Can't even remember bringing it up before...
There are advantages and disadvantages of private school education, Marcus. The main disadvantage depends on your social status, and for me, it was the pressure of coming from a different background, and trying to fit in.
Like most primary state school students, I thought I would also be venturing off to a secondary state school for further education after Year 6. My teacher in Year 6 had other plans for me, based on the dedication and level of enthusiasm I showed for education throughout primary school. I was always a bit of a geek in primary school, and many considered me to be "teacher's pet." The teacher had always wanted to give her two children the benefit of private education, but her children had learning difficulties and she feared they would fail an entrance test, so she didn't want to put them through that. With hindsight, I do think she had a maternal attitude with me during primary school, and this is seemingly why she pushed so much to get me into private education. I passed the entrance exam with flying colours, was eligible for a scholarship, and also a bursary. Without the help from my Year 6 teacher, I don't think I could have done that.
I'll try and keep this as brief as possible as I wouldn't wish to turn this into a sob story - Year 7 was quite difficult for me. I didn't immediately make friends; as most of my classmates came directly from the Junior School, I found it hard to get involved in friendship circles which were already formed. Those who did not come from the Junior School were already friends with some of those who were in the Junior School or came with friends from their own primary school, so integrated with greater ease. I, like many of my peers at primary school, came from an average background. I am by no means particularly wealthy, and I was judged because of this in Year 7. As Fozz has already said, some students at private schools can be cruel. After weeks of feeling segregated from the group, I did eventually make a small friend group, and I found that we didn't judge each other.
My year group was still rather divided into Year 8: there was multiple small friend groups, and the friend groups only talked to one another if they had to.
It wasn't until Year 9 that my year group was forced to integrate. At my school, the form groups stay the same in Year 7 and 8, and you have all of your classes with these students. In Year 9, the form groups are changed slightly. The Head of Year 9 works with the Head of Year 7 and 8 to discuss existing friendship groups, and they discuss which friendship groups could be matched up to provide a more-or-less even number of students in each of the two forms. This is when my small friend group expanded; indeed, my entire class formed one big friend group. It was clear that there was quite a big divide between the two form groups, though. I was in the well-behaved form - the one that had students who typically received better grades in exams.
I started to enjoy school a lot more from Year 9. As you will know, Marcus, it's quite a big year, as you have to decide the subjects which you're going to take at GCSE. The choice of subjects at my school is quite limited (compared to a state school) and you have to choose approximately ten subjects, but there are some compulsory 'choices.' I knew from the start of the year what I was good at (and conversely what I wasn't good at), so I knew exactly what I was going to take at GCSE. Subjects such as Art ended up becoming a lesson where I had more fun, as I'd mess around, knowing that I had absolutely no intentions of taking it at GCSE. I was invited to parties, and school life did get a lot better.
We retained the same form groups in Years 10/11, but more often than not, we were forced to integrate with the other form, if they had chosen the same subjects as us for GCSE. It was from Year 10 onwards that we integrated more as a year group. We'd all matured, and I certainly felt that I was judged a lot less. By the end of Year 11, we were all one close family. Like most families, we argued a fair bit, but we made up in the majority of cases. I was certainly quite saddened to wave goodbye to some of them at the end of Year 11 - but I was also glad to see the back of some of them too.
I really love our little year group in Sixth Form (Year 12). We integrate with Upper Sixth quite a bit, and we're all really good friends. If anyone has a house party, we all tend to be invited. My life in school is completely different now to what it was in Year 7. Some students are still a little arrogant and narrow-minded towards those who aren't of the same "social status" as them, but I've learned to ignore it, with most of the comments being made in jest anyway. If I didn't ignore the comments, I would perhaps take offence. Not just because some of the comments could be offensive to me - but also the friends I have in state schools. Until this year, there was still members of my year group who hadn't ever used a bus before, as they're used to daddy pulling up in the Lambo to pick them up from school and suchlike. With age, the more arrogant members of my year group have piped down a bit and got off their high horses.
As Fozz has already said, the standard of education you receive is very good. Even from GCSE, you can find you have class sizes of just one student! I take four A-Levels and all of my class sizes are very small (English Lang/Lit - 2, Media - 2, Business - 5, ICT - 5). The resources in a private school aren't amazing, and this is what lets us down. I believe that state schools can (and do) receive money from Government to assist with improving resources and buying new facilities to improve the education offered to students. This doesn't apply to private schools, though. You pay for the teaching which can be done on a one-to-one basis, and this is the huge upside of private education. I have a weekly 'tutorial' period in Media Studies in which I discuss the progress I've made in the course - the feedback I receive from the teacher completely differs from the other student in my class because we do different levels of work. Sadly, this also has its downsides. Teachers do put a lot of pressure on you to do well, and constantly remind you about University. One girl in my year group recently received three Us and a C in her mock exams - she had to take some time off last week because she ended up getting herself so down about it. Not only did she feel she'd let herself and her family down, but also her teachers. She didn't want to face the teachers.
It's quite ironic that you've brought this up tonight, Marcus. Prospective Year 7 students for the new academic year in September undertook their entrance exams at my school today. During my free period today, I was asked (with three others in my year group) to gather the students and talk to them. We were told to talk to the students about how we felt six years ago, when we were in the same position. It actually brought these memories back, and reminded me of how I didn't really enjoy my time at school until a few years in. Of course, I didn't say any of this to the students...
Despite all of the downsides, though, I probably would recommend private education to anyone who can afford to go for it. With a scholarship and bursary, there's certainly no reason why even those of an average working class / middle class background cannot afford to go to a private school.
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