Its School Jim, but not as we know it! (Independent Schools or State Schools)

Member Name: MaryanneH

Product:	Independent Schools or State Schools
Date:	13/08/04 (360 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Education

Disadvantages: At a price

Everybody wants the best for their children and will go to incredible lengths to get it.

When I decided to go back to work after having my first child, I looked around for suitable childcare which as everyone knows is very expensive, one of the options I looked at was a local private school that had a nursery department and takes the children from the age of 2 years 9 months, provided they were out of nappies. Having costed up a proper nursery, childminders and the school option at the time the private school was, believe it or not, the cheapest and they offered crèche facilities between 8 and 6 so that was the option we took. The problem is once you?re in, you don?t want to leave and we were no different, so with some financial calculations we made the decision to keep our girls in private education until the age of 11, and hopefully by doing this they would stand a really good chance of getting into the local grammar schools.

So why choose private school, first and foremost is the number of children per class the average in a state school is 30, the average in a private school is 12. Most have a maximum number of between 15 and 20 but in view of the cost these are rarely met. My two girls are currently in classes of 11. The main advantage of this is of course more personal attention from the teacher, they read to the teacher everyday because they have time to do it. The other really good thing about private schools is that they are not tied to the government. It is therefore their choice if they do SATS and they do not have to follow the national curriculum, although most do, this does mean there is more time for other things. They do some form of exercise every day and there is plenty more time to devote to arty things like music.

This is all very well, but because of the independence from the government they all have their own ethos and personality. We hav
e made the decision recently to change to another smaller (and much cheaper) private school and the money wasn?t the only consideration. The school we are currently serving out our notice at was very sports orientated and was a very big school. Looking around the junior school which is from the age of 7 ? 13 years it is more like a secondary school. They have specialist teachers for separate sciences and French. This is an environment that not every primary aged school child is suited to. My youngest daughter is quite shy and not particularly competitive and she was the main reason for our change. The school we are going to is very small, and community minded and is taught in an old Victorian house. They also use a lot of the sports facilities of the school we are currently at so we get the best of both worlds.

With the large private schools there is a very competitive nature, the parents are usually middle management or higher so are naturally competitive anyway, this passes onto the children and the school whether intentionally or not fosters this. The schools headmaster may be responsible for ensuring the best education for your child but he is first and foremost a salesman, so you will be told that they work at the speed best suited to your child and this is the case, but because of the naturally competitive nature of the majority of children there I have come across children getting very stressed about not keeping up although these children are still ahead of their state school counterparts.

They also have to run the school as a business, our existing school looks fantastic, great music rehearsal rooms, IT rooms, a theatre, a swimming pool and huge playing fields with tennis courts. Now your average primary school child does not need all of this but they do need really good teachers but in order to keep the costs down the school we are leaving has a habit of recruiting NQ
;Ts (newly qualified teachers) In fairness most of them are excellent, but I do think you need a good mix of experience as well. I must point out that this is not always the case as Cheltenham Ladies College advertises in our local paper and they always specify 'Good honours degree' and experience.

The other area to look at when considering the ethos of the school is where you are planning to go next. The school we are transferring to will spend much of years 5 and 6 coaching your child towards common entrance exams or public school scholarship exams depending on which way you want to go. Many of the other prep schools do concentrate solely on remaining in the private sector and will be looking towards public school entrance only.

All children want stability and although you know you will get a positive answer you must ask the question on the financial stability of the school. I know of 3 private schools locally that have closed down because they were offered huge financial incentives to close because their land was prime development land. The students were given less than a terms notice to find alternatives. So ask the question, you will catch them off guard because they won?t expect anyone to be so direct and listen to the body language more than the words.

So how much does it all cost?

This is the reason most people do not educate their children privately. Fees usually start at around £1000 per term for nursery education, going back to what I said earlier about it being cheaper day care this is over a 3 month period for full time but you will have a little extra for crèche, but it does work out cheaper than a day nursery. The fees rise to £4500 per term for day pupils at senior school level, boarders can be as much as £6000. The one big thing to consider here is annual increases, which is what no one warned us about. You assume it
may go up at the rate of inflation, wrong! On average the fees will increase between 5% and 10% a year. So how much is that going to be when your children finally finish, and they go up as they get older anyway?

Then there are the additions, school meals at our school are compulsory this adds and extra £170 per term onto the bill, then there is the uniform which is not available on the high street so that doesn?t come cheaply either. This also includes 4, (yes 4) games kits. There are financial plans that you can take out to help assist with school fees and the school will help a bit if your circumstances change but on the whole ? its tough and its up to you! Bursaries and scholarships are available at most schools but these tend to only kick in from year 6 and are very fiercely competed.

The other issue to consider is you are always open to being held ransom by the government. Independent schools are currently granted charitable status, which I agree with as education is a right for all and it currently costs between £4500 and £5000 per year to educate a child in the state sector, so with two children that is £10000 per year I am saving the tax man, and I?m not paying that much. But the charitable thing is always one of the issues that are considered when the government wants more money; if they take it away the fees will invariably rise. Looking at these figures it would actually be cheaper if the money went with the child and all schools were private with the government funding the child but not controlling the money and spending most of it on beaurocracy but that is another discussion.

Holidays are the other thing that you must be prepared for. State schools have 13 weeks holiday per year, independent schools have 20 so this give you the advantage that you get the cheaper package holiday prices but the kids are off for an awful long time, and if you work that is more time to
cover. They do make up for this by working longer hours during the week (8.30 - 4.00 on average) and Saturday mornings.

There are a lot of good things about the private sector and I certainly have no regrets about choosing it for my children, but when you are paying money like that you should be ecstatically happy and small issues which you would shrug off in the state sector become major complaints., and we have had a few. My kids are doing very well, they have lovely manners and great friends. This can be another issue for regular people going to private school ? the first birthday party we were invited to was a shock when we reached the house which included paddock, wood, tennis courts, stables, huge gardens and you could make third gear going up the drive, it was huge and the staff were on hand to help.

I know this review may not be relevant to many readers but thank you for taking the time to read it and if you are considering private education I hope it has helped.

I look forward to your comments.

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