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private vs state education

Reply 40

ShinyApple

Sorry to be the one to do it, but...

If you aren't already aware then let me inform you that:

Public schooling does not always equal good schooling.

There are plenty of public school out there which are awful. Headington School, Oxford is an excellent example.

Yah Headington is so MPSIA.

Reply 41

Talya

16

ShinyApple

Public schooling does not always equal good schooling.

There are plenty of public school out there which are awful. Headington School, Oxford is an excellent example.

I, for one, know this, I went to a crap private school. My kids will be going to a good one.

Reply 42

MaryKay

8

SHAC attack!

Yah Headington is so MPSIA.

What does MPSIA mean please, could it be MOODY POMPOUS_PERSON STAYS IN AGAIN? Grrrr

Reply 43

FoeGeddaBowDeet

whats wrong with headington? :biggrin:

Reply 44

ShinyApple

14

HenvY

whats wrong with headington? :biggrin:

Mainly their very poor teachers. Both my sisters went there for a time and made my parents regret it! :smile:

Reply 45

soup_dragon87

SHAC attack!

Yah Headington is so MPSIA.

Lol, I wonder how people actually know what that means.

Reply 46

Ariel4

1

I went to a sate comp. i was lucky that it was a good school. the only cons were that the classes were maybe a little large, but the teachers were all very good.
Im not sure where i would send my kids. at private school, exam results are usually much better, but i have friends that went, and they seemed to put such a lot of pressure on kids to do really well, even at a young age. my boyfriend went to a private school, and the hours were from 9 in the morning to 6 in the evening, and 9 till 5 on a saturday. this was when he was about 9. i think thats to much for young kids. i dont think i would ever send my kids to boarding school though.

Reply 47

ShinyApple

14

MPSIA = "Minor public school, I’m afraid"

Lame, to be honest. Probably the most distict showing of snobbiness for snobbiness' sake.

Reply 48

stumpy

I went to an average state school.

Pros: A really diverse set of friends and great teachers (in the main) who helped me get really good exam results. And it's free. :biggrin:

Cons: some of the buildings were a bit crappy (but the main one was nice and new :smile:

). Some disruptive foul-mouthed kids who really didn't want to learn and spoiled it for the class, but that was generally reduced as we moved up the school and got put into ability classes.

Would I send my child to a state school? I would, assuming it wasn't a really bad one - I had great fun at my school and can't imagine going anywhere else.

Reply 49

Oldmannow

18

SHAC attack!

Yah Headington is so MPSIA.

talking about rubbish schools...please let me rant about how
awful by old private school was - Kings School Rochester.
founded god knows how many centuries ago and all that i
learned in there was how to play first team football + rugby,
sing in a choir nearly every other day and that being a,
virtually straight C student i was the best in the class.

atrocious school.

please please please..no one go there.

Reply 50

Cat-x

8

i used to be at a state school and moved to public school about 4 years ago. best move of my life, have never regretted it. my state school was good 'statistically' ie. their results were ok but otherwise it was awful. huge classes. crap facilities. since moving to public school i actually enjoy school, and its part of life and not something i cant wait to get out of. however i dont take it for granted, probably cos i have experienced the other side. i feel priveleged to be part of the 6.8% of kids a private schools in the UK.

Reply 51

loopymeg

13

I went to a state comprehensive where I was provided with a very good education.

My kids will be sent to the best school in the area if I can afford it, regardless of whether it's a private or a state school.

Reply 52

toothpastecrazy

I went to a mixed first school and middle school (that's until age 12, for everyone who didn't use that system ... which is pretty much everyone, it seems!), a fairly middle-class state secondary school and then to a kind of crap FE college.

Pros

•

Affordable!

•

Exposed to a more diverse mix of people

•

Had some good teaching

•

Been in the "real world" (sort of ...)

•

Didn't pick up a cringing private school accent :wink:

•

Can perhaps feel more proud of my achievements?

Cons

•

Lack of resources (3 to a computer, not enough chairs/desks occasionally, went on only one trip in the whole of high school etc.)

•

Some scary people who I most likely wouldn't have encountered at a private school

•

I did feel quite overlooked by teachers ... probably because I was lazy and unmotivated but quiet and well-behaved - in a class of 35 people like that might as well not exist!

•

I don't feel I reached my potential at school/college at all

Personally, I'm definitely for the state system just on the grounds of equality and hope that I would always send my hypothetical kids there. But ... I dunno ... maybe it's easy for me to say that, being fairly average and living in a safe place, as far as places go. I can't blame some people for sending their children to private school ... I mean, almost everyone just wants the best for their children, really.

Reply 53

Artemidoros.

3

I've been to both private and state schools, and tbh, neither made much of a difference in terms of academia..

Reply 54

little-clumsy-me

10

I went to private shcool and it was a good experience..i boarded for 3 years and honestly it sounds like a strict place but its much more fun without parents around......not only that you get longer holidays :smile:

Reply 55

Zerforax

21

poppyache

What type of secondary school did you go to?
State or private?
What were the pros and cons?
Where would you send your kids? (Hypothesising... or not- i.e. where do you send your kids?)

If you went to a private school did you feel you got ripped off? Or better life experience?

Any comments appreciated

Went State till end of year 8, and then private thereafter.
So glad i went private, just because i achieved more than i wouldve at the State, less distractions, more grade focused, more competitive and just more learning overall. Im still kinda lazy but def wouldnt have gotten the grades i did at a State school.
Cons; Was very far away, so lot of travelling each day (an hour and a half just to get there). Also meant all my friends were scattered around the city and generally very far away.
Would def send my kids to private if it was the best available and i could afford. Maybe not from a young age like primary, but def from secondary.

Reply 56

Eternal Student

6

I went to public school as a boarder. My parents had no choice - they were living in parts of the world where wars and revolutions were going on - there were no schools that I, as a foreigner, could attend. It was fine, but I had nothing with which to compare it, so don't know if I would have been better off in a state school. I spent a year living with my grandparents and going to a German high school, which in terms of quality of education was just as good as my boarding school, and taught me a lot of things that I didn't get in private education - primarily, an acute political and historical awareness, and some sense of personal responsibility.

My children went to an LEA primary school, and public school for their secondary education. I would have preferred them to be educated in the state system throughout, but our local secondary school only started offering A levels in the year my daughter would have started there, and I didn't think that was a gamble that I was willing to take on her behalf, because they had no track record at that stage. They also had a history of failing to cope with bullies.

Pros of private education? Extra-curricular opportunities, networking, a degree of precocious self-confidence.

Cons of private education? Children coming out with a superiority complex, a false sense that life is easy, and the 5,200 bill I have sitting in front of me for my son's Easter term school fees.

Do I feel ripped off? No. It was my decision to educate them privately. If I'd felt ripped off, I had the choice to take them out and put them in the state system.

Reply 57

Dadeling

7

I go to a private boarding school as my dad is in the army. I really like private school and my parents think its worth it to give me stability in my education and family life and thats why i'm at private school.

Pro's: Smaller classes (theres me and one other person in my german class!), you know everyone in your year, theres a good mix of nationalities.

Con's: No state funding so sometimes the facilities arent as good (doesn't apply to mine i think), lots of competitiveness, private schools tend to me more religious so not so good as i am an atheist!

If i have children i would want to send them to private school but would not let them board, i'd probably feel too clingy!

Reply 58

narusku

5

I go to kings :smile:

Reply 59

nexusofsanity

Private school. I don't think I'll ever have kids, but if I did, at this point I'd say private schooling definitely (as long as I could afford it). Unless a formal positive discrimination scheme for uni entrance was introduced, in which case I might see about state education.

Pros:
* Nearly all students motivated to do well in exams
* Teachers expect top grades from all students and do their best to ensure that
* Very low levels of bullying (though that seems to be particular to my school and not at all common to private schools in general)

Cons:
* A cosetted childhood, doesn't really foster a decent level of resilience or independance

private vs state education

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