an interesting rationale for choosing a private primary school??

[Twiglett]

was chatting to a nice woman today, turns out she lives very near to DS's pre-school (and future primary school), however they don't send their kids there because

by sending their children to private education they free up resource in the state system


... what do you think of that??

[dejags]

good and well if you have loads of dosh

DS1 is in private school, it's hideously expensive but we scrape by because we feel it offers him the best.

[misdee]

good for them lol.

[hoxtonchick]

i have heard that argument quite a lot in relation to private health care too.

[Twiglett]

I understand it in relation to private health care

but for education, the schools are given money based on numbers of children enrolled.

tbh I don't care too much about the private / state debate, I totally get how guilt-ridden you are whatever you do I just was surprised that people could believe that

[Puff]

Interesting - I'm skeptical about whether people educate their children privately for purely philanthropic reasons.

[happymerryberries]

I do it because

1. The school suits my children better than any of the local schools
   
2. The extra child care around normal school time that this school gives me allows me to go to work in the state sector and teach other peoples kids.
   
3. my parents did the best they could for me. Private education was never an option. I can afford it for mine and want to do the same for my kids as my parents did for me, ie do the best I can for them
   
   I don't realy feel guilty as I feel I do my 'bit' for the state education system by working in it tbh.

[okapi]

Perhaps she meant that, instead of her child taking a place in a good state school, that place would then be available for a child who's parents couldn't afford private education.

[Gobbledigook]

I think that 'nice woman' is seriously kidding herself - like she was trying to tell you she's doing you a favour! Ha ha!

[frogs]

This is quite a common argument used by eg. private school heads as well. It's very disingenuous, though -- yes, obviously if all private schools were abolished overnight, then the state would be pushed to provide x thousand extra school places. But that's probably outweighed by the net benefit to the state of having x thousand bright, motivated children with supportive parents entering the state system. Imagine the effect on Slough comprehensive if all the Eton kids had to move there...

I have nothing against private schools individually btw, though I suspect like most people I'd prefer there not to be a need for them. I'd go privvate if I felt there was no other acceptable alternative. But that particular argument does hack me off. Yeah, right, parents send their kids to private schools so that kids in state schools can get a better deal. As if.

[happymerryberries]

I agree that it is a daft argument. however it is interesting that the anti pivate school lobby do use the argument themselves. 'if the posh folk had to use the system it would have to be better.'
or the most insulting , 'if nice middle class kids went to local schools they would get better.'

[LIZS]

Sorry , the altruistic argument doesn't really hold water and I wouldn't use it to justify sending mine to private shcool .

[SueW]

Hmm, not sure all the Eton pupils would be eligible for a place at Slough comp - surely they'd have to go to their local comp probably hundreds of miles away from Slough?

[Jimjams]

how are LEA budgets worked out though? not centrally based on individual numbers? so she could be right?

[acnebride]

Never sure whether this argument has any truth in it or not, really.

I don't think it has much going for it in the health side TBH. Not sure.

Well, that was insightful

[edam]

Doesn't have anything going for it on health side either. Basically can be summed up as 'I'm jumping the queue AND doing you a favour at the same time, you poor deluded peasant.' Balls.

[swedishmum]

I'm stunned how many people can afford private education. Admittedly we have 4 kids but dh earns decent money. I couldn't really contemplate it - wd be about £30,000 pa. Without extras.
Have seriously thought about it for ds (dyslexic) but then I'll have an issue with dds going to state school. Oh the stress...

[Ailsa]

School funding is in the main based on numbers of pupils in the school on a given date.

[expatkat]

. . .except that private healthcare is nothing to boast about. . .you just catch MRSA a little faster than those on the queue.

I agree it's a disingenuous argument for private schooling. It can't be that disingenuous for heath care, though, because it's an observable cause and effect situation: you get off a queue, the next person gets to the front faster.

[bloss]

Message withdrawn

[happymerryberries]

TBH I don't buy the 'must have a mass of middle class students to make a school good' argument, and it has some nasty steriotypes. I teach in your bog standard comp. Most of our kids come from working class homes of below average income and parental education. The great mass of kids in the school are just great. This is true of most schools in the UK.

Probelms are not cause by not having enough good kids, but by not being able to dicipline the few bad ones! The kids know there is little or nothing you can do if they misbehave. Schools have to keep taking kids back in. For example we have taken kids back after arson!

And the chronic underfunding in schools in't geoing to be sorted by a few middle class bums on seats. The kids I taught at A levevl this year were all charming, but it still didn't alter the fact that they didn't have books, or that they only had ICT becuase I bought software and used my laptop with them.

[Prufrock]

Bollocks. If she really cared about other kids in the state system she'd send her kids there and become involved in the school herself. Particularly at primary level nowadays. (And I speak as someone who fully intends to use private education at a secondary level, but for teh very selfish reason that I believe it will give my kids a better all round education than the state options)

But I do agree somewhat with the same arguement for private medical services. It has no beneficial effect on the patient in the next bed to me whether I am there or not, and a hospital, unlike a school, is no part of a community. Of course, the main reason I choose to utilise the benfits available under my (work-funded) PMI is that I get immediate appointments and decent food whilst admitted, but I do kind of think that if PPP will pay for it (and have ben colecting premiums to enable them to do so), why should I ask the state to do so.

Batters/edam - why do you feel this argument doesn't wash?

[Fio2]

having been taught at a local high school and my mums friends being taught at a private, the only difference I could see was that in the private school it was expected that they all went on to A levels and further/higher education. It wasnt really encouraged at our state school. me and my sister actually got much better grades at our state school then the friends at the private school but they have gone onto better careers because we were never expected to pursue anything after school. You just had to get a job, this was in our case anyhow,. i dont really want my son to think after school he gets a job and thats it iykwim

[Nightynight]

hmm. tend to agree with the Prufrock's first sentence

[Ameriscot2005]

I doubt that was the reason for going private, but in some situations you do feel you need to make an "excuse" for your choices.

We prefer private education because we feel that the whole package is better but I don't go around saying that to my friends who aren't able to choose private schools, so I will tell that the local school was full (there is an element of truth in that). Although I must admit, saying that it's to free up resources sounds worse than just telling the truth because it is quite patronising.

If she really wanted to be altruistic, she'd send her kid to the local sink school to raise the middle class quotient there.