Private schools (1 Viewer)

[Corey]

For parents, I kinda think there are more important criteria to judge schools on than whether they're private or public.

Like what? Private education's of a higher satndard because the teachers are'nt paid in food stamps, and public education gives your child a better social foundation. It's all terms.

Terms.

Geddit? Ahaha.


ahem.

 

[Space]

What are the fees like? What if your kid's shit at Quidditch?

It's as free as any regular Catholic School in Ireland. Something like 200 euro or thereabouts. It was a boarding school and priests college at one time.

 

[coraline]

Like what? Private education's of a higher satndard because the teachers are'nt paid in food stamps, and public education gives your child a better social foundation. It's all terms.

Terms.

Geddit? Ahaha.


ahem.

Teachers in private primary schools are paid far less than those in state schools...Just saying
They can be less well qualified and there's no regulation/inspection.

 

[MDR]

Teachers in private primary schools are paid far less than those in state schools...Just saying
They can be less well qualified and there's no regulation/inspection.

That's interesting.

 

[MDR]

What about sex education - do you go public (trip to the zoo) or private (hire a hooker for young johnny)?

 

[egg_]

I tell you what egg, send your kids to a private school, let them play on the street with their neighbours, let them play on the local football team. They'll get their mix of a good education and a well-rounded life.

Dude, you spend a hell of a lot more time at school than you do playing football or on the street.
In any case, where we live (or where we're moving to in 2 weeks), there is no street to play on (just a boreen) and nobody around to play with. No private school either.

School just made me a life-long resenter of people wasting my time. It didn't teach me anything about the benefits of mixing with the normals.

School introduced me to boredom and mean people. I could easily have learnt all the academic stuff from primary school at home (I learned to read, write, add and subtract before I went to school at all)

Ah I dunno. I just sticks in my throat a bit that people can buy better Leaving Cert results for their kids. But then if I was infinitely rich, I might well home-school my own kids - not because I think they'd do better in exams, but because they'd be less bored, and nobody would be mean to them

 

[egg_]

What about sex education - do you go public (trip to the zoo) or private (hire a hooker for young johnny)?

Or, again, just live in the countryside, with animals riding everywhere you look

When I was little I was real into wildlife and asked my da did he mate with my ma. Then I asked "Does it hurt?"

 

[billygannon]

Teachers in private primary schools are paid far less than those in state schools...Just saying
They can be less well qualified and there's no regulation/inspection.

Don't know what the deal with private primary schools in the UK, but I do know private secondary school teachers get paid quite a bit more.
That said, the quality of public schools is generally better than private. The government pumps large amounts of money in to schools, so yeah... in fact, the rougher the school the better the facilities.
They're no longer using blackboards either - it's all interactive whiteboards!

Anyway, I wouldn't go private - definitely not for primary school education. Far too much money and, as coraline has pointed out, they don't have regulation or inspection (or certainly not to the same standard as public schools).

As Phil mentioned, I went to Marian. It was a laugh. The Bolger brothers were there too (Matty from the Rednecks and Brian from the Dublin Guitar Quartet). Ben and Danno from Bambi were in my class.

 

[flashback]

Teachers in private primary schools are paid far less than those in state schools...Just saying
They can be less well qualified and there's no regulation/inspection.

Generally speaking (in the vast majority of the cases in Ireland) Coraline is right, in both instances. Less money, and in some instances there is almost no govt regulation, like Aravon. (Mate of mine was there, and for instance, corporal was still a big thing, this is only 12 years ago or so.)
I would agree with egg. Public school, unless it really was full of lil bollixes.

Edit, Matthew Bolger ended up in The Park in my class..

 

[Bellatrix]

Like what? Private education's of a higher satndard because the teachers are'nt paid in food stamps, and public education gives your child a better social foundation.

I went to a public school which which, while I was there, consistently got some of the best Leaving Certificate results in the county. Two students in the year ahead of mine got Easter Week Scholarships (only six of which are given out every year) and my school is far from the only example of this.

I don't really know what you mean by a social foundation. Students in public schools can be in just as homogenous a social environment as students in private schools. Depends on the area, the level of streaming, lots of different factors.

 

[egg_]

Students in public schools can be in just as homogenous a social environment as students in private schools. Depends on the area, the level of streaming, lots of different factors.

It's a pity, but it's true

 

[Unicron]

any of your schools have links with a famous band???? well did they??? mine did. fuckin rock n' roll

Lisa Hannigan outta Damien Rice's band went to mine. Really lovely and sweet girl.

 

[minka]

public schools all the way here too.

one thing i did notice (this being back in the 80s) was that it seemed much less common for middle-class parents on my native de nortside to send their kids to private school then their southside peers. i knew a lot of southsiders with similar family backgrounds to mine who went to private schools, while almost everyone i knew from the north city went to a public one.

dunno is that still the case now...

 

[egg_]

I think it is. Seems in the wealthy parts of the southside if you want your child to go to school with his/her neighbours then private school is the thing

 

[jane]

The Irish system is so different from the one I grew up in, but I would choose a school for my kids based on how their teaching styles would cater to my child's needs. If it ended up being a private school, then that's what I'd choose.

But as much as I'm opposed to the exam-focused teaching at secondary level here, I've seen some amazing primary schools. The school we were in out in Tallaght has to be one of the warmest, most inclusive environments for children I've ever seen in my life, with the most dedicated teachers I've ever met. I'm sure there are others that are just as nice, but seriously, it was just amazing. I love that the primary schools can be so flexible, I just wish the teachers got paid properly and the class sizes were smaller.

I wanted to go to private school so badly as a kid! I only found out in the last year or so that by law, my public school should have paid for me to finish at a private school because they failed to provide even basic physical protection for me. But by then I was so fucking traumatised and so disillusioned that I'm not sure even Super Happy We Love Jane School would have made up for the hell I was plonked into.

And my school is consistently rated in the top ten public schools in the country. On paper, it looks brilliant. In practice, despite being a public school, it was the snootiest place on the planet, and full of the biggest spoiled wanker brats you could ever (or never) want to meet. And there's no sweet revenge, either -- most of them are fucking millionaires now. Ah, well, at least I have....um....I'll get back to you on that.

In short: any school that would ensure my child was safe and happy and learning, I'd pay over the odds for it if that was what I had to do. It fucked me up big time, and I want my kids to have better. I understand the whole ethical/political/social problem with private school, and I don't think the Irish private system is the same as the US one, but I'm sending my kids either to Pantone's home-school or to hippy school.

 

[egg_]

The Irish system is so different from the one I grew up in, but I would choose a school for my kids based on how their teaching styles would cater to my child's needs. If it ended up being a private school, then that's what I'd choose.

That's all very well, but how are you going to know? You can't sit in on the class, so all you can do is take their word for it

 

[jane]

That's all very well, but how are you going to know? You can't sit in on the class, so all you can do is take their word for it

Whose word? The child's or the school's? I'd take my child's word for it.

And how does that support the argument against private schools?

No, you can't attend the school yourself, but you can ask other parents, you can look at their teaching philosophy, you can talk to the teachers, the principal, you can tour the school, and if my child didn't seem to enjoy learning there, I'd do what I coudl do make it nicer, even if it meant moving him or her to another school.

 

[egg_]

And how does that support the argument against private schools?

Oh, it doesn't at all, I was just asking you a question dude

I would choose a school for my kids based on how their teaching styles would cater to my child's needs

Y'see this is a great idea, and it's what, by coincidence, my American aunt did (or tried to do) with her kids when they went to high school ... but, y'know, I dunno how one would actually go about it, or if it's actually really possible at all. Like, all the people around me think the pub in my village is "great for the dinner" but as far as I can see it's standard (i.e. crap) pub food served in large portions. What good would it do me to ask these people what they think of the local school? I go down to the school and talk to the teacher, and I like her say, she seems nice - but what can I tell from that? Is she going to be have sufficient control of the class to stop the bold boys from intimidating the girls? And still not be too stern for my fairly boisterous little girl to be able to enjoy herself? Is she going to spend all her time with the densers and my brainy child will be bored? Or maybe Isabelle's going to be a denser and if she is will the teacher neglect her and pay more attention to the bright kids? Or maybe she prefers to do lots of booklearning and Isabelle would be better at practical stuff, but I don't know because it's her first time in school.

It's all very confusing, and easy to say that you'll do the research and find what's best for the child, but I wonder if by doing so you're just giving yourself the illusion that you're in control.

Not arguing with you now mind, just thinking out loud

 

[MDR]

Egg_ I think you had better have a few kids so you can experiment a little.

 

[MDR]

I don't think you can get down to the level of considering the failings of a particular teacher; after all, you won't have a choice of teachers within your chosen school, and your kid will change teachers a few times. If a problem developed, your kid could always move class, although I don't remember that ever happening.