FINANCE SCHOOL FEES
Sixth Form (state). Private nursery because make friends they keep even once they have unequivocally, “because of the way the
cosy classes ensure your child develops an moved on to different schools.” system is structured. With primary school
appetite for ‘school’ from the start. State Boys aiming for a traditional public school finishing at 11, they will have to go back into
primary can be terrific, but, even if merely need more sensitive opting in and out, as the independent system for Years 6, 7 and
adequate, a child’s progress is eminently Lucy and Damian can vouch. Having moved 8 in order to catch up and prepare for CE.
boost-able with careful home input. Private from London to the West Country, and with They do no Latin, only a bit of French, and
is preferable leading up to GCSEs as the their older children at boarding school, they they have no specialist teachers. It would be
triangular efforts of on-the-case specialist send their younger boys to the tiny village unrealistic to send them to the local comp
teachers, supportive for two years. I
parents and motivated
“T_he far superior education offered in the independent
sometimes wonder,
children produce
results. State education
sector will always ensure that their students get into
had Johnny gone to
Colet Court (prep
for sixth form appeals,
the best universities” ,
school of St Paul’s in
given the annual west London), as our
outcry that public school students have lost primary. “There are huge benefits if you live older son did, what he would be doing? And it
out on places at universities to less-qualified in a small rural community,” says Lucy. “The is a huge gulf.”
state sixth form college leavers. boys walk down the lane to school. There’s Like many couples with several children,
If – and it is a big ‘if’ – you live close to zero homework. There’s just a lot of good, their goal is to juggle four children’s spells in
high-performing state schools, this route is utterly ordinary mucking about after school. independent schools to prevent a quadruple
straightforward, particularly for girls. I’m very glad they’re there. School is the hub whammy of fees. A period in cost-free state
But, if you start in the state primary of a village life and it’s nice to be engaged in education is a ‘midway interval’ where the
system and want to send your child to a prep your community rather than being known as advantages (good basic education, relaxed
school later, how do you cope with the 8-plus Mr and Mrs FancyPants!” pace, no relentless car journeys) temporarily
hurdle knowing your child is up against the But will their period in a state primary, outweigh the disadvantages (in their case, a
mythical mini Einsteins created by private rather than a prep school, make it difficult female-dominated school environment, little
pre-preps and pushy mums? Is it even fair to go on to a public school? “Yes,” says Lucy, music and sport within school).
✒
to put them through a selective admissions
process at 8-plus if they have been enjoying
a private co-educational establishment that
caters for children from 4 to 13, where the
teaching staff have no interest in prepping
pupils to facilitate their departure for a
boarding prep school?
The message from headteachers and
registrars alike is: ‘Don’t worry’. At that age,
they expect, well, ‘all sorts’. Gina Baillie started
her children at the local Scottish primary school
– which has two classrooms for a total of 30
children ranging from tinies to 11 – intending
them to go onto Belhaven Hill School in
Dunbar, East Lothian, a full-boarding prep
school. Naturally, she was anxious they might
be at a disadvantage compared to their peers
who’d begun school at frightfully smart private
schools. “I was concerned they would be behind,
having done no French, no Latin,” she said. “But
two different heads told me it doesn’t make any
THE ‘IN AND OUT CLUB’ TRAJECTORY
difference at all. They bring the new intake back
«Nursery p: rivate, to help hone an appetite for school
to the same level and within three months they
«Primary s: tate, because a child’s progress is boostable with careful home input
«Year 7 to GCSE: private, as the triangular effects of on-the-case specialist teachers,
can all sing from the same hymn sheet.
supportive parents and motivated children produce results
“I personally think the state system is
«6«th form: state, to take advantage of the benchmarks set for each university to
great when they are that young. And you have
recruit a certain number of students from state schools
the advantage that they integrate locally and
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