my friends attitute towards private school

Chicke

I am genuinely shocked at my friends attitute about private schools and am wondering is it typical
she has more or less come out and said that private is better than public school where my kiddies are attending.
is that a typical attitude with people who are attending private school?

January

Not a Parenting issue, so moved to Primary & Preschool

CIARAN_BOYLE

No one would pay for private schools unless they thought it was better and gave their child an advantage.

Does it? Not really imo, I'd say the biggest difference between public and private schools is in sports, they tend to have a better set of facilities in school for sports and extra curriculars.

silja

I think a lot depends on where you live. Private schools can be better especially due to better facilities/ smaller class sizes.

saa

I don't understand why someone would pay for private education unless they had a vast amount of wealth if you're cutting back on other things its ridiculous, most students from public schools go on to attend third level and achieve high marks its not anything like the US or UK schools with low academic success rates and knife crime, plenty of great public schools.

I would invest the money into extra tuition or extra curricular activities but more importantly I would save the money for college or to help them after they graduate, you might have money now to send your child to a private school but you might not have that in 5 years.

Chicke

its the surrounding snobbery that shocks me. i live in cork city but am originally from the west of cork and its this class and racial segregation thing that i find offending. we had small classes in our country school but we had a mix of people attending, from rich to poor to all places in between. this 'friend' wants a private school so that it will be middle class and im sorry to say her opinions are racially motivated too. is that not just appaling?
or is this the prevalent attitute?
I have been considering sending my eldest to private secondary in a few years time as it is very close to is but if this is the attitute well then , no thanks:(

silja

While the colour of skin of students shouldn't make a difference to the decision on where to send your child, having lots of foreigners CAN make a difference in a school. Not because they are different in culture or colour, but because if English is their second language, and there are many kids in the class having difficulty following lessons because they don't understand the teacher's Irish accent/ don't understand English well, then the teacher needs to go slower and spend more time with those kids, taking time away from teaching your child. Private schools are more middle/upper class, and thus more white and those kids of a different colour/ race tend to be native English speakers or have had a lot of lessons.

So, yes, while it is not a PC choice, I could see myself sending my child to a private school for "race" reasons.

amtw

Parents send their children to particular schools for a variety of reasons. My children went to the local National School which was about 2km from our home, they loved it there and made graeat friends. When it came to deciding on which secondary school we would send them to we drew up a wish list. We wanted a co-ed school as that is what they were used to and I really wanted them to go to a mixed school. Then there was location, we didn't want them to spend hours everyday travelling to school. Another issue was that one of the children was dyslexic so the school had to cater for children with learning difficulties. Also having done some research and spoken to parents and teachers we didn't want a school where the children were streamed as we felt that if they were in any way weak they would be dumped in a class with low expections and not pushed to work hard.

Taking all of these factors into consideration we sent the kids to a private school and we were delighted with the education they received. The parents of the children there came from all walks of life, they were teachers, Garda, builders, business people among just a few. The biggest common denominator was that they were willing to make sacrifices to give their children the best education they could afford. Most people would agree that if you can afford it it makes sense to be in the VHI or another health insurance scheme, well that's how I feel about private education. I'm not knocking public schools but to get the school that I felt best suited our kids we had to pay for it so that is what we did.


There is snobbery and prejudice everywhere, and I wouldn't let your friend's attitude influence the decision you make. The education you choose for your children is too important to be based on an your friends ignorance.

Kathnora

Private schools attract those who can afford them. Those who can afford them usually have good jobs and are probably (though not always) academically minded. Therefore, the children are probably fairly good students to begin with and in combination with small classes, positive attitudes towards school etc it's relatively easy for the children to get good results in exams. The same thing happens in places like Leeson St and other grind schools with Leaving Cert results. The media praise such institutions and tell us how wonderful the education is in them. SO WHAT??....... It's easy for Leeson St to produce the goods. They have the necessary raw material to work with from the start! :rolleyes:
Sometimes, I hear of parents who may have children who aren't strong academically wanting to send their children to the private school because they think that such students will "shine" in small classes and that the private school will solve all their learning difficulties. Ok, the weak child may perform better in a small class situation but I do think that some parents expect the private school to perform miracles! "Silk purse and sow's ear" springs to mind.

Ayla

saa wrote: »

...most students from public schools go on to attend third level and achieve high marks its not anything like the US or UK schools with low academic success rates and knife crime, plenty of great public schools.

I'm sorry but blatantly wrong stereotyping based on hollywood images of the US get under my skin...

70.1% of 2009 [American] high school graduates enrolled in college

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_in_the_United_States

In 2001 the percentage of [Irish] school leavers transferring to third level exceeded 50% for the first time, as of 2005 it is in excess of 55% and expected to grow at approximately 1% per annum for the next decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland


I went to a public school in the US, and while I can recognise that the school system there is not perfect in anyway, it does not deserve Saa's unsupported smear.

Chicke

You see we are not in a private school but I think the education that my son is receiving is excellent and I think it is every bit as good as private education.if I felt in any way that he was disadvantaged by not being in a private school then I would be hopping and skipping as it is something we could afford if neccessary.
However, the commitment of his teacher,his own internal motivation to do well and learn,the superb relationship I have built with the school and the teacher,the focus on the whole development of the child,social ,emotional and academic that is so strong in the school are all deciding factors for me.
I know he will do well where ever he goes.and there might be a few kids who are learning English as a second language but how is that different from kids who are weak in another classroom.I believe in inclusion and the primary factors of success in education are the will and ability of the student..
One of the ops wrote that private schools attract those who can afford them. There is many of us out there that can afford private school but are almost repulsed by them because of that sense that 'we are here because we are richer'.
It is very important for me that my children feel immersed in the society that they belong to, not apart from it or god forbid better than it because they are richer

Feeona

I wouldn't take your friend's outlook about private schools and apply it to everyone who attends private schools. What I myself have learned from teaching (especially from interacting with parents) is that you can't label everyone the same way. If I let a few awful experiences with parents colour my opinion of parents in general, I'd never set foot inside a school again! You're better off thinking that 99.99% of parents are just looking for the best for their children, and that it's got nothing to do with snobbery. Don't let the bad 0.01% put you off!