Would you send your child to private secondary?

[LouieM]

Hello,

Hypothetically, if you were suddenly given the opportunity, would you send your child/ren to private school or stick to your original beliefs and ideas and stay state for secondary?

All thoughts appreciated!

Louie

[lightweight]

Yes although you don't state what your original beliefs are regarding private education.

[brezzo]

depends on the quality of the secondary schools.Many private schools not as good as best state schools, you might want to look at exam results and do a couple of visits before deciding

[uncleglen]

you could be a complete hypocrite and do a Harriet Harman and my totally dyed- in -the -wool red sister -in -law and use a grammar school in Kent..

[Townleygreen]

uncleglen, I think you mean Bromley not Kent.

There are also the 4 grammars in Sutton.

[Aristide]

i suppose it depends upon whether you want your children to have that haughty sense of entitlement and detachment from the real world that comes with such a privileged education

[TheCat]

Or you could not bow to prejudice (on either side of the arguement) and just do the best thing for your child.

[Monkey]

Well said, TheCat.

[????]

Key board socialists full of prejudice shocker*

*and probably thoroughly middle-class themselves

[Aristide]

Just noting my not insignificant experience of present and ex pupils at these schools.

Happy to be a middle class socialist, I don't see anything wrong in wanting an egalitarian society where everyone has a chance to fulfil their potential.

[????]

anecdotal prejudice is always good.

[madmum]

We have 1 child in private school, from year 6 prep and have noticed a massive difference in his behaviour and general attitude. If you have the opportunity then id say do it. FYI both my husband and I went to SE London state schools?

[DaveR]

"i suppose it depends upon whether you want your children to have that haughty sense of entitlement and detachment from the real world that comes with such a privileged education"

Proof, if proof were needed, that being a fool is not the exclusive province of ex-private school pupils.

If the OP's question is real rather than hypothetical then I would advise you to go and visit some schools, private and state, and then re-examine your beliefs and ideas in light of what you see and hear. I suspect what you will find is that the differences between schools derive from many factors, and funding status is only one, and not necessarily the most important.

[brezzo]

Need to give thought to cost: Dulwich schools cost about ?18000 p.a., if you have two kids that's ?36,000 pa. before tax, you'd need to earn approx ?60,000 just to pay fees. Then there are the trips, kit uniform that you have to add on.

Over thirteen years of schooling you would be paying about ?230,000 per child. Don't know if you have a mortgage, but that's a lot of property.

Friends with children in private school reckon you need a family income of about ?200,000 pa to be comfortable with the fees.

Hope this is helpful.

[MarianaTrench]

I would. The sports facilities are just amazing compared to state schools and the opportunities offered (so many different clubs) are just so much greater.

[MarianaTrench]

Actually - It does depend on the child, some children would do well in a private environment but I think for some children the pressure could be too much.

[devsdev]

Brezzo - thank you for setting the finances out. I wouldn't send our kids to private primary though I was open to secondary given the anticipated difficulty in getting into secondary schools in the area in 6-8 years time. But aside from probably never hitting a combined salary of that amount, I wouldn't want us to be financially bound to pay such a huge sum of money for the rest of their school life plus university on top of that. I'd rather save up for university and ensure we can be as committed as possible to helping and supporting our kids through school.

If we won the lottery and didn't have any financial constraints then I would definitely be open to it, but my husband would probably still be very against it.

[Townleygreen]

local state schools are pretty damn good these days!

No need to cough up that cash on private ed.

[Ris2011]

I think this is a rather difficult question as many factors are involved in the descion making process (your child, local schools, being able to afford it). I do think to much focus is on exam results (some private schools get high exam results by putting extreme pressure on young children). Then again some state schools are not unlocking many students talents because of budget/time restrictions.

I do beleive no school can be a substitute to parenting -spending time together as a family for me is a far more important than working 24/7 to pay for school fees.

[LondonMix]

Totally depends on the private school, the state alternative and the child. Some state schools are full almost exclusively with privileged children whose parents can pay a millions for their home. Some private schools have the majority of the children on bursaries. The feel, attitude and ethos of every school is different regardless of its funding status.

Also, if my child was really into theatre and the private school had an amazing program / facilities that catered to her particular interests, then that would of course factor into it. Same if there was a state school with an amazing music program.

The truth of the matter is, sending your child to state school does not equalize educational opportunities in and of itself. There are vast differences between the quality of different state schools and most parents who can, use their economic power to buy into areas with the best state school system they can afford. Its really no different to paying for private school from a moral standpoint.

[womanofdulwich]

Best people to ask are those at university now who went to a local state school and ask what they think- or maybe wait till they have graduated.

[uncleglen]

As far as I'm concerned it is a choice of how you spend your money.If you have an environmental conscience, then instead of buying a massive -engined gas guzzling car and flying half way around the world twice a year- you might choose to spend the money on education.

[????]

I have 3 kids, 2 in state and one in private - we have experience of 3 state schools, one of which was in Dulwich Village (no names); all very good schools in their own ways. But I can tell you easily the most mono-culture of all 4 schools (including private) in terms of race and 'class' , for want of better words, was the state school in Dulwich Village, which was also excellent, no fault of anyone just house prices; so as others have said, there's plenty of money doing its thing in the state sector....

[Dodo1]

Hi

Fyi Over 40% of children at the 3 Whitgift Schools do not pay full fees (Whitgift/ Trinity/ Old Palace-Girls).

Regarding OP they run a mini bus service from here; and it is only ?2 each way!