Music Scholarships for Independent Schools, Do they encourage child abuse? Options

[Dulcet]

[quote name='Alicia Ocean' date='Apr 24 2012, 10:35 PM' post='1144203']
[quote name='tonedeafmum' post='1144192' date='Apr 24 2012, 10:00 PM']
If this thread cannot return to topic (thanks Scooby Doo for the attempt) maybe it should be quietly closed or removed.

[/quote]

Aw no. Don't close my thread. I love that it rambles on in all directions. We're all learning new ideas too.

My own experience is outlined in several posts here. I have a few children - each with different experiences in state, grammar and independent schools - and I agree particularly with ....

FullofWind -

The biggest problem with state schools is that a lot of the teachers are very anti-elitist. The vast majority are socialist and with that often (note I say often) comes an anti-elitist attitude, although it shouldn't. Even in areas where there are 11+ schools it is often frowned on by teachers who do nothing to help a child to pass the test or even bring it to a parents attention that their child may be capable of passing. Private schools are not the problem, but an anti-elitist culture is. Self-belief and self-confidence are not promoted or even discussed. I wonder if it's even part of teacher training!"

This is not my experience - either as a pupil (albeit a long time ago) or as a parent who went round every state school in the area (6 primaries/ infants and 2 secondaries) and who talks to other mothers of children at all these school and is also friends with some teachers.

There are good teachers and bad teachers out there, but certainly what I see at the moment is teachers who urge all their pupils to do their very best and push themselves further.

This thread is going to self-destruct, isn't it?

Interesting assumption that private schools are invariably superior in their academic standards etc to the state sector. Frankly that just isn't the case! Private schools have their problems too, and closing them all down would do precisely nothing to improve the management of the state sector. I've never understood that particular argument.

Growing up in Malvern didn't give me the impression that private education was anything other than a very expensive way of turning out unpleasant, rude and arrogant girls. Unless they went to one in particular in which case they had exquisite manners and were, to quote Mrs Cooper from the Big Bang Theory "dumb as soup".

I have met a couple of counter-examples since then - however, a very close school friend was staggered at her first term at university where she was surrounded by 4 As at A level public school products none of whom were capable of independent thought. She could only conclude that the independent sector was a cramming machine.

So, there you go. I'm sure it all looks different when you're on the inside of the public-school system. BUT there are good and bad teachers everywhere, indie and state, pretty much evenly distributed, and the only thing that really matters is whether your child has a teacher with the right aims for your child and whether they hit it off. And you've no way of knowing that until it's too late.

Usually the independent sector has more facilities. But I've heard just as many whinges from independent school parents as from state parents, and usually about the same issues!

[soccermom]

I really dislike some of the generalisations in this thread. There are some brilliant state secondaries around - both grammars and comprehensives. jonathanquinn's school sounds great and I know of others. However, we all know that the picture is not consistent and there are also some pretty (or very) poor ones. There are some state secondaries I would not want my children to attend. There are also some independents I would not want them to attend. I don't like generalisations about teachers either. I know very dedicated teachers in state schools who have high expectations of their pupils. I know of some mediocre teachers in private schools.

Of course it is not fair that some children have better opportunities than others because their parents can pay. But neither is it fair that some parents can give their children a first class education free just because they happen to live somewhere there are good state schools, and some cannot.

We all have different perceptions based on our local provision. I had a choice of 2 state secondaries for my children. They have different specialisms and are different sizes, but both are co-ed and neither has a 6th form. I wanted a girls' school with a 6th form for my children. My sister was able to make that choice within the state sector. I wasn't. My own choices (both girls have music scholarships at an independent school) have been made not because I particularly wanted them to have a private education (they went to a state primary), but because I wanted them to have a good education and - without moving - it was the only way I could see of giving them one. Yes, we are lucky that we can (just about) afford it (though all scholarship holders in this particular school are eligible for means-tested bursaries of up to 100% of fees if we couldn't), but in my view my sister is much luckier because she doesn't have to!