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INNER CITY COMPS vs. PRIVATE SCHOOLS

I want your opinions :smile:

Good aspects.
Bad aspects.

Who wins?
useful life experiences (usually) with good education
or Likely to be jacked with (usually) excellent education?

Would you say a student who attends one has a better chance in future life?

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Reply 1

kellywood_5

Inner city comps

Good aspects: large social mix, life experience
Bad aspects: possibly large classes, disruptive students and poor teaching

Private schools
Good aspects: small classes, few disruptive students, excellent teaching and facilities and lots of extra-curriculars
Bad aspects: possibly a 'bubble' where you only meet a certain type of people and (in my opinion) it's unfair that some people get a better education just because their parents are rich

I don't really think private school students go further in life though. They probably did in the past and they possibly still do in professions where the 'old school tie' is important, but really, comprehensive school students have just as many opportunities to succeed as those from private schools, even though they may have to work harder.

Disclaimer: This is only my opinion and I've never actually been to anything other than a comprehensive school. I also accept that it's impossible to generalise and that you get some excellent comprehensives and some not so good private schools, so please don't be offended by anything I've said :smile:

Reply 2

sax gal

I've been in both so i can tell you the is a massive difference! i was in a state school for primary, went to a private all girls' school for year 7-11, and now am at a large state sixth form college.

At the private school we had small teaching groups (now some of the AS classes eg maths and chemistry have one person in them!) and it was very exam focused. I'm not saying state schools aren't, it just seems like private schools are so exam orientated, i wasn't in the A set for maths, but those who were had their teacher chasing them round every 5 minutes about additions to their coursework to get full marks and things like that. They complained about having to keep handing their coursework in- but this year i did all my geography coursework by myself- the first time a teacher saw it was when it got marked- so that's one major difference!

Another difference is probably behaviour and teacher's attitudes. At my old school, although i did have some great teachers who i got on really well with, at every private school you always get at least one teacher who thinks he or she rules the school and you are inferior because you are a student. The deputy head at my last school accused my best friend of being annorexic which simply was not true and she had no evidence. My friend was really upset by this and asked the deputy head why she accused her of this, and she reacted with 'how dare you disagree with me? i'm your superior, you're only 16, you can't argue with me' etc. At the college i'm at now we call all our teachers by their first names and are made to feel that students and teachers are equal.

As kelly said, you will always find a certain type of people in a private school. some people are very rich (which i have no problem about) it's just some criticize things like the size of your house, what make of car, what brand of makeup you have. some people are really nice- i guess you get that everywhere you go!

in terms of whether i regret my decision moving to a state college, i like the freedom and respect students have from teachers and i'm generally happy with the teaching, although at my old school i know the 5 people in the AS geography class will get an A whilst i have struggled this year with poor teaching, but i can't really complain coz you get bad teachers everywhere!

sorry for long post- i get a bit carried away!

Reply 3

lizzyd

well having only ever been to a private school, i don't know how much my opinions is worth, but here it is anyway!

state school
advantages- more exposure to different types of people
- state schools tend to be bigger which may help when you go to university and there are loads of people(?)

disadvantages- mixing with different people can have a negative effect
- more likely to be people who disrupt lessons
-possibility of poorer teaching
-large classes

private school
advantages- better teaching, teachers tend to be more enthusiastic and willing to give up their free time
-better facilities most of the time
- more extra curricular activities
-you get pushed harder to work to the best of your ability
-smaller classes are a huge benefit

disadvantages- you get called a rich kid by ignorant people who don't even know you. obviously a lot of private school pupils are rich, but different people have different cirumstances, just like there will be rich people in state schools. its just annoying when people see you on the street in your uniform and think they can start yelling abuse at you ("er, no mate, i'm there on a scholarship actually!...")
- private schools are possibly more sheltered, though if you do a lot of things out of school then you don't really notice the difference
- the pressure that private schools put on their pupils to do well is meant to encourage them to reach their full potential, but can have the opposite effect and put far too much pressure on people, making them do worse than they should have done.

Reply 4

Raindroped

State School
Advantages: Wider variety of people, teaches you more about the 'real world' teachers are friendly, willing and easy to get along with, most will give up their free time
Disadvantages: Bigger classes, idiot pupils in the lower years- though im sure there are a few in any type of school

Private School
Advantages: Smaller classes, probably get the best grades you are possible of whereas in state school you may just settle
Disadvantages: In private school you only mix with a select group of people

I go to state school and when i meet up with my best friend [who goes to private school] i find her behaviour different towards her friends than to me. I feel that although it is a stereotype, private school pupils do tend to have different views on things, and assume they are superior in most aspects.
I think going to private school usually gives people a different outlook on things- most of which are unrealistic and not logical. I find my methods of thinking different to that of those who go to private school.

Reply 5

Maaikevanbeusekom

I'm glad that you realize that 'good' and 'bad' students/teachers can be found in every school.
However I have found that most of my friends out of school have gone private.

I would say that all of them over the past 5 years have turned in to complete snobs or have been molded into academically boring teenagers, who will rebel one day and realize how empty their lives are. Despite this most of them came from really decent backgrounds with nice family lives. I feel I have nothing in common with them anymore as they constantly remind me of what an 'unfortunate' situation at Pimlico I am.

(not friends anymore!)

Wow what a shock some of those private school children will get when they have to fend for themselves in the real world, where class, money and social background won't matter when competing for top jobs or university places.

Again i also know some very nice, well rounded private school children and some pretty shocking comprehensive students, so I can't generalize. But I certainly hope those 'sorts' get what is coming to them, while the rest of us give it the old 'I told you so'.

Reply 6

~Bex~

I'd just like to point out that not all comps are "inner city", which is an impression many seem to have

Reply 7

dragons_circle

I would also like to say that private schools don't necessarily have a bubble of rich upper class white kids. I go to a private school in East London with expensive fees over £10k a year, and there's plenty of black, indian, chinese, pakistani etc. people. Also there's plenty of people at my school getting maintenance grants because their parents don't earn £40k+.
I've never been a victim of, "Oh, what do your parents drive? How many houses have they got?" Tbh, it depends on the school you go to - it's impossible to lump all comprehensives and all private schools into the same category.

Reply 8

lizzyd

i'm not going to argue about this again, because there was a post a while ago on exactly the same thing.
but basically, people who go to state schools cannot assume that they know what private schools+ their pupils are like, say that we are all snobs, who don't know anything about the real world and won't be able to survive when we leave school because 'mummy and daddy' pay for everything.
similarly, private school students would be ignorant to think that they know everything about state school students.
every school is different, there are differences between private schools just the same as every state school is different. the people who go to those schools are all different as well.

Reply 9

allymcb2

Why do people always think you get exposure to more types of people at a state school? You really dont. Its usually just the sociological group of the often very restricted catchment area. Very few state schools have a wide mix of people from different backgrounds. In fact public schools often have a better mix because of assisted places and scholarships. And lots of international students.

Reply 10

kellywood_5

allymcb2

Mainly because you don't have to be rich/intelligent/good at sports or whatever to get into a comprehensive; there's no selection whatsover. Although private schools offer scholarships and bursaries, the majority of people will be there because they're well off.

Reply 11

allymcb2

Yes but there will be the comfortably off the very well off and the filthy stinking rich. There will also be people who's parents are from a wide range of different jobs. There may also be a much wider range of nationalites there than in many state schools. Whereas at a state school they might all be miner's kids at one school, and fairly well off white lower middle class people at another, and all asians at another. Faith schools select based on that, so they clearly arent a wide mix. There might be marginally more mixture of financial backgrounds, but not always.

Reply 12

~the_one~

Well from the experience of my school I think we have majority of minority groups, and hundreds of different languages are spoken thoughout our school. The catchment area is large and covers a broad spectrum of middle class kids and working class, despite being in the middle of three council estates.
Wider range of different jobs in fee-paying schools, rubbish. You'd get the usual upper middle class jobs, with little or none working class jobs (obviously), how is that a wide mix?

I'm not against private school, and have loads of friends that go to private schools, and its ridiculous to say that there more isolated and have no idea about the real world. However there is a noticable difference that they (in general) dont sympathise or understand 'different' types of people. I've had friends who've gone to prison, deal drugs, and are tied down with a girl-friend and a baby he never wanted at 17 yrs old. These are really nice people, in one case amazingly bright, but no forseeable future. On the other hand i know drug dealers who go to private schools and theres always the underlying sense that daddys moneys behind you, and if you ever get in real **** you'll have something to back you up.
In state schools you get the underprivilidged kids with a **** family life bring other kids down, making more and more kids disruptive sucking really good people down. Whereas in private schools you'll have less of that distraction seeing as your basically filtering off an entire underclass.
People are people whatever school they go to and if your a rich upper class snob, you'll be one at a state or private school.

Woah, apologies for the essay.

Reply 13

allymcb2

Well our school was a state school. We had one asian person, one half-caste person who dropped out during A-level in our year and everyone else was white. The household incomes ranged from around 24,000 to around 100,000, with those at the bottem of the spectrum being single parents who received money from ex hubbies or wives, and even then usually well-educated people such as teachers. Hardly a broad range of people. There was also a nearby catholic school with a similar demographic, and a school near me filled entirely with asians. Hardly a good mix. And I would not ever speak to people who ended up in jail or got stuck with children because of their own promiscuity. That is not a class thing that is a personal beliefs and values thing.

Reply 14

~the_one~

Well that just proves that all schools are different regardless of being labeled state or private. I know some very posh state schools, which i almost consider private because they are so similar to private schools. I find it quite narrow minded that you would completely refuse to speak to a certain type of person which even given them a chance, but hey thats your choice and one i normaly observe from my private school friends, but thats neither here nor there.

Reply 15

allymcb2

~the_one~

That pretty much sumss up why that assertion, and threads like this, are largely pointless.

in a nutshell, yup.

You can sell your soul for good exam results and become one of the Prince of Darkness' triple A-grade minions. Or you can go to state school and become an illiterate pleb but an honest one. That's pretty much how it is, with a few exceptions.