Education

Geoff · 28 Oct 2006 at 15:18

Me = State grammar. As luck would have it, a very good one.

My kids = private.

Adz said:
Would I send my own kids to private or state school? I honestly couldn't answer that at the moment. I'd like to think I would send them to a state school and let them learn the ways of the world at an early age but if it actually came to the crunch...

I suspect you'll do what I did and what most people do - you'll look at the available options and send them to the best school you can afford/locate/get them in to.

To my mind, whether it's state, public or private is immaterial providing it's the best education that's feasible and, if you have to pay for it, that you can afford it. Little or nothing has a higher priority for me than giving my kids the best education I could rrange.

loopstah · 28 Oct 2006 at 18:33

State selective Grammar.

KNiVES · 28 Oct 2006 at 18:37

State school

Of which, it was in a bad state

SpeedFreak · 28 Oct 2006 at 20:44

Selective Grammar

Replicant · 28 Oct 2006 at 21:09

State

loltim · 28 Oct 2006 at 21:14

State

robmiller · 28 Oct 2006 at 21:36

State, but thankfully my local state school was a good one

Alex_L · 29 Oct 2006 at 01:13

Psyk said:
State comprehensive. But to be fair it's one of the better state schools in the country. I think that really says something about schools in this country though

I liked it enough to stay another two years for A-levels.

Which one in Wokingham?

I went to a state school, supposedly one of the best in the area, but frankly it was still a waste of time.

I'm almost certain any kids I have will be privately schooled.

Arcade Fire · 29 Oct 2006 at 01:28

State grammar.

I will give my (hypothetical) children the best education that I can - whether that means moving to an area with good state schools, or paying to send them to private school. I think the benefits that a good education gives you are immeasurable.

Psyk · 29 Oct 2006 at 01:46

BUSH said:
Which one in Wokingham?

I went to a state school, supposedly one of the best in the area, but frankly it was still a waste of time.

I'm almost certain any kids I have will be privately schooled.

St Crispins. Generally it's well above the national average, but A-level results for my year most certainly weren't

You around Wokingham?

Alex_L · 29 Oct 2006 at 01:48

Psyk said:
St Crispins. Generally it's well above the national average, but A-level results for my year most certainly weren't

You around Wokingham?

Yeah, live in Finchampstead or at least the parents do.

Mattus · 29 Oct 2006 at 01:31

State comprehensive - hardly a sink school but nor a fabulously good one.

When I was 11, my parents asked me if I wanted to go to the local grammar school, but I declined since I wanted the opportunity to mix with a wide range of people in a 'real life' environment, as opposed to an artificial selection. Coming from a comp, I'm in the minority here at Uni but I don't regret a minute of it, and I'd be happy sending my children there.

IMO going to a good school may help your chances, but success is predominantly about your talents/attitude and not how prestigious a school you went to. There are a few people here who received a £25k/year private education, but in my experience some of them tend to be rather pretentious and to overestimate their own abilities.

Arcade Fire · 29 Oct 2006 at 09:26

Mattus said:
Coming from a comp, I'm in the minority here at Uni...

Eh? I know absolutely loads of people who went to comps - they're nothing like the minority at all. I know that your university has near to the lowest ratio of state/private pupils in the UK, but they've still managed to get over 50% state school pupils on occasion, and most of those will have been from comps.

I had the choice of going to a grammar school or a comp as well - I chose the grammar school, and did that stop me from mixing with 'a wide range of people'? Of course it didn't. It just meant that my friends tended to be people who could pass a 12+ - not that that stopped a load of them from being bloody stupid, of course.

I also think that it's stupid to say that a grammar school is any less like 'real life' than a comp is. Over the course of your life you're likely to mix mainly with people of a similar standard of education to yourself - that's what 'real life' is, not deliberately choosing your friends to be from as many different educational backgrounds as possible.

A good school will obviously help your chances (although I have to ask what chances you're referring to here? The chance of going to Oxford? The chance of earning a ridiculous wage?) but that's because the schools flat out offer a better education. The effect of their prestige is minimal. University admission, and the employment process, is based on talent, rather than on some kind of educational nepotism. The effect of 'prestige' is negligible.

I'm sure that there are some people who went to expensive public schools and have an inflated ego because of that. Equally though, there are people who went to comps who have an even more inflated ego, because they see themselves as having dragged themselves through mud and fire to get where they are. Rubbish - they were fortunate enough to be born with a lot of (academic) intelligence, and it's that which has seen them through to winning a place at a good university. You're coming dangerously close to this, in my opinion.

alexakasloth · 29 Oct 2006 at 09:34

State school, probably one of the best in the areas. Shame it was a catholic school.

[TW]Fox · 29 Oct 2006 at 10:04

Mattus said:
When I was 11, my parents asked me if I wanted to go to the local grammar school, but I declined since I wanted the opportunity to mix with a wide range of people in a 'real life' environment, as opposed to an artificial selection.

Why do I have trouble believing that thats actually what you thought, aged 11?

Sure it wasnt 'awww mum all me mates are going down the road'?

Mattus · 29 Oct 2006 at 10:11

Arcade Fire said:
Eh? I know absolutely loads of people who went to comps - they're nothing like the minority at all. I know that your university has near to the lowest ratio of state/private pupils in the UK, but they've still managed to get over 50% state school pupils on occasion, and most of those will have been from comps.

I'm at one of the most state-school dominated colleges in the Uni - about 60% state-school. Of those I'd say about half went to state grammar schools and half to comps. 30% is a minority!

A good school will obviously help your chances (although I have to ask what chances you're referring to here? The chance of going to Oxford? The chance of earning a ridiculous wage?) but that's because the schools flat out offer a better education. The effect of their prestige is minimal. University admission, and the employment process, is based on talent, rather than on some kind of educational nepotism. The effect of 'prestige' is negligible.

I meant that I believe that if you have the aptitude to win a place at Oxbridge, you have a similar chance of getting in no matter which type of school you attended. I'm not sure that the type of questions asked at interview are any easier to answer coming from a grammar school than a comp - they're often totally unrelated to anything you've studied before. That's the point of the process - to ascertain your capability to learn in the future, not how much you've learned up to now.

Equally though, there are people who went to comps who have an even more inflated ego, because they see themselves as having dragged themselves through mud and fire to get where they are. Rubbish - they were fortunate enough to be born with a lot of (academic) intelligence, and it's that which has seen them through to winning a place at a good university. You're coming dangerously close to this, in my opinion.

I hardly feel superior on this basis. Whilst I accept that I was lucky enough to be born with the academic intelligence to get in (and that I may well be lacking in some other forms of intelligence to balance things out!) I worked hard to get into University, and that applies whether you went to a comp or not.

Mattus · 29 Oct 2006 at 10:14

[TW]Fox said:
Why do I have trouble believing that thats actually what you thought, aged 11?

Sure it wasnt 'awww mum all me mates are going down the road'?

I was almost 14, we have middle schools

Friendships undoubtedly played their part in the decision but I distinctly remember rejecting the grammar school based on its selectivity. I'm not saying that it was an especially well-reasoned argument, but I am saying that I didn't regret my decision.

Psyk · 29 Oct 2006 at 11:10

[TW]Fox said:
Why do I have trouble believing that thats actually what you thought, aged 11?

Sure it wasnt 'awww mum all me mates are going down the road'?

That was basically my thoughts on it. That and I didn't pass the exam. Oh well.

toy_soldier · 29 Oct 2006 at 11:17

I went to a Catholic school although im not Catholic, I think that is still a state school but im not sure.

Conscript · 29 Oct 2006 at 11:19

Barbie said:
I went to a CTC, which is open to everyone but partially funded by business, and part by the state.

Same here. Although no-one likes school at the time, I wish I was back there. It was actually a very good school, and I had some fantastic times there.