Private School

[araapatlio]

No they're not. They may be state funded but they are not state provision.

Why do you think a top-down education system run by government is best?
The state is making provision for the education of all children, regardless of the ability to pay. That is state sector. It is just not controlled by the state.

So your great idea of 'liberalising' is to hand over large sums of public money to the private sector to run educational institutions.... Now, why might that not be a good idea?

And your great idea is handing over large sums of money to the state bureaucracy to run educational institutions from the centre...

Let individual schools or groups of schools run themselves, as they see fit, without trying to enforce a standardised, one-size-fits-all approach across the entire country.

 

[araapatlio]

This has been interesting, but it is very late and I must go, goodnight guys

 

[Primal Scream]

"as they see fit"

Have you thought that one through?.

 

[Primal Scream]

This has been interesting, but it is very late and I must go, goodnight guys

 

[Dan B]

At the end of the day, I achieved in spite of my state school, not because of it.

Are you suggesting that if you'd had the benefit of a private education you wouldn't still be espousing Teenage Libertarian politics on the internet?

 

[araapatlio]

Are you suggesting that if you'd had the benefit of a private education you wouldn't still be espousing Teenage Libertarian politics on the internet?

I'm suggesting that it is in spite of my state education, not because of it, that I am able to conduct a debate without resorting to a logical fallacy such as your appeal to ridicule.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

My son went to a state funded school, he got his international bacaluriette and is at uni getting a degree...I went to a posh skool and im a bum.

 

[cyclewick]

Having left secondary school only a few days ago, I am expected to get B-A results, only because i put the effort in, I honestly believe that if the person has the correct mindset and a good upbringing, the school doesnt affect it too much, and being able to mix with large groups it helps develop social skills

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Our daughter attends a fee-paying School

Previously, she went to Cliff School in Wakefield, which always seemed to be rated amongst the top-10 'prep'/junior schools in the country.
Sadly, that was taken over by an education company from London (Alpha Plus)
From them, with rumours amongst parents that they'd close it , pupils were removed

Granted, due to the removals, by her last year there, she had excellent pupil-teacher ratios; 6 - 1, but the writing was on the wall, it closed....

I understand why, as a business, they closed it - 120 pupils & 20 staff wasn't a cost-effective ratio

As an aside; Her singing tutor, at Cliff, was the Choir Master at Wakefield Cathedral, & suggested she audition for the Girls Choir.
She did, was accepted, & is now in her 4th year as a Chorister


When it closed, we moved her to the School she'd have been going to, if her time at Cliff had run to its full extent

However, she'll be going back into her 2nd year in Senior School, & the reports show her to be in the top 10% overall in School, & top 5 % for Maths, Music & History

She's slightly worried though, as I know 2 of the staff (out of school); I worked with one, before he joined the School, and her previous form tutor (& his wife) are both in same running-club as me!!


She's happy there, gets on well with the other kids (even the 6th form Boarders!!), & seems to be liked by the Tutors
She also started playing Piano & Cello whilst she was there

I've told her to get into the Metalwork rooms & learn to use the CNC lathes they have, & the welding gear



Overall, yes, I'd say I'm happy with the School (to all intents & purposes, it's religion free too!!!), but as you can guess don't like signing the cheque every term.....

 

[Wobblers]

It is not by chance, of course, but again, correlation is not causation. If you are from a rich family with connections you are more likely to go to private school, it is not the school so much as the background. Ed Miliband went to a "state school" (strictly true, but to hear him tell it you'd think it was a bog standard comp) but he got to his position in the Labour party due to his parents connections and the fact of the environment in which he was raised led him to that career.

Errr - you are aware that many of the connections those rich people make are during their time at school, do you not?

Selective use of stats. The fact is that only half the cabinet went to private schools - which is less than previous Conservative governments and only one went to Eton - the PM.

Only half?! That is an extraordinary statistic. You may wish to compare that to the general population (which is very much lower). You continually state that correlation is not causation, yet you've not made any attempt to show that there is no correlation between public school and high office. And simply repeating "correlation is not causation" doesn't make the grade, I'm afraid.

But we're straying somewhat from the OP - and risking being sent to Coventry CAD! I'll suggest that it's more important to send your children to a good school than a private one. And state schools can be be very good indeed: I was lucky enough to go to a good one. By "good" I don't just mean the quality of the teachers or facilities, it's also a matter of having the right environment which is conducive to learning.

 

[PK99]

you only need to see the percentage of public school intake compared to state school intake at Oxbridge .

For the reason behind that look to the failure of too man state comps to teach separate sciences at GCSE, failure of too many to ever offer, never mind make compulsory, a foreign language at GCSE.

Some damning statistics in this Guardian report:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/data...ties-by-private-school-and-comprehensive#data

If a far higher proportion of Private pupils takes Maths physics, chemistry, languages etc it is inevitable that more will get places on degree courses needing those subjects.
Plus, many private schools are highly selective and only the academically gifted get in, inevitably if you pre select the input you will get higher achievement at output.

Look to the unacceptable variation across the state secondary sector from the outstanding to the downright dreadful before criticising the private sector.

I'm glad your kids had access to a good state education but your venom would be better directed at the state schools which do not!

 

[User169]

No doubt we will have some fruitcake teaching creationism in a religious based free school sooner or later.

I think that happens already in the UK. I seem to remember Tony Blair being challenged about it and him replying that variety within the education system was a good thing.

 

[summerdays]

For the reason behind that look to the failure of too man state comps to teach separate sciences at GCSE, failure of too many to ever offer, never mind make compulsory, a foreign language at GCSE.

My two eldest have taken 3 sciences and a foreign language is compulsory at their state school except for certain groups. And my eldest did take Maths, Chemistry and Physics (along with Art), to AS level when she dropped the Physics - so at least some state schools don't follow the trend in that report.

 

[User169]

Free schools? Ooops!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jun/19/free-school-fails-ofsted-gove

Uh oh!

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/educ...schools-criticised-by-inspectors-8717906.html

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

No doubt we will have some fruitcake teaching creationism in a religious based free school sooner or later.

My daughters School is, as far as possible, more or less religion free
(a 'Quaker' school)