RobJenks

How many PSB are on this board and can you tell us how good your education was and what your choosen profession is.

lozgti

Only had up to prep.

Best days of my life.Good education.Proper teachers.Respect taught and understood.Sport,fantastic.

If I had the £20,000 pa spare to send my kids I would just to avoid what is hailed as 'education' now.

I'm a lawyer(obviously pants because I can't afford £20k a year to send the children to a good school )

(Oh,and I believe in faith schools and single sex schools too.As soon as I got to the comprehensive I found all we thought about was ***** which didn't help )

Scooby Snacks 23

I went to a public school (as a boarder) at 11 and was really happy there.
The education there was excellent, but I was more interested in the sport (the prime reason why I stayed to 18) and I was always in the bottom 25% of my class. I left with 6 O levels and 1 A level and that was good enough for my first job.

I now run the occupational pension arrangements for a large IT/management consultancy.

If I had the money a spare £20K a year, there's no question that my kids wold both go to public schools. They're not of school age yet, so I'll keep doing the lotto in case

Deep Singh

I went to public school at age 11 after being at a state primary in inner city London (a long time ago).

This is a generalisation to some extent but;

state schools will have a significant proportion of people who I would not want my children exposed to ie work shy, criminal, low moral standards, rude, violent, sexually promiscuous

Not saying they are all like that or that there aren't some people like that in public schools but its all about hedging your bets.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

I got shunted out of home at the tender age of 9 and made to fly 10,000 miles across the world to go to boarding school. Was at 2 public schools from 9 to 18 and even though there were some things I missed, overall the education, facilities and experience were second to none.

I always said that if I had the money I would send my kids there, however I dont think there is any substitute for hard work and application and I would miss the little ankle biters too much.

Oh and in the current climate, results are fairly pointless anyway as the 0 & A level system is a mockery. I got 8 0 levels, 2 A levels and it meant diddly squat back then, still got into college on my own merit.

Luan Pra bang

I went to a private boarding school though not really a Public school. The standard of education was good and the facilities very good but I was kicked out at sixteen afters years of giving headaches to teachers. Then I went to a comprehensive where I got to meet some actual real girls.

Deep Singh

What were you using before? Blow up dolls??

scunnered

iTrader: (1)

The school I went to must have been good because it was "Approved".





Sorry, couldn't resist the old joke.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I went to a private school too; I guess the education must have been pretty good as I left with 9 GCSEs and 4 A-levels, all 'A's, and went on to read Engineering at Cambridge. It was bl**dy hard work, though, and results like that were by no means guaranteed - you still needed to have the right work ethic. I went into electronics and now work as the senior design engineer for a communications company. (I really should be working...!)

But, 'best days of my life'? Hell, no. They came years later when I had a job, money, beer, a car and a wife. School was a means to an end, not a time in my life I remember with any fondness or desire to revisit - but I guess it could have been a lot worse, and there's no doubt it got me where I am today...

PeteBrant

Man, imagine all that talent and going into Engineering

Don't you ever regret not becoming a trader, or a financial person, or even a salesman? I know I do sometimes.

I mean sure, you wouldn't have the same level of self-worth, on account of not producing anything worthwhile, but you sure would earn better money

What CAD system do you use for PCB design by the way?

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

PADS 2005.

I couldn't really help it... I still remember the day I finally had the physical strength and coordination to take my first Fisher Price toy apart to see how it worked

TopBanana

There's only one choice... mspaint.

We sent our eldest to a private junior school, which doubtless helped him get into his secondary grammar. I went to comprehensives and thought private schools were a bit snobby, but my wife always went to private schools and wasn't so blinkered. I'm glad I looked into it, as the standard of teaching is higher and you don't get so many little f**kers attending. You still get a few little sh*ts, but no little f**kers.

TelBoy

Definitely better than state education in my opinion, now in banking. If you can afford it, i'd say go for it. Lots of kids are being brought out of private schools at the moment because parents can no longer afford the fees, which isn't ideal, so don't do it if you don't think you can see it through would be my advice.

PeteBrant

With DxDesigner as the schematic entry tool presumably?
We are using Boardstation at the moment, but I am in the process of moving the company over to Expedition. It's taken me a year all told, to set everything and the switch over is in 2 weeks.

Devildog

I went to a non boarding, mixed sex, fee paying, private school - but not really what you would call "public school"

Wife went to state school.

Pretty much got the same education, to be honest, both of a high and similar standard.

Main difference being that she drove herself to make the most of what was on offer, whereas not giving 100% wouldn't have been an option for me.

So yes, I'd say that a private education is better, particularly for those who lack "motivation" at that age (as many do)

We both have degrees, we both went on to professional careers, and I went on to compete further professional qualifications relative to what I do. She would have too, I suspect, had she not decided that there are more important things to life than working 60 hours a week, irrespective of the financial rewards that brings.

All depends on the School though. There are expensive private schools that churn out "up their own ****" (holes) with no qualifications, just as there are state schools that produce extremely well qualified and successful people.

PeteBrant

Does anyone think there is a moral case to made for not having the nice car/house etc, and instead putting the money into your child(s) education?

Devildog

Probably is Pete - especially today.

GC8

Me too: who's surprised? I started at five, boarded at seven. I left and finished at a state school, which's something that I will always regret.

The difference, in my experience, is beyond comparison.

TelBoy

That doesn't really need asking does it?

GC8

Without a doubt.

PeteBrant

I agree, but there is a trade off isn't there.


I mean with the education and the sacrifices made, you are effectively taking away from thier childhood, in order to give them a better adulthood.

The other way round, you are potentially giving them a better childhood, at the expense of adulthood.

Or is that too much of a generalisation?

PeteBrant

Well, it does, because lots of people don't do that do they. If you look around there are plenty of people sititng in £300,000 houses, that they could sell and put thier children through private education, but they don't.

alloy

Straight A's and A*'s for GCSE, A's and B's for A levels, 2.1 BSc Hons Degree, now a trader.

My career and lifestyle has been a direct result of my willingness and ability to learn, i beleive that state and public school gives you the same level of education if your a person who wants to benefit from it. I know people at Public School who don't have a GCSE and i know people in the City that are from State school. It's all down to the individual

PeteBrant

I think there is the same potential to learn, but is not the same drive from the teachers.

At the end of the day, a public school lives or dies by its results. A state school, to a broad extent, does not.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

@alloy: I'm not entirely sure that's true, though - there was a lot of truth in what my teachers used to say to the troublemakers at the back of the class, along the lines of "shut up, so that those who actually want to learn can do so".

It's much easier to learn when the person teaching can spend their time teaching rather than just trying to be heard over the top of the kids who didn't want to be there and couldn't give a toss. Attitude and brains may count for a lot, but there needs to be the opportunity to learn properly too.

alloy

I suppose that is a valid point!

Life is about opportunity and which ones you take. Old cliche, but knowledge is power.

Devildog

Way too much.

Having a smaller house/cheaper car shouldn't effect their childhood - which should be built on interaction and experience, not material things.

GC8

You're, not your. I disagree. Having experienced both I can categorically state you receive a far far superior education at a fee paying school.

With regards to the trade-off that you mention Pete: I don't think that its nearly as marked now as it was in the 1970s and 80s. The old school public schools have changed massively and the prep schools have virtually disappeared.

Devildog

And of course, you can gain a great education from private day schools - you don't have to board.