OK guys. This may (or may not!) provoke some polarised responses, but I'm in a dilemma and would welcome some frank, informed (but not rude please!) opinions on the subject of private vs state education. Fruitcakedaughter (FCD)is in Year 1 at a local primary school that Ofsted has just recommended needs to pay more attention to setting appropriate challenges for its "more able children". FCD is one of these children. She is very, very happy with her school and she DOES have similarly able peers at the moment. BUT.... I am concerned that the school may not be able to respond quickly enough to the Ofsted report in order for her to benefit from improvements (Which I am, btw, absolutely sure they'll endeavour to make). The last thing I want for FCD is for her to get the message that school's a bit of a doddle and she can rest on her laurels and still get by. It was something that happened to me and I failed to learn the extremely important lesson about the value/importance of making an effort and trying your hardest (no matter what the outcome) and all the self esteem stuff attached to that. I suspect that a local private education would not allow that to happen (selective entry, etc) or at the least make it much less likely. HOWEVER... I really do NOT want FCD to end up in a rarified atmosphere where (from my anecdotal observations of some local privately educated children out and about in East Dulwich)she is out of touch with the "real world" and where she develops an inflated opinion of herself and a superior attitude to anyone who doesn't go to private school. And frankly, I just can't see me fitting in to the stereotypical private school mum... (no offence meant!) - but it just isn't me. Having attended both state and independent schools, I have experienced the pros and cons of both systems. In fact, both of them were excellent in their own way, so I have no fixed view on which was "better", having been happy at both. It feels like I'm having to make a decision between a)definite happiness where she currently attends but risking inadequate stimulation for her with the long term effects of that OR b)having a second to none, privileged education where competitiveness and a somewhat skewed view of society seem to be inevitable. Money (very fortunately) is not the issue here. It's about what's really best for FCD in both the short term and the long term. SIGH! If anyone has experience of chewing (agonising!) over this decision, I'd really welcome your views/knowledge. We would need to be setting up diaries for visits to the local private schools for September term, so time is of the essence. And, btw, I'm not in favour of her attending extra tuition outside school hours were she to stay in her current school, because a) she's too young to be doing that, imo and b) it will increase the divide between what school offers her and what she does outside school and I think that would lead to a whole new set of problems! WHAT TO DO?!:-S
