Hi, lonelymomlonelymom wrote:Can I ask you something? As an Old Blue yourself, would you consider sending your child to CH?
Firstly and most important, welcome from the woodwork.
As to your question I agree with what has been written in a different thread; it is a question of the balance between CH quality and local schools quality.
With CH there is a long tradition and, being big and solid and oiltanker-like it is difficult to turn; the existing quality is very likely to continue.
By contrast there are good and there are bad and there are atrocious state schools; if you are in the catchment area and can get your child into a really good state school then the choice becomes very hard but one has to remember that the government and agenda-minded local governors have far more influence on local schools and can destroy one in months.
That is the educational side. OTOH there is thew social side - as a 1950's pupil, contact with the outside world was forbidden and talking to a female under 65, like alcohol, was almost an expulsion matter which gave one a very difficult time getting assimilated in society afterwards - some never did. I suspect and HOPE that there has been an improvement in this area.
As to your question, my children went to private and state schools:
The eldest started off at a private Ursuline School, then State Primary, followed by Ursuline Secondary a year after it was taken over - by the end it had deteriorated to rubbish.
The second started at state primary, was moved to private primary and went to state secondary controlled by Jesuits and the like. Remained a very good school whilst he was there but is now rubbish.
The third went to state primary, state secondary and was only diagnosed as severely dyslexic after he failed to get through the first term at Uni. The school had been using him to teach dyslexics to read instead of teaching him! The council has failed to even reply to letters about the subject.
His life has effectively been destroyed. OTOH CH failed to diagnose my dyslexia but that was half a century ago.!
Final result - a Doctorate, a Masters and a Batchelors between the three of them.
You pays your money and takes your chance but state schools are a risk; in business I had occasion to refuse unseen all applicants from a local state school because of the teaching policy there.