I have never written a blog before, I am honoured being asked by Shelly to share my thoughts about education and what I want for my 4 year old daughter. I was asking my friends this evening if any of them were sending their children to private school and their view of what difference it makes to a child being privately educated.
I was privately educated all my education life so I always thought my little girl will go to private school to give her the best start in her academic life. When I tell this to my friends they always tell me it’s a waste of money to send a child to private primary school, but after discussing with many of my friends and colleagues on twitter it looks like I was right all along wanting to send my little girl to private school.
It is such a hard decision, finding and choosing the right school for your little ones.
My main worries are;
· Her being bullied in school
· Academically the school not being able to give her the tools she needs
· if she needs any help with anything, are the teachers and school able to help her
I just think if you are paying for an education you have more say into what and how her education is structured and give her all the tools she might need in her academic and social life as well as further on her career.
I think it’s not fair having to pay for an education as all children should have the same right to the level of education, but in reality unfortunately this is not possible and I believe private schools can provide more social awareness and education and help them to find themselves in real life by moulding them into what their abilities are rather than “one suit fits all” mentality.
My husband is dyslexic and struggled all his childhood in school, made to feel like he was stupid and not clever enough to read like the rest, as in those days people didn’t even know what dyslexia was. He ended up having a private tutor and they taught him how to read and cope with the dyslexia. He is now a very successful IT Programme Manager working with budgets of tens of millions for worldwide companies. It only makes me think what if his family didn’t give him the private tuition and treated him like he was just stupid. He would not have the choices in front him he does now.
Being a parent is a lot harder than I thought It would be, having to make all these decisions for your little ones can affect their entire life and you are in charge of such an important decision. I’ve been thinking and asking everyone I know about their private school and state school experiences and the problems they had to deal with, so far everyone I spoke to is in favour of private school for the choices and support they can provide for the little one.
In a world where lack of choices means that some young girls only options in life are to fall pregnant at an early age in order to get government provided housing and the more babies they have translates into the bigger house they will give you, I want my daughter to have so many choices and options that something like that doesn’t even have to be a consideration or even a thought in her mind.
We have a very important decision to make before us and I just hope we will make the right one for our daughter.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share my thought Shelly!
Hi, that’s a fantastic blog, I don’t think that paying for private education is a waste of money. It’s a shame that not all State Schools can guarantee a good education for everyone.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not just the education that is important, it’s the child’s behaviour too; teaching good manners and being polite. It’s also about making sure pupils reach or exceed their academic potential and are well equipped to adapt to an ever changing and challenging world.
I would recommend looking round Private Schools when they have their Open days and then pay a second visit when you can see the pupils on a normal school day.
Have a look at their websites too.
Also ask about the extra curricular activities – some are free, usually if an outside teacher is provided there is a charge.
I think it would be worthwhile looking around other State Schools too before you make your mind up.
Nadine x
What a great and honest blog post. The right schooling is important and if you are fortunate enough to be in a position financially to make the choice, why shouldnt you.
ReplyDeleteIn an ideal world, everyone should be entitled to tailor the schooling to the needs of their child but as we all know, we dont live in an ideal world. There are some fantastic state schools out there, with amazingly committed teachers, working on small budgets and still providing a great level of teaching! I hope the private school gives the life skills as well as the educational ones.
Donna x