you: you are such an ignorant, bigotted, braindead and utterly worthless prick, that there is basically no point in trying to explain to you why you are 100% wrong, and moreover you do not have a remotely valid POV on any issue whatsoever.
crawl back into your gutter, slime.
Unquote

Red Jezza

i'm right at home here then red jizzim ! good to see such a creative and a concise argument from yat another two faced left wing tallywhacker

Do not play around with other people's usernames please.

 

[phildwyer]

With *very* few exceptions, everyone I've met who's been to a public school has been a wanker. Surely that must say something about the quality of those institutions?

 

[BettyButterfly]

I was horrified on a night out with an ex-friend and the attitudes of all her privately educated friends. They seemed to have no grasp on reality and slagged everyone you could think of off.

She tried to excuse them saying that they are from a small village and don't understand city life/working class people/Black people, etc but I told her it was a load of bollocks.

Unfortunatley thier attitudes rubbed off on her so I had to tell her to fuck off.

I hate people up thier own arse!

 

[Agent Sparrow]

She tried to excuse them saying that they are from a small village and don't understand city life/working class people/Black people, etc but I told her it was a load of bollocks.[/I]

Tbf there are a fair few racists who went to state school but I get your general point.

Scott; I am appalled you are even considering it. there is NOTHING which serves more to perpetuate inequality, privilege and class division than private education. it's where all that sort of thing starts, for one thing.

for another, one of the single biggest reasons why there has never been enough done to make our state secondary education system the world class thing British system deserves is this; practically NONE of those at the top of the relevant social, economic and political tree - those who could REALLY make a difference with their input i.e. politicians, academics, educationalists, other experts, even <groan> businessmen - have that much of a stake in doing so, because they have virtually ALL opted out, by sending their kids to private schools.

They have as such little or no day-to-day exposure to the state system. this is especially so when the govt is tory - but look at the current lot. The PMs eldest went to the nation's poshest comp, and his daughter and youngest went private. (there is now no problem for Labour MPs sending their kids private - which is scandalous). and every other group of peol;e I mentioned, you can be sure, are solidly subscribed to private education.

But there is a bigger reason - you will be harming your kids. children who emerge as young adults at the end of the full shift of private schooling do so as narrow-minded, insular, shelter individuals with no real grasp of real life - the life they'll have to get to grips with damned soon, now the state views them as adults.

I know, for I was one. I got the poor brats scholarship to the local Day public school, and I later look back on that place as entrenching attitudes so woefully out of date and irrelevant to diverse modern britain.
wanna equip your kids for real life? then send 'em to a place where it exists; a state school.

Largely an excellent post Jezza, though in re: to harming your kids I would like to point out that some people who went to public school do turn out well rounded individuals, my bf for one. Some of my other friends are indications that you can go to private school and still turn out . But in re: to private schools being a nasty manifestation of looking after one's own and damning the rest, I think you said everything very eloquently.

 

[Lynseybabe]

I think Jezza is absolutely correct. Sending your kid to a private school makes you a selfish wanker. Going to a private school doesn't necessarily, but massively increases the chances of you being so.

 

[trashpony]

I went to private school and I don't think I'm a complete cunt, neither do I think it fucked my head up - that was other things.

I know people who went to proper posh full on public boys boarding schools and I don't think that's very good for the psyche. Mind you, sending a 7 year old away is going to be pretty fucking soul destroying so whether it's the school or the sending away that fucks you up, I don't know.

As to whether I'd send my kids to a private school, I honestly don't know. My ex is a lifelong member of the labour party (pre new) and totally against private education. But the local school where he lives is so fucking crap that he ended up putting his kids into private school - because he reckoned his kids' education shouldn't suffer for the sake of his principles. I can kind of see his point of view, but I can also see that this just cements the divide.

I hate the idea of private education but I don't honestly think that any of us could put our hands on our hearts and say that if we could afford it and the local state school was completely shit, we wouldn't be tempted. It's like the NHS - we are becoming like the US where eventually public stuff will become so crap that only the very underpriviledged will be forced to use it. And that's well fucked

 

[phildwyer]

Incidentally for the purposes of this thread I take it that "public" and "private" mean the same thing?

 

[toggle]

I think Jezza is absolutely correct. Sending your kid to a private school makes you a selfish wanker. Going to a private school doesn't necessarily, but massively increases the chances of you being so.

i was sent to a private school as a kid, because my parents thought it was the right thing to do. Then my mother did some supply work at the local primary and came home and appologised for sending me to a stuck up, authoritarian shithole of a schoool at that age.

my kids go to the local primary, but I wll admit that when i had a choice of where to live, the fact that school was good* strongly influenced my decision.

*good, as in they care more about the kids than fantastic exam results, they have playing fields and they generally employ young staff who like working with kids