sniffy said:
Not worth the money, nor the person your child will likely turn into.
Just my opinion.
You're perfectly entitled to your opinion, but I'd just like to disagree with your assumption that those who are privately educated turn into some particular, stereotypical 'bad' person.
As I come to the end of my education (only three weeks left!) I suppose I'm in a good position to answer your questions from a student's point of view. Firstly, the education your child receives during its junior years will be largely irrelevant to their future success and ability. Therefore, to save money, I'd suggest state schooling until senior school.
Thereafter, you must consider firstly the cost of your nearest independent school. They do vary greatly, but as you mentioned, it isn't a boarding school, so we're probably looking at £7,000 - £12,000 per year. Don't assume you'll have to pay all of that, because depending on your income, you may be able to apply for bursaries (or your son/daughter may be offered a scholarship). This can sometimes reduce the cost significantly, and I know of many who are only paying 50%. Again, this is entirely dependent on your income, but I believe if it's < £30,000 per annum, a bursary may be a very real possibility.
There's the debate on the actual worth of an independent education. You must compare the performance of your nearest private school to your local state school. If your nearest state school is one of the worst in the country, there are going to be issues and your child won't have anywhere near as many opportunities, will have a very poor education, and the general atmosphere won't necessarily be one which promotes hard work. On the other hand, the
best state schools rival many private schools. Something to consider.
Having attended an independent school for a long time, I can personally say it's worth the money. I, and many of my friends and fellow students would not have achieved what we have without this school. The reason? Not spoonfeeding (believe it or not, the reason we do better is because of better teaching). It's the atmosphere and work ethic. It's not 'uncool' to work hard and do your homework. The teachers are able to teach in lessons more easily as class sizes are smaller and pupils are less disruptive. The benefit isn't only from the better teachers, but also from other students. This becomes very evident during GCSE and A-levels. Had we been at various state schools in my city, where the atmosphere is very different, we wouldn't be coming out with the same academic achievement. Nor would we have the same extra-curricular opportunities. Universities place massive weight on academic achievement, so it also affects which university you go to. Ignore the fact that universities are allegedly actively recruiting greater numbers from state schools; there is still a significant independent schooling advantage.
Back to the cost of it, the extra money spent on your child's education may or may not be offset by their increased earnings as a result of a stronger educational background. This also depends how hard they work; sure, the school will make them work harder, but as parents your push is equally important. Just as a small piece of information, from my year group of 105, about 9 are going to oxbridge, and something like 70-80% of the group are going to attend other top 25 universities. Now, people will argue against university, and for starting at the bottom and working your way up. However, I don't want to start an university debate. Others will argue that it doesn't matter which uni, which course, but the person. Sure, to a certain extent, the person matters. However, so does the course and university. Let's consider areas such as Law, Medicine and Investment Banking. All very lucrative and high flying. To work for the biggest companies, you have to have a top university education. Why take the risk in sending your son/daughter to a state school, not being sure of entry to a top university? It can and will affect their future, should they have ambitions to reach the top. I hope no one quotes single examples (e.g. Alan Sugar) to argue against this. Look at the bigger picture and see that most of the folk at the top are top 10 uni grads.
To follow on, briefly, to use an example which I know a bit about... at the biggest investment banks (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, etc), most of their new recruits come from LSE, Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial. They often don't bother looking at or considering anyone else. That's the reality.
On your question about all girls/boys schools, I've definitely heard they're beneficial. A lot of the best schools in the country are like this and it's a system which seems to work well, education wise.
Finally, I'd like to add a bit about the generalisation about the people from independent schools. Just because someone's parents pay for their education, does not make them bad people. Just because they attend a school which has high performance and an academic atmosphere does not mean they are deprived of other life skills. There seems to be a misconception that their personalities are bad or they lack common sense, etc. etc. If this was true, why is it that people from both sides seem to mix day-to-day and live in harmony? About being 'big-headed', this is an utter generalisation, and isn't to do with the school. The big-headed ones are often the highest achievers; I believe anyone who gets excellent results, regardless of their school, could be big-headed about them, for example. We're not all posh, in fact, most of us aren't anywhere near. We're not all rich. Nowhere near; sure more of us have family incomes higher than the national average, but that's irrelevant. We're not all stuck-up tories; you'd be surprised how many are labour supporters
. Less than 1% appear to be any kind of 'stuck up'. There's very little snobbery. People who believe these generalisations should stop looking at single examples, stop looking at the top 10 boarding schools in the country, and definitely stop looking at Eton. They are definitely not representative.
Gimpymoo, if you have any questions about independent education and whatnot, fire me an email (in trust) if you want
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